The Covid-19 economy
The Covid-19 economy – it’s been a week studying mathematical analysis on coronavirus, to ascertain where this is all bringing us, and how that will impact economies and investment markets. Markets plummeted, then bounced, and we are all looking at where the next movement will be. Do I leave the market, sit tight, or do […]
Loan scheme is 11.36 per cent above residential lending
I’LL be sticking with guidance through the coronavirus over the next few weeks as its turmoil knocks businesses and family’s globes off their axis – today I’ll focus on the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme (CBILS). And in short, if you can avoid it, don’t do it. New Order had the hit record of ‘Love […]
The Coronavirus impact – clarity through the noisy turmoil
I’VE covered the coronavirus impact previously, but it’s hard to ignore it again, given what are ‘not normal conditions’. Stock market corrections/falls are reasonably common occurrences. The first was in 1637, when tulips had more value than houses. My first was in 1987. I was fresh and soon to be wounded. I’ve been through many […]
Coronavirus and should you fix your mortgage?
SHOULD you fix your mortgage now or wait to see what happens with the coronavirus impact, and fix later? The Bank of England unanimously voted to cut the bank base rate to 0.25 per cent, the lowest level in history. Will we see it go lower? Probably. The UK has been particularly slack with their […]
Keeping your head in markets
WADING your way through the extraordinary noise that is financial markets at the moment is an interesting experience. ‘Will coronavirus hit my finances?’ and ‘will Brexit trash the economy?’ are two common questions from investors worried about losing large amounts of capital from their pensions and investments. It isn’t always a pleasant investment world and […]
The investment lie which serves no-one
WHO said: “This is a big deal . . . something that could become systemic. These funds are built on a lie, which is that you can have daily liquidity for assets that fundamentally aren’t liquid”? It was Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, who was referring to illiquid assets (assets you can’t […]
Invest your money tax efficiently
THERE are many ways to invest your money, and to do so efficiently, and tax efficiently. From a tax efficiency viewpoint, ISAs ensure that all gains in your investments are tax free, as do pensions. A unit trust, open ended investment company (OEIC), or Investment Trust have the benefit of gains being offset against losses elsewhere, […]
Pension tax relief loss in Budget?
THE UK Budget is due on March 11th and will have consequences for us all for sure, whether it be the short, medium or long term. It will no longer be delivered by Sajid Javid. Instead it is likely to be delivered by Mr Cummings….ooops, Rishi Sunak, who was surprisingly on hand to be available […]
The £47,000 benefit of taking financial advice
WITH the ever changing political, fiscal and economic tides, how on earth can a person wade through those financial changes and the impact on their life goals, especially given that only a minority seek financial advice? So is it really worth having a financial adviser to do that? Few of us are aware of what […]
How will the Coronavirus outbreak impact stock markets?
RIGHT now the scale of the Coronavirus outbreak makes it impossible to gauge how badly it will impact the global stock markets, just as it was in 2002/3 for the Sars virus, 2003 and 2009 for the Iraq War the impact of the 2004 tsunami in Asia, solely because it’s difficult to be mindful of […]
Will mortgage rates fall or rise?
AS we move towards the Brexit deadline on Friday, should we look at refixing our mortgages? Do we bet on inflation remaining benign and interest rates dropping, or will Brexit throw sterling a sledgehammer, and mean that inflation is rocketed through the UK being a net importer? The fundamental answer to that relates to your budgeting […]
The mosquito in passive investing
I REMEMBER the Virgin tracker fund launched back in the mid 90’s. This was supposed to be a low-cost way for investors to grow their money by avoiding expensive managers. From memory, the annual fee was circa one per cent. Since then, those fees have plummeted, and investors can access one tracker today for an ongoing […]