Are you happy and content? We are generally wealthier than we were a few decades ago. Our standard of living has increased. Healthcare has improved. But we are no happier than we were back then… So where does that leave us – what should we do? How can we use the money we have to […]
Establishing and defining goals can be a daunting prospect for most of us. If you’re like me you tend to shy away from that and think about something else. Talking about the future in definite terms isn’t easy for many of us. Taking the time to think about the future in the distracted world we […]
Gibson Financial Planning specialises in dealing with clients in the Coleraine and Causeway Coast area who are either approaching retirement or already retired. Nine times out of ten these clients have saved hard and built up substantial pension pots and other sources of income for their retirement. We help them rationalise all this, build and […]
There has been much talk in the press about the imminent pension freedom reforms and a lot of resulting confusion among the public. A few simple points can be made to clarify some matters: If you have already taken pension benefits in the form of an annuity then these new freedoms will not affect you […]
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 […]
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% […]
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 […]
I was interviewed last week by the Independent on Sunday on whether or not clients are best advised to defer taking benefits from their pension. Every case should be considered individually but the following article which includes some of my comments should be useful: Independent on Sunday: Should I take my pension benefits now? By […]