Read the latest news and articles from the Gem & Co team
Two books are first and third in the current US Best Sellers list – both by Japanese-American tidying guru, Marie Kondo. Her tidying wisdom has swept the US as a way to feel better about yourself and your home and it’s now heading to the UK. She recently shared her top tips for ‘decluttering’ and
Read moreTwelve green bottles, standing on the wall Twelve green bottles, standing on the wall And if one green bottle, should accidentally fall… Yes, yes, we know the song is really ‘ten green bottles,’ but in January 2016 the world’s leading stock markets resembled nothing more than the row of proverbial bottles. As one fell, so
Read moreIt is never a nice feeling when markets go through periods when they fall; and it certainly does not help to settle the nerves when we see sensationalist headlines like ‘RBS cries “sell everything” as deflationary crisis nears.’ (Daily Telegraph) or ‘Worst start to market year in two decades’ (FT.com). To feel unsettled is natural;
Read moreOccasionally when we’re compiling these monthly commentaries we look at our notes, realise that not very much has happened in the month and have a minor panic. What are we going to report on? There are no such worries this month. December 2015 seemed to be the month when pretty much everything happened. The only
Read moreWith reports suggesting most of the UK economic indicators are moving in the right direction, it doesn’t mean we can suddenly afford to ignore our personal financial planning. So in the best traditions of New Year here are ten financial planning resolutions that will hopefully help make 2016 a prosperous and secure year for you.
Read moreThere are many different kinds of trusts. There are bare trusts, mixed trusts, interest-in-possession trusts, and accumulation and maintenance trusts. And while they each differ slightly in the way they work, they all basically do the same job – they allow the owner of an asset (the settlor), to distribute or donate it (or confer
Read moreInformation in the Autumn Statement indicates that by 2020 individual taxpayers may be expected to report and pay their liabilities every quarter via their new digital tax accounts. The Chancellor promised an injection of £1.3bn to deliver, “the most digitally advanced tax administration in the world” by 2020. The new Digital Tax Accounts (DTAs) will
Read moreCommentary on the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement in the accounting community has been focused on just a few key headlines, reflecting the wider acceptance that this was an Autumn Statement of ‘tweaks’ rather than ‘rabbits-out-of-hats’. Whilst the government’s fourth fiscal event in the past 12 months generated headlines for what didn’t happen in the form of
Read moreIntroduction November brought us the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement and Spending Review in the UK – and rather more tragic events abroad. Friday November 13th saw the massacre in Paris, which was followed by an escalation in the bombing of ISIS in Syria. World stock markets inevitably fell in the wake of the Paris attacks, but
Read moreAfter two Budgets so far in 2015, it might have been thought that the Chancellor had little new to say this time around. However, that was never going to be the case. For a start, the Autumn Statement was a late addition to the main announcement scheduled for 25 November; the outcome of the latest
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