Investments, Pensions
FE Research
Rising Covid cases cause an increase in ...

This week saw markets decide that…

Other, Investments
Jeremy Edwards
Has RDR really changed anything? (Or why you ...

A potential client has contacted one of our advisers asking about our costs as they have been quoted 3% initial cost and 1% ongoing costs elsewhere. In their circumstances, this means paying out more than £16,000 for advice costs in the first year. The potential client knows our adviser personally and has a background in banking, so a rival firm quoting a percentage rather than cold, hard cash does little to conceal the ludicrousness of paying £16,000 for less than 20 hours actual work!

Has RDR really changed anything? (Or why you should talk to us last!)
FE Research
North Korea responds to sanctions with missile

Read what the team at FE consider to be significant over the current week.

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North Korea responds to sanctions with missile
Investments, Pensions
Jeremy Edwards
The difference between regulated and ...

The Daily Mail website carried an article about an investment scheme offering a potential 40% return on burial plots, which rapidly becomes a cautionary tale about unregulated investments and the strong likelihood of losing your capital. (See the original article here; http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/investing/article-3822179/The-salesmen-offering-40-returns-burial-plots-banks-slash-rates-savers-tempted-exotic-deals-trusted.html

The difference between regulated and unregulated investments
Investments, Pensions
FE Research
Markets remain resilient to Brussels attacks

Read what the team at FE consider to be significant over the current week here.

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Markets remain resilient to Brussels attacks

Inheritance

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Planning for "Waiting for God" or how to avoid additional tax on death

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Planning for "Waiting for God" or how to avoid additional tax on death

Notwithstanding politician’s promises and some jiggery-pokery around IHT on the family home the tax take on Inheritance Tax has been rising for some time. Back in 1980/81 the total IHT take was under £0.5bn, in 1990/90, it was under £1.5bn, in 2000/01 it was under £2.5bn, in 2008/09 is was over £3.5bn and in 2015/16 it was over £4.5bn. As a proportion of GDP, (Gross Domestic Product), in 1980 it was under 0.17%; in 2007/08 and 2015/16 it was over 0.25%, so its influence over government receipts has been rising significantly. (Original data from HMRC Tax & NIC receipts, monthly and annual historical record, 21st June 2016)

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Have the high-pitched, whiney millennials been sabotaged by their elders and betters?

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Have the high-pitched, whiney millennials been sabotaged by their elders and betters?

Now the Brexit result has been declared, we now have to deal with the consequences, which in the short term has been a devaluation of the Pound and a fall in the FTSE. Although the noise in the short term will make investments look riskier, the longer term prospects are probably not changed a great deal. Capitalism uses a process of creative destruction to move from one norm to the next, so a better question is who is likely to get damaged in the process.

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Our March 2016 Budget Commentary

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Our March 2016 Budget Commentary

Following much noise and fury in the press we are left with a budget with a limited number of surprises. Speculation before the budget was unveiled, included a total abolition of the existing pension structure, the withdrawal of tax free cash and its wholesale replacement with an ISA type system.

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The Sandwich Generation

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The Sandwich Generation

Have you heard of the phrase “the Sandwich Generation”? These are adults who have both dependent children and parents who are also in need of some care; often all requiring a significant part of the family finances to keep everything ticking over. Historically, most people with pensions in addition to the State Pension put most money into their pension between the ages of 50 and retirement. Therefore, these competing demands can make financial life a very complex balancing act!

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Thoughts on wills and probate

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I have been asked about how to wind up an estate after a death and I have made a few suggestions to the executors before they get too bogged down in the detail. Where the estate is small and limited to assets in the UK, there is not much to make it complicated, so executors could do it themselves. I have offered to review the forms as they are completed, as one executor is a long-standing client; although the process itself is not complicated, the language is not clear to those unfamiliar with it.

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A Lasting Power of Attorney is not just for the old!

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During our new client meetings, when we are collecting information to understand what they have, what they want and what they are likely to need, we ask about wills and lasting power of attorney. I am amazed by the number of people who do not have wills and powers of attorney in place, as the impact can be truly devastating.