Blog
Buried amongst the other announcements made on 25 November was a paper from the Treasury looking at measures of inflation. It revealed a decision about replacing the Retail Prices Index (RPI) with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) including owner-occupied housing costs (CPIH). The RPI has not been an official National Statistic since 2013 because of serious deficiencies
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Thinking about your death is an uncomfortable topic. Combining this with money makes this even worse. There are three places your assets can go at your death. They can go to your family and friends, charities and other institutions, or the government in the form of taxes. Almost half of all Baby Boomers say they
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Market conditions change all the time. Investors may wonder if they should change the composition of their portfolios to reflect this. How could I change the level of risk my portfolio takes? The portfolios we build for our clients align to ten risk profiles. These range from investing purely in cash to more speculative investments
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All registered pension schemes can (in theory at least) invest in property, including land, either in the UK or overseas. Pension schemes can invest directly in commercial property, but many choose to invest indirectly using pooled vehicles. These include unit trusts, open-ended investment companies (OEICs) or real estate investment trusts (REITs). As well as allowing
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When business owners choose how to take their profits, there is a compelling argument in favour of pension contributions. Dividends may still be the preferred route for most. However, changes in how they are taxed may drive more directors who do not need the income to use employer pension contributions instead. Remember, since April 2018,
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In July 2020, the Chancellor asked the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to review Capital Gains Tax (CGT). The aim was to ‘identify opportunities relating to administrative and technical issues as well as areas where the present rules can distort behaviour or do not meet their policy intent’. The review has attracted strong engagement from
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The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused many households to reassess their financial defences with the purchase of protection insurance. The diagnosis of a serious illness can mean a tough time for your health and your wealth. If you were to become critically ill and could not earn a living, would your family cope financially? Our
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It is always important to manage expectations when investing. We often get questions about whether there is an explicit time someone must invest for how accessible the money is. How long do I have to invest for? If you are investing in an investment account or an ISA, then technically you could invest the money
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A new report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has shown pension saving has crashed among the self-employed. What does it say? Back in 1998, just below half (48%) of the self-employed paid into a private pension. By 2018 this had plummeted to just 16%. The contrast with regular employees, because of auto-enrolment, is
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Employers can pay employees up to a maximum of £6 per week tax-free, to cover additional costs they may have incurred because of working from home. Where employers have not paid their employees the home expenses payment, individuals can claim this tax relief through a new online portal. More than 54,800 claims have been made
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