How you can avoid those hidden holiday costs
THE holiday season is on its way, so where are the cost savings? Personally I always like to have a holiday booked, so I have that in the tank to look forward to. Aside from its psychological benefits, the cost of flights two weeks ahead of a trip versus six months ahead can be vast, […]
Vintage quirks to avoid paying certain taxes . . .
AS the end of the tax year looms, it’s worth thinking about those great holes in your buckets called tax. While we can focus on working harder to earn more, the holes in the bucket often put quite a strain on the family household. Calculating the average tax rate is quite tricky, so best endeavour […]
Handcuffed to an investment anchor
THE last two weeks’ reviews of with-profit funds caused plenty of further questions. No surprise really, and as always, this kicking of hornet nests, tends to highlight the greatest risk to your financial security – apathy. I had mentioned the appalling state of zombie funds. These are funds that have closed to new business. Because […]
With or with(out) profit investments
FOLLOWING on from last week’s column on with-profits, we had a number of callers wanting further answers. I’ll cover these below. Much of what is written about with-profits is indeed written, one can only assume, with the information advantage I referred to last week. We don’t know what we don’t know, so we don’t think […]
Should I keep my with-profits investment?
THE £274 billion ‘with profits’ market is under review by the Financial Conduct authority – again. My first ever column on this opaque investment was exactly twenty years ago, and in 2010, I thought I would have written the last one! Since then, the market has shrunk considerably (down £36 billion in the last year) […]
Is equity release right for me?
IN my 30 years in financial planning, I’ve loathed the word ‘equity’ as a term when relating to property, as I often saw it used as an excuse for people to be sold into debt. In my view, it’s your home. But equity release has soared in popularity for many justifiable reasons, so I’ll guide […]
Parents – the ninth biggest lender in UK
IF the leader of our council tweeted their policies rather than documenting them, we would demand their sacking, yet a president can tweet his intended threats of war, and we shrug our shoulders. Some risk is logical, others isn’t but who cares about logic? Most decisions on investment carry a potential risk and potential return, […]
Jumping market jitters
IMMEDIATE gratification, immediate data and nonsense news, immediate response. The new world? The oxymoron of ‘smart’ phones is lost on me. If they were smart, or as smart as a teacher, they would tell us to turn them off. I hadn’t thought at all about how people use their phones in relation to investments until […]
How to lose 57 per cent of your pension … 1, 2, 3
AS we covered last week, the impact of tax can be a considerable brake to your finances. In a standard working week, a basic rate taxpayer works all day Monday to pay the taxman, and it’s late Tuesday afternoon before a higher rate taxpayer sees the light of day. This is before we include other […]
£109 billion in overcharging investments
SO you’ve worked hard all week and put some of your money into your pensions and ISAs for rainy, and hopefully sunny days, hoping it rises. Yes, the market might be up, but how much did you pay to be ‘up’, and how ‘up’ are you? In our recent column we explained the difference between […]
Mortgage stress test at 7 per cent
AS a 16-year-old, William Shakespeare held little other than an unwanted puzzle, or an obstruction to a football pitch or running track. Not much has changed, but one line from Hamlet still holds true: “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”. I have had numerous chats with house purchasers who […]
Debt domino effect on economy
I REMEMBER the domino world record attempt that was thwarted by an insect during set up – one simple nudge. With consumer debt (car finance, personal loans, credit cards) standing at a staggering £200 billion, could any of its sectors trigger that little moment when we just watch it all click away through the economy […]