UK election: Salmon or damp squid?
I SPENT a couple of weeks in Japan at the rugby world cup, and over the last year have visited a number of other countries. And without fail, the message coming through loud and clear regarding the UK is: ‘What on earth is going on’? When you are trying to watch a game with a […]
£6.6billion in overcharging closet funds
IF I asked most investors/pension holders what they thought was happening inside their invested money, the answers I’m sure would all correlate. You pay money to have your hard-earned cash managed to minimise risk and maximise return and you expect that. Unfortunately, that is not what happens all the time and investors are estimated to […]
How you can mitigate against paying inheritance tax
INHERITANCE Tax (IHT) is about as popular as a party-political broadcast forced into the middle of your favourite sports programme. After all, a 40 per cent tax on assets you have acquired through blood, sweat and tears seems mildly disappointing. Last year was a great one for inheritance tax collecting in the UK, with an extraordinary […]
Are we moving towards a cashless society?
OVER the last two weeks we covered negative interest rates and how that economic policy might be used to refuel stalling economies. The key to achieving negative interest rates is a cashless society, because without cash, below zero rates become possible. What would a cashless society look like and what are its threats and opportunities? […]
How would negative interest rates impact me?
I WAS going to cover a cashless society this week in relation to the negative interest rate column last week (they sort of go hand in hand), but I’ll just cover what the impact of a negative interest rate policy might be, further to a few questions I was asked. Firstly, the supposed explanation of […]
Who wants to be paid for borrowing money?
YOUR bank contacts you and lets you know that it wants to pay you for having a mortgage. Nice thought? Well, that’s exactly what has happened in Denmark with Jyske Bank, which pays its borrowers 0.5 per cent. Why are they doing that? Why are they paying people for borrowing money? This stems from a […]
Property investment fund opportunity?
BUILDING a property investment/pension portfolio is undoubtedly an art. The psychological magnetism of the fear of losing out, the thought of buying when a fund is ‘hot’ and ‘being with the crowd’, and selling for the opposite reasons, are all barriers to our emotional intelligence, which ensures we lose money. Twenty years ago, I started […]
So how much should I save for retirement?
HOW much should I save for retirement? Well, the answer to that very much depends on your needs and lifestyle in retirement, and how that will differ from today. A simplified approach is to look at what you are earning now and what you actually need to live on, ie after spending, what is left? […]
Inheritance Tax abolished?
TAX changes and budgets are often used as a bogeyman to nudge people along with their financial planning. While the centuries old leverage of terror was successful to get us all into the house before dark, the current proposed alterations to Inheritance Tax (IHT) however, might indeed have some reality to the fear. Inheritance Tax, as […]
Better mortgages can give you a day off work
I LOVE the words ‘compensation package’ as an alternative to a salary. In many ways we are compensated for being at work, away from our families, the garden, the mountains or the beach. With the smallest of tweaks to our financial planning, we can easily be 20-30 per cent more efficient with our money, which […]
Do I leave a financial gift to my children now or later?
LEAVING a financial gift for your children depends on many factors. Should you give them anything at all (after all ‘I started with nothing’ is a common response)? Should you have the benefit of seeing them benefit during your lifetime and assisting their family’s financial security? Much is down to how you think and there […]
The great inflation robbery
I DISTINCTLY remember the price on the bottom right of a bag of Tayto when I was six years old, which said 2p. It also had more crisps in it than air, another price of capitalism I suppose. The rising cost of goods – inflation – is what drives us to earn more and make […]