Investing is a good way to make your money work hard for you, so you can build wealth faster than you could if you put it in a savings account. But the value of your investments can go down as well as up and can expose you to a greater level of risk than leaving …
Introduction As 2022 drew to a close, there was a mixed picture worldwide as major economies sought to respond to soaring energy prices, rising living costs and the continuing impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In our first round-up of the year, we look at where we left off in 2022 all across the world… …
With soaring inflation and rising interest rates, many people are feeling justifiably anxious about making ends meet. That’s partly because the key triggers of the cost of living crisis are beyond our control – so it’s easy to start feeling completely helpless. But there is something you can do – speaking to a regulated, professional …
Introduction War? Soaring energy and food prices? Covid surging in China and people taking to the streets in protest? Worries about a prolonged recession here in the UK? In November, there was plenty for world stock markets to worry about – but, as we will see below, the markets largely shrugged aside the concerns, with …
Introduction “A week is a long time in politics,” as Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson famously said. What, then, is two months? Or to be more exact, 55 days? On 6th September, Liz Truss, having defeated Rishi Sunak in the ballot of Conservative members, became Prime Minister. She duly appointed Kwasi Kwarteng – a man …
If, like many people, you’ve had several jobs throughout your working life, you’ll have picked up multiple workplace pensions. But these can be hard to keep track of, both in terms of how much you’re paying for them and how well they’re doing, so you might be thinking of consolidating your pensions into just one …
Early last month, City AM had a dramatic headline: ‘Cash-strapped homeowners turn their properties into personal cash machines.’ They reported that equity release was ‘booming’, with homeowners releasing a total of £4.8bn from their homes in 2021. Ten years previously, the amount released was just £790m with only two years out of the ten – …
The Bank of England’s aim is for the country to have low and stable inflation – and it works to a target of two per cent. Changing interest rates are the Bank of England’s mechanism for achieving its inflation target, and in the current climate of high inflation, it believes raising rates is the right …
Introduction Where did we leave the soap opera that is British politics? At the end of September, Liz Truss was the Prime Minister, and Kwasi Kwarteng was her Chancellor. As we reported last month, Kwarteng presented his ‘fiscal statement’ on Friday 23rd September. Three weeks later, he was gone and Liz Truss had to endure …
Many people understand what a professional, regulated financial advisor does and the benefits of speaking to one. But at the same time, there are many myths and misconceptions surrounding financial planning, which often put people off getting advice themselves. We wanted to explore some of the most common myths we hear around this issue and …
