Covid-19 has devastated travel around the globe. Although many lockdown restrictions have been lifted, airports remain eerily quiet with airlines operating just a skeleton service. This summer, most people’s holidays will more closely resemble summer holidays in the era before cheap international flights allowed us to travel to warmer climes and avoid the undependable British …
Introduction If there was one word that characterised July, it was tension. Tension between Beijing and Hong Kong, tension between China and the US, and tension between China and the UK over Huawei. The UK made a citizenship offer to up to 3m Hong Kong residents and duly suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong. …
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 …
The Covid-19 outbreak has meant that it’s unlikely any of us will be travelling any time soon. However, virtual escapism remains on the cards for anyone with an internet connection. You can now see some of the world’s most amazing travel experiences from the comfort of your chair. Best of all, you don’t even have …
The world ‘post-pandemic’ is going to look startlingly different and it goes without saying that businesses will need to adapt. It’s likely that the pandemic will have accelerated the digitalisation of business to the extent that organisations right across the board will have some kind of innovative technological solution in place. What’s more, efficiency is …
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, …
