Crypto Savings Rates
The Independent has reported that an individual claiming to represent the Anonymous hacking collective has accused billionaire Tesla owner Elon Musk of having liquidated dreams and “destroyed lives” with his tweets about cryptocurrencies. We are not in a position to offer a view as to the accuracy of this assertion, but we are very aware […]
Second Opinion Service
We take advice when we know we lack the experience, competence or knowledge to make wise decisions ourselves. But how do we evaluate the quality of the advice we’re being given? Investment & Retirement Solutions Second Opinion Service: The extra set of eyes. We think our extra set of eyes service should be like the relationship […]
Our Six Appeal
We love a play on words, but sadly can’t take all the credit for highlighting our six appeal, our friends at Vanguard Europe provided the inspiration for this post, but more importantly, for the title. The mission of Investment & Retirement Solutions Ltd is to do our very best to help our clients achieve their […]
Tokyo Stock Exchange
It’s nearly that time of the year where our Japanese friends enjoy their “Golden Week” holiday from 30 April until 5th May. Consequently, the Tokyo Stock Exchange will be closed from 30th April to 5th May (inclusive). The last dealing day for Japanese Equity funds will therefore be 29 April. As usual, fund groups are […]
Tax Year End
Tax Year End – 5th April 2021 It’s that time of the year again and what a year it’s been. We’re going to skip the usual reminders of bagging your Individual Savings Account allowances, banking your Capital Gains Tax allowances, utilising your annual Inheritance Tax gifting allowances and maximising the amazing annual income tax reliefs […]
“Good Divorce Week”
Many commentators have spoken of the social and mental pressures of “lockdown”, however, the concept of being in lockdown with someone you’re no longer compatible with hasn’t been explored in detail yet. One of our specialist subjects at Investment & Retirement Solutions Ltd is the financial aspects of divorce and pension sharing orders in particular. […]
Sovereign credit downgrades
Lost in last week’s excitement about arguments over the fish around the UK, the developing second coronavirus wave and the political power battle between Manchester and London was a piece of news which at any other time would be THE NEWS: Moodys, the credit rating agency downgraded the credit status of the UK, theoretically making […]
Turning Japanese?
It was back in 1980 when The Vapors released Turning Japanese. This article is not to answer the question “was Kirsten Dunst’s cover of Turning Japanese better?” (work it out yourself, you’ll find both further down this page); rather it’s to consider some of the potential financial planning and economic implications of “turning Japanese”; the Japanification hypothesis. The […]
Insure to protect
No one knows what is round the corner, which is why we think protecting yourself and your family against the worst is vitally important. But they won’t pay In our article here we reveal that the most recent statistics from the Association of British Insurers state that 98.3% of claims were paid in 2019. We […]
Life Cover & COVID
Insurers paid £90m in death claims when coronavirus was at its peak, according to the latest data from the Association of British Insurers. No amount of money can replace a human life, but the bereaved having money gives them one less thing to worry about. Insurers received 7,000 life insurance claims, and paid £90 million […]
Vulnerable Persons Policy
Today, 18th August 2020, Investment & Retirement Solutions Ltd has published a slightly revised version of our Vulnerable Persons Policy. Our regulator, The Financial Conduct Authority explain vulnerability with the following statement: “A vulnerable consumer to be someone who, due to their personal circumstances, is especially susceptible to detriment, particularly when a firm is not […]
Negative Interest Rates?
In our article of 20th May we commented about how the UK government had sold a bond (government debt) with a negative yield. We went on to explain that in practise, this means that the government is being paid to look after investors money, rather than having to pay to investors for the benefit of […]
The other type of divorce
We often hear people talking about leaving the EU without acknowledging that the UK has already left the EU (31 January 2020) and that we’re currently in a transitional period which runs until 31 December 2020. Our article Remember Brexit? we considered some of the potential financial planning impacts of the end of the transitional […]
The other “R” – recession
Early in July, investors were buoyed by news of progress in the development of coronavirus vaccines. However, as the month continued, optimism was tempered by a surge in infection rates in countries including the US, Australia, Spain and India. Investor sentiment was further dampened as the strained relationship between China and the US continued to […]
Reflections: Powers of Attorney
We’re huge advocates for every adult to have Lasting Powers of Attorney covering their property and finances and their health and welfare. Whilst we’re competent to discuss the need, we won’t formally advise upon them, nor prepare them for our clients, preferring instead to redirect clients to a trusted solicitor. We were delighted to note […]
The Summer Statement
On balance we think we did a pretty good job with our guesses about the content of the summer statement. Read our forecast here In a bid to stave off sweeping job losses and promote economic recovery, the Government’s Summer Economic Statement focused heavily on jobs. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak warned of “profound […]
Our review of Q2 2020
The second quarter of 2020 could not have been more different from the first. With welcome relief, the UK and the rest of the world are beginning to reopen their economies after 3 months of lockdown. While there are various challenges ahead, things seem more positive than they did 3 months ago with early signs […]
Remember BREXIT?
With the last few months, and probably much of the coming months being dominated by the coronavirus we’ve spent some time thinking about other matters. On the cusp of the New Year, we left the European Union and entered a twelve-month transitional period. The notion of the UK’s future relationship with the EU is now […]
2nd wave fears
We started 2020 predicting a ‘choppy year’ for investors as we left the EU and entered the transitional period; whilst Russia and Saudi Arabia fought a ‘war-of-words’ (the collateral damage was global oil prices); the backdrop of a Presidential twitter account having the potential to yo-yo anything, anywhere, leading up to the US election later […]
The Great British Debate: House prices
As professional independent financial planners, we’re constantly bombarded with huge quantities of research, some of which is exceptionally robust, some considerably less so. Sometimes we’ll review research on a particular subject and find diametrically opposing views. Invariably, that’s when competing forces are arguing for their self-interest. This is particularly so when it comes to house […]