News and Views

Whilst most clients keep relatively modest sums of money in bank and Building Society accounts, I do regularly come across some clients who have disproportionately large amounts of money in cash or cash equivalent savings such as Premium Bonds. Research shows that...

I returned from an enjoyable family holiday in Dubai recently. To describe Dubai as a surreal experience is very much an understatement. Dubai is one of the 7 Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, which were formed as recently as 1971. When I say Emirate think county....

According to a recent ComRes poll the most common New Year's resolutions in the UK include: Exercise more (38 per cent) Lose weight (33 per cent) Eat more healthily (32 per cent) Take a more active approach to health (15 per cent) Learn new skill or hobby (15 per...

Yes it’s that time of year again. “It’s Christmas" as Noddy Holder of Slade would sing. I don’t know if it is just me but Christmas seems to come round quicker and quicker each year. Maybe that’s just a sign of my ageing. Who knows. Anyhow what I have found over the...

Believe it or not this is a question I have personally been asked by couples on a few occasions. Once during an annual review with a client couple who had lived together unmarried for 25 years and brought up three adult sons, the wife asked me “Should we get...

If you are going to get a divorce, or are already in the process of doing so, you will most likely appoint a solicitor to act for you. Your spouse will undoubtedly do so too. If one or both of you have pensions you should also appoint an Independent Financial Adviser,...

Following the media these days anyone would think the world was on a precipice and we were all about to fall off of it into an abyss. In other words, according to journalists and broadcasters the world is about to end. Personally I find the media to be hysterical in...

I have long since wondered why companies pay one-off so called special dividends to shareholders. I am not a big fan of special dividends. In fact I am not a particular fan of dividends per se. Why is this? I hear you ask. Well although dividends are not officially...

I read this story on the Internet a number of weeks ago and, although it is not a personal finance issue, I felt it was such an important subject that I wanted to share it with the followers of my blog. Basically Sylvia Hatzer was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease up...

My fiancée Cholpon sold her car, a BMW 520 Diesel M Sport, for £6,800 a few weeks ago. She was wondering what to do with the proceeds when I suggested investing the money into two Junior ISAs for her young children to fund their future University education. Of course...

The global stock of negative-yielding debt is now in excess of $17 trillion as rising market volatility lends extra force to this year’s unprecedented bond rally. Thirty percent of all investment-grade securities now bear sub-zero yields, meaning that investors who...

Ever been puzzled by the term quantitative easing or QE for short? Well you are not the only one. It is of course a euphemism for the printing of money or to be more exact, digitally creating money. Quantitative easing is an unconventional monetary policy in which a...

In 1966 Robert F. Kennedy delivered a speech that included an instance, “There is a Chinese curse which says “May he live in interesting times.” Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative...

Dan Sullivan is a highly renowned Canadian coach, most of whose clients are financial advisers from primarily English speaking countries. Dan has been coaching for decades. He wrote a short book called “The Good That Financial Advisers Do”. I have unashamedly listed...

Bonds mean different things to different people. The reason for this is because there is a myriad of investments known as bonds. For example there are Building Society bonds, bank bonds, government bonds, corporate bonds and investment bonds to name but a few. What I...

Due to the changes in pensions and trusts legislation, over the last few years, it is much less clear cut whether or not to make a death benefit nomination to put your personal pension into trust. Prior to these legislative changes life was very simple. If you had a...

Students in England are going to graduate with average debts of £50,800, after interest rates were raised on student loans to 6.1%, according to an Institute for Fiscal Studies report conducted in 2017. I suspect the figure has since risen to an estimated...

By now most of us have heard of the Bank of Mum and Dad (BOMAD). Increasingly parents are lending or gifting money to their children typically to put towards their first property purchase. Legal & General recently confirmed that the Bank of Mum and Dad is now the...