In his 8 July summer statement, Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed that the stamp duty threshold will be immediately raised to £500,000 in England and Northern Ireland, in what some have dubbed the ‘stamp duty holiday’. The rise in threshold lasts until 31 March 2021 and will apply to both first-time buyers and previous owners. Sunak …
You’re not going to be surprised that, as advisers, our firm belief is that an advised client will get a better financial outcome than a non-advised client. How to prove, though, that we’re not just biased? What is the actual value of that advice? How can it be quantified? Most importantly, the value of advice …
Financial independence can seem like the holy grail. We may be striving towards it but feel bombarded by lots of conflicting messages on how best to attain it. These five points give an interesting perspective: Income is not the same thing as wealth Having a high salary can help you accumulate wealth but that’s no …
Looking back to the start of last month, June began optimistically as the Space X astronauts reached the International Space Station and ended on an even more upbeat note as Boris Johnson launched a ‘new deal’ for Britain and declared: “This is the moment to be ambitious.” All the major stock markets we cover in …
Introduction On 11th March this year – less than four months ago – the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, presented his first Budget following the Conservative victory in the December election. That Budget was, he declared, a “People’s Budget from a People’s Government.” It was certainly a Budget that was high on spending …
You may find it surprising to learn that even financial planners use financial planners. Surely, they know it all already, don’t they? Don’t they just follow their own advice? Let’s look at why advisers sometimes find it helpful to sit on the opposite side of the desk. To clarify goals Setting clear goals is hard, …
Introduction For the second month in a row, we went back to the previous month’s Commentary before we wrote a word. How did we leave April in this rapidly changing world? With the Prime Minister having just come out of hospital and having become the father of a baby boy. With plenty of bad news …
Why it’s important to raise your financial awareness In today’s changing world we now have time to reflect on our behaviours and start gaining financial awareness and understanding our actions. Life is about choices, and our future lifestyle and security is about the choices we make today. I would like to share …
Many workers have lost their jobs, accepted part-time hours or been put on furlough as a result of the economic disruption caused by COVID-19. According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research, British households will see a drop in their disposable income of £515 a month – that’s £14.2bn for the country overall. So …
Introduction Right now, even a week seems a long time in the news agenda. Remembering the end of March, when we wrote our last Market Commentary, feels like looking back into a different era. Reflecting back, how did we leave March? With the US having overtaken China as the country with the most confirmed cases …
