With so many pressures on us and information being available on managing your finances from seemingly everyone, including the proverbial ‘man down the pub’, we took some time to identify some of the key areas that could be improved when we are planning our finances. Have a look through and see how many apply to
Read MoreIt was only relatively recently, in April 2006, that HM Treasury brought in legislation to simplify the many different pension regimes that existed at the time. This was done partly to ensure that from the 6th April 2006, all pensions accrued their benefits within set limits, removing the bewildering array of different rules and caveats
Read MoreYou may be aware from media or other communications of a radical change in the way that investment fund managers’ report their charges for investing your money. We felt it was important to explain what was happening in simple English, so here goes……. What’s happened? Traditionally, when you invested into an investment fund, you will
Read MoreWhat are economic cycles and how do they affect me? One of the frequent themes that impacts upon the tactics and longer term strategy when investing, is identifying where we are in the economic cycle. Despite the turmoil and in some instances, capitulation over recent years, the economic cycles are a known and lucid part
Read MoreSeptember 1995……….. eBay was founded, a new optical disc computer storage format was released, later to be called a DVD, NATO airstrikes continued against Bosnian Serb forces after repeated attempts at a solution to the Bosnian war failed, Oasis released their second album (What’s the story) Morning Glory?, and in the financial centre of the
Read MoreAs a new tax year rolls around, you should note that there are quite a few changes to the allowances you can claim to help improve the tax efficiency of your financial affairs. Of course, to our clients we are on hand to advise about these and ensure that in combination they work to the
Read MoreLoughtons Independent Financial Advisers and Lameys Accountants and Business Recovery held their 8th Annual golf day in aid of Cancer Research and the Rowcroft Hospice, at Dainton Park Golf Club on Friday the 6th July. Despite the rain, the event was a considerable success. Players took part in both individual and team stableford competitions as
Read MoreToday’s news that the UK has crept back into recession should be no surprise to anyone who has kept reasonably well informed about developing events connected to the global economic crisis. A technical recession is triggered after two quarters of negative GDP (Gross Domestic Product) within our economy. Stock Markets haven’t fallen today. Why not?
Read MoreFrom April 2012, Contracting Out will be abolished under a defined contribution pension plan. What is Contracting Out? It is where you opt out of the State Second Pension (S2P) previously known as State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) and instead divert some of your National Insurance Contributions into an ‘Appropriate Pension Plan’. These ‘rebated’
Read MoreIncome Drawdown (also known as an unsecured pension) allows you to take income from your pension fund while the fund remains invested and continues to benefit from any fund growth. There is no minimum amount of income that must be drawn, irrespective of age. This means that you may be able to leave your pension
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