Read the latest news and articles from the Gem & Co team
As the end of the financial year draws ever closer, it’s important not to forget about any ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) you have and any remaining payments that you’re allowed to make. The maximum allowance for ISAs for the 2015/16 financial year is £15,240, so it’s important that you invest any funds that you have
Read moreFebruary was another month where the problem for this commentary was what to leave out: the world is not short of ‘events’ at the moment. In the Far East, North Korea successfully fired a long range rocket, causing consternation in Tokyo and Seoul. Closer to home, David Cameron returned from Brussels with his deal on
Read moreAnd the proportion of those self-funding is only set to increase in the coming years. The number of people self-funding their residence in a care home is ‘mind-boggling’, according to respected IFA Gareth Rees. Rees, a Chartered Financial Planner working for GEM & Co Financial Services, was speaking in the wake of a Sunday Times
Read moreReported recently across the media, David Cameron has promised an ‘all-out assault on poverty’, with a series of social reforms to include better mental health services and mentoring schemes. The PM said new mothers and teenagers with anorexia were among those who would benefit from improved services. He also promised to flatten ‘sink estates’, help
Read moreTwo 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
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