None of us know what’s in store for the UK over the coming years – financially, economically, politically, socially….but to what extent do we ever really “know”? Change is always a feature of life, and whilst we may experience some fairly dramatic impacts in the short-term, it’s always been hard to predict the future a...Read More

So, the new tax year is with us, it’s Springtime and, although the General Election might be causing uncertainty and speculation about what the future might hold for us all, it’s a good time to be spring-cleaning your personal finances. The start of the new tax year is always a great time to start making...Read More

Having cash that’s easy to get to – for example in a bank or building society account, Premium Bonds or a cash ISA – is the foundation of any good financial plan. We all need money to cover unforeseen emergencies, as we don’t want to raid any medium to longer term investments if we can...Read More

Since April of this year there have been many many changes to the rules that govern aspects of our personal finance, so you may be forgiven for not being sure what the various allowances, thresholds and exemptions now are. It’s a mixed bag of good news and not such good news! Some of the key...Read More

What does it take to be a smart investor? It’s not a difficult thing to achieve, and should be something we all strive to be if we take our financial futures seriously. And who doesn’t want to ensure that they and their family are well provided for, not only right now, but in the future...Read More

The recent plane crash tragedy has once again reminded us that we have little control over external events, that bad things do happen, and that unfortunately we may never know when our number’s coming up….. From a financial planning point of view, the best thing we can do is to ensure that our family is provided...Read More

With tax avoidance and evasion in the news at the moment – and few people being sure what the difference is! – I thought I’d talk about an area of tax planning that is actually encouraged by HMRC, and that is Estate Planning or Inheritance Tax planning. It has been described by successive governments as...Read More

ISAs are likely to be in the media a lot over the coming weeks in the run up to the end of the tax year on 5th April. So I thought I’d go back to basics and explain what ISAs are, and why stocks & shares ISAs in particular should be the bed-rock of any...Read More