Inflation remains stubborn
So, inflation remain stubbornly high at 3.4% despite people not feeling especially confident about spending. So much of our outgoings now go towards ‘tax’ of course and we don’t have any control over that (but government does)… So businesses and organisations are obliged to increase their prices to cover increased costs (especially employment but...
Happy Father’s Day and advice
ISA reform looks likely – but no details as yet!
A shake-up of Cash ISAs seems on the cards as the Government has given its clearest indication yet that it is looking to reform the system. That’s a good thing as it will encourage people to see ‘investing’ as different from ‘saving’!
As reported by online financial news platform Citywire, City Minister Emma Reynolds has...
Is ‘stagflation’ looming and what can you do about it?
Interest rates have been cut to 4.5% as expected but with low economic growth, higher unemployment and price rises, some analysts fear we are heading for a period of ‘stagflation’.
First coined in the 1960s, the term simply means economic stagnation on the one hand and inflation on the other, which is neither beneficial to...
Record global dividends but is UK honeymoon over?
Good news that global dividends paid to investors hit a new record in the third quarter. This was $431billion according to Janus Henderson’s latest research, with 88% of companies increasing or holding their payout rates (84% in the UK, though the overall rate dropped in fact, as miners cut their special dividends from before).
Dividends...
One million over 45s ‘have no savings’
It’s scary but not really surprising that a recent survey has found more than one million people aged 45 and over have absolutely no cash savings as they head towards retirement.
The survey by not-for-profit organisation Fair4All Finance of 3,101 financially vulnerable people found that 37% had no savings at all, a 14% increase in...
What will Inheritance Tax changes mean for farmers and the rest of us?
Farming is a huge part of life for many here in North Devon and there is growing concern at the Government’s decision to change Inheritance Tax rules for farmers (and others in business).
Shortly we shall be writing to clients to clarify some of the changes in the recent Budget from Chancellor Rachel Reeves and...
Citywire Top 100, Budget and MIGO
Thank you Citywire again for the honour of being on the ‘Top 100 Financial Advisers’ list this year! We are very humbled.
Top 100 2024: See the penultimate list of fantastic firms
Whilst the photo Citywire uses still shows me with hair (!), the content is what counts – thank you everyone for the judgment and...
A bad Budget for business?
Welcome to the Budget. I suppose we can say ‘it wasn’t as bad as it could have been’ (as inferred previously that perhaps the snowstorm of released rumours was designed to frighten everyone witless) but there were some very nasty things in there impacting many people.
I (nor independent commentators) don’t think she needed to...