News

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has published a second report in relation to its Inheritance Tax (IHT) review. The report, published in July, spans 103 pages and is entitled ‘Simplifying the design of Inheritance Tax’. Recommendations The report explores the main complexities and technical issues associated with IHT, making 11 recommendations which the OTS […]

All successful gardeners will understand the need to regularly tend their plants, shrubs and lawns in order to ensure a garden can flourish. And, for investors, taking a similar approach with their financial affairs can also bear fruit by ensuring their investment portfolios don’t become neglected and, as a result, underperform. Weeding, sowing… As with […]

Understanding the value of protection Working out the difference between life insurance, critical illness, income protection and buildings and contents insurance can be difficult, especially when they are wrapped up in the blanket term ‘protection’. While it’s easy to presume there is an overlap and that an individual policy for each one isn’t necessary, they […]

CREDIT CARD DEBT AT ALL-TIME HIGH Bank of England statistics show the total amount of UK credit card debt now stands at a record £72.9 billion, as lower interest rates have driven a decade-long consumer borrowing binge. The data also confirms, however, that a slowdown in the growth in borrowing that has been evident for […]

Recent data shows the global economy faltered in the second quarter of 2019. Policymakers have begun to respond, with the US Federal Reserve (Fed) cutting rates for the first time in a decade, but with the US-China trade dispute rumbling on and another Brexit deadline looming, fears of a global recession have increased. Economic growth […]

FCA TO TACKLE WEB FRAUD The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has established a ‘war room’ to tackle suspect investment schemes advertised online. This follows a wave of internet scams, often targeting vulnerable pensioners. The team aims to curtail the increasing number of internet-enabled fraudulent schemes, often operated by small groups of criminals, which are defrauding […]

The higher-than-average house price growth in top university cities is making it difficult for talented individuals to stay on and work locally after graduation. Research4 has shown that in the period 2009 to 2018 house prices in London have risen 76.3%, in Cambridge 73.4% and in Oxford 66.8%. This represents growth 25% higher than the national […]

What’s putting you off moving? Setting aside a sluggish property market, it seems that, for many of us, it’s the thought that the process is just too stressful. The costs, finding a new mortgage, lack of certainty about a new area or a fear of the unknown has put off 60% of homeowners1 placing their current […]

People on an average salary who wish to retire at the age of 65 will now typically require a pension pot of almost £450,000 in order to fund their retirement until they are 100 years old, recent analysis has found1. Never too early to start saving The research also shows that an individual who starts […]