A lot of thinking went into a setting up a personal pension in the old days, especially when there wasn’t an employer’s pension scheme you could join. You’d have to decide on your risk appetite, which pension provider to go with, your investment strategy, which funds to invest in, your target income in retirement and Read more ›

As if January wasn’t bad enough. The weather’s turned cold, Brexit would almost be comical if it wasn’t so serious and then you have to do your taxes. So to try and cheer myself up I’ve put together a handy guide of different options you’ve got to reduce your tax bill. Now I appreciate these Read more ›

For those who want to invest their money in an ethical way, there are many more options than there used to be, and a lot of these options are producing healthy returns. In many cases, ethical funds have outperformed their mainstream counterparts, which shows that profit and principles can go hand in hand. The natural Read more ›

Following this recent setback in equity markets, I’ve had a number of clients contact me about whether they should move their investments into cash given the so-called “uncertainty” around. For anyone thinking about switching to a more defensive stance, please read on. Firstly, your concerns are justified. The world always carries uncertainty and there is Read more ›

What causes stock market crashes? The stock market has crashed several times throughout history. There was the infamous Great Crash of 1929 – the worst market decline in US history where the Dow Jones lost 25%. Then there was Black Monday in 1987, which started in Hong Kong and spread worldwide, where the UK’s FTSE100 Read more ›

When the subject of protection or insurance comes up (also known as life assurance or critical illness cover as examples) most people tend to avoid thinking about it because, frankly, it’s quite scary. What will happen to my family if I was to die? Would they have enough? What would happen to the mortgage? All Read more ›

One of life’s biggest tragedies for me is that we are not taught financial literacy in schools. It is quite puzzling. Look at the maths curriculum of a 15-year-old and you’ll find them involved in complex calculations including Pythagoras theorem and intricate algebraic equations. All very clever. But what is the point of being able Read more ›

The Government introduced pension schedule E Auto-Enrolment in 2012, ensuring that most people joining a company in the UK enrolled in their workplace pension scheme. These workplace pensions are indeed a very good thing and have worked very well. They require little thought from the employee and are compulsory for both employee and employer, meaning Read more ›

Am I the wrong person to ask? Perhaps! I might be biased and of course you would expect me to say “Yes, you do!” But maybe you don’t. What I’ll try to explain here is why you might need one and what you can expect. Fees: Many people think financial advice is out of reach Read more ›

The ethical Investing universe is gathering strength and gaining momentum. This is a good thing because as the ethical sector grows, it will become more powerful and more influential. If it continues growing, eventually, it could be considered the mainstream and fund managers may be influenced not to invest in anything unethical. The long term Read more ›