Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget yesterday was the final budget before the UK leaves the European Union, when we will enter a new chapter in our country’s economic history. The alterations to the income tax bands have been brought forward by a year. From April 2019, the Personal Allowance will be £12,500 and the higher rate …

We are delighted to once again be listed in the New Model Adviser Top 100 list! The list, compiled by the New Model Adviser publication, aims to showcase the best of the professional financial planning community. The list highlights companies that show ‘new model’ attributes including forward-thinking management, a growing business with sustainability and succession …

In light of market movements over recent days it seems almost inevitable that we revisit the subject of investment volatility at this time. We’ve certainly seen some significant falls in markets over the last couple of weeks, blamed on several factors, including the impact of a US-China trade war, a spike in US bond yields …

As financial planners, we do consider our own savings and financial circumstances, as well as those of our clients. One particular area that keeps coming up is that “millennials” (those born between 1981 and 1996) will be the generation with a larger savings burden when it comes to their retirement than any previous generation. This …

One of the most frequent, and important, questions clients approaching retirement ask is ‘how long does my pension need to last?’ In essence you are asking how long you are expected to live and, in the absence of a crystal ball this is impossible to predict. What is certain however is that people are living …

During our lifetimes, many of us have aspirations and goals. Inevitably, most of these goals come with a cost. Common goals are: Buying a first car, then keeping a car on the road Getting onto the housing ladder, and potentially upgrading our homes over time Sending our children to college or university Travelling the world …

We’ve had quite a few clients call us over recent weeks asking ‘what do we do given that Brexit is coming?’ It’s an understandable concern given that change is coming – and yet we don’t know what that change is going to look like. As with any significant upcoming uncertainty our advice is to ‘sit …

You may have seen the headlines around pension scams in the media over recent days. It is a sad but true fact that scams can arise in any area of life, not just financial services. At present, pensions are being targeted because the recent rule changes mean that many people have questions on what they …

Further our last article on powers of attorney we have continued with another staple of later life planning – Wills. Arguably knowledge that it is very important to having an up to date, valid will (irrespective of age!) is much more widespread than the importance of having valid powers of attorney. Having said that, 1 …

There are many situations that can arise that may prevent people from being able to manage their own finances, and these can occur at any stage of life. The question is what happens when you are unable to manage your affairs and nothing has been put into place? The ‘default’ position is that your family …