Category: Financial planning

Originally announced during The Chancellor’s Budget speech in March 2014, January 2015 will finally see the launch of the new so-called ‘pensioner bonds’. The rates for the bonds, announced only recently, will see them leading the bond marketplace, with the one-year bond offering 2.80% gross/AER and the three-year bond promising 4.00% gross/AER.   The bond’s

The price of crude oil has fallen around 40 per cent since a recent peak in June this year. This has a profound effect on economies and markets around the world as the cost of manufacturing and transporting goods falls along with oil producers’ income and the currencies of oil-rich countries. The theory goes that

With Christmas approaching I wanted to try and relate something in the world of finance to the festivities of the season.  I thought I would give you an alternative present list.  What follows is a list of Christmas presents based around finance/money which would make a lovely present for anyone.  When I say anyone –

  November saw the G20 group of world leaders meeting in Canberra. The summit was notable for the new sport invented by the great and good: a bizarre game of musical chairs in order to avoid being photographed sitting next to Vladimir Putin! Not to be outdone in the social pariah stakes, David Cameron turned

Many people have successfully made substantial fortunes from investing over the years, in various ways and styles, using many different methods. They would have had one thing in common: a fixation on the management of their downside risk. Risk is inherent within the investment structure. “It comes with the territory” – to achieve a return

Recent research from MGM Advantage, the retirement income specialist, reveals alarming disparities between the retirement finances of men and women. Although, on average, people in retirement feel that they need an additional £130 per week on top of their current income to be financially comfortable, women’s financial position in retirement is already more austere than

2014 was a momentous year for pensions. Changes around how pensions could be drawn at retirement and how death taxes on pensions would be improved were both announced in the year, with the intention that all these new rules will be in place by the end of April 2015. For a pension saver, the landscape

Early in September, the FTSE 100 reached its highest level since December 1999. People might read into this story that it’s taken 14 years for the market to recover from the tech crash and the credit crisis and that stock-market investment has been pointless over that period. Looking at the blue line on the chart

The number of retired public sector workers receiving pensions of more than £100,000 per annum has more than doubled since 2011, according to new research from the Intergenerational Foundation (IF) published in September 2014. In total, more than 395 high ranking public sector retirees now enjoy annual pensions of more than £100,000 compared to 148

In all the time we’ve been writing these market commentaries it’s difficult to remember a more turbulent month than October 2014. Throughout the summer we have been writing about events in the Ukraine and the worries that conflict posed for Europe. Fortunately we now have a ceasefire in the region – and Russia and the