It always takes a few hours for the detail and ramifications of a new budget to sink in. Osbourne’s budget has been hailed as the “Beer and Bingo” budget – a fair comment? It certainly is good news for beer drinkers and bingo players but it has had a huge impact on pensions legislation in […]
Just this week we had a great result for clients who had recently sold business premises and moved into a new purpose built warehouse in Coleraine. They face a capital gains tax bill of just over £47,000 which is payable in January 2015. Both Mr and Mrs have substantial income tax bills and are fortunate […]
Today the government launches the Junior ISA or JISA, the replacement for the Child Trust Fund (athough existing Child Trust Funds will not be affected). These are designed to allow parents to save for their children although unlike the CTF the government won’t be making a starting contribution. The current limit for investing in any […]
When the Sopranos first aired in the late 1990s I was a student in Belfast and watched it every week until I graduated and left Belfast in the middle of the second season. It might have taken me 11 years but I’ve finally arrived at the fourth season. The first episode, “For all debts public […]
It’s a challenge to make a blog post on pensions interesting but I’ll give it a shot! Defaqto, who provide independent financial research, recently surveyed people under 35 years old and found that less than half of them had a pension of any type. In a previous study carried in 2010, Defaqto found that 44% […]
When we meet a new client we’ll always ask if they’ve made a will. Unfortunately those who have are in the minority. Most don’t think about it and are unaware of what might happen if they die intestate (that’s the technical term for dying without a will, not a medical condition). So what would happen? […]
What’s going on in the UK? For about forty years we have been living well beyond our means and the chickens are coming home to roost. On the 29th November we’ll hear from the government about their revised cuts plan. They’ll tell us that they’ve fallen behind and can’t meet the original 2015 target. Let’s […]
A friend’s recent blog post resonated with my own thinking on how we spend our accumulated wealth. Often I meet wealthy clients with a very healthy and easy relationship with their money – it doesn’t have a hold on them. Other clients are afflicted by worry and a desire for more even though they want […]
Found this video online – real people talking about their worst financial mistakes and what they wish they’d done differently. Well worth the 3 minutes it takes to watch.
Now is the time to invest in an ISA An ISA-or Individual Savings Account-is a tax efficient way to save as you pay no income or capital gains tax on the returns you receive. It remains one of the taxman’s most valuable concessions to investors. LONG-TERM INVESTING STILL MAKES SENSE The past […]