Blog
How To Invest When Inflation Rises
As the global economy begins to recover from the impact of Covid-19 it’s inflation rises that are starting to worry investors. Whilst steady moderate inflation is associated with economic growth, rapidly rising inflation could mean the economy overheats. This could...
Ethical Investing
Last week we wrote about how by investing into funds or a shares in a company, you have the power to influence them and this week we take it a step further with ethical investing. There is now so much choice out there in terms of picking investments that fit with...
How Your Investment Can Influence A Company’s Behaviour
We all have beliefs that we care about and a company’s behaviour can often influence our decision on whether to buy from them. Nowadays, because we have so much choice, we can decide where to shop, what to eat, what to wear and where to go on holiday all based...
Are Pension Funds Safe?
Your pension is likely to be one of your most valuable assets and therefore it’s vitally important to ask, are pension funds safe? When I say safe I don’t mean in terms of investment performance risk, I mean, what happens if your pension provider was to go bust? ...
Investing In Covid Times
How should we be investing in Covid times? Has Covid changed how investments work and do you need a new strategy? In this article we will look at what happened during the ‘Covid Stock Market Crash’ and whether the traditional equity/bond investment mix worked. ...
When Inheritance Tax Is Due
Inheritance Tax can be confusing. That’s why many put off having a discussion about it. But Inheritance Tax doesn’t have to be complicated. In this article we’ll go through the basics which will hopefully help you understand your own position in a bit...
Why You May Have Multiple Pension Pots In Drawdown
Are you drawing an income from your pension and found you now have multiple pension pots? If you have a personal pension and have made use of the flexible drawdown features launched on ‘Pension Freedoms Day’ in April 2015 you may find that your pension has been split...
Converting Your Pension To An ISA
When it comes to pensions and ISAs, most people in my experience find ISAs much easier to understand and so would like to convert their pension to an ISA. After all ISAs are free of Income and Capital Gains Tax. For most types of ISAs what you put in grows tax free...
Active Funds Are Great, Just Don’t Use Them
Should you be using active funds in your investment portfolio? Probably not. But active funds are essential when it comes to investing. Without them, the great wealth making machine that is the global stock market, would not be possible. Luckily, there is a way you...
The £800m Higher Rate Tax Relief Scandal
According to research carried out by PensionBee, around 81% of taxpayers eligible to claim higher rate tax relief through their Self-Assessment tax returns are failing to do so. It is also estimated that around 54% of additional rate taxpayers are also failing to...
115% Tax Relief
It really is possible to get more money back in tax relief than what you put into a pension. There are a few ways you can ‘play’ the system and be super tax efficient especially using all the allowances available to you as a family. Here are a few examples where...
You Have Probably Got Investment Risk All Wrong
If I asked you what you thought investment risk was, there’s a good chance you will say it’s the chance of you losing money. Research commissioned by Scalable Capital and conducted by YouGov in 2017 found that a Cash ISA was the most popular savings vehicle after...
When To Sell An Investment
When to sell an investment is just as important as when to buy an investment. Remember you don’t make or lose anything when you buy an investment. You make a gain or loss when you sell. Have you seen large rises in the value of your investment in the last year or...
Taking Your Pension Early To Avoid The Lifetime Allowance Charge
I am speaking to more and more clients wanting to avoid the lifetime allowance charge. It’s understandable. The lifetime allowance charge can involve some big numbers. A 25% or 55% tax charge at the point you retire isn’t a nice prospect. A few weeks back I...
Why It’s Best To Use Your ISA Allowance At The Start Of The Tax Year
It’s usually best to use your ISA allowance at the start of the tax year and in case you didn’t know, we have just entered a new one. This will ensure you keep more of your investment return. If you want to keep your options open then don’t worry, a recent ISA rule...
Contributing To A Pension After Retirement
Contributing to a pension after retirement is still perfectly possible and in fact could be very prudent in terms of your overall planning. Reducing work or stopping work all together is likely to restrict the amounts you can save so it’s important you are aware of...
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