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We hope you find the content of our blog useful and informative.
If any of the points raised are of interest, or you would like to discuss your own situation in more detail, please call us and we will be happy to help.
The information is intended to provide information only and reflects our understanding of legislation at the time of writing. Before making any decision, we suggest you take professional financial advice.
Category Archives: Investment
Venture or Adventure?
Venture Capital Trusts offer investors excellent tax breaks and access to further diversification for their portfolios Continue reading
Posted in Investment, Tax & Planning
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Pension Death Benefits – Are They Tax Free?
Pension and life assurance policies that are written under a trust are usually free of Inheritance Tax when death benefits are paid. This is ideal, particularly when combined with the fact you can usually change your beneficiary, if required, with a nomination form. … Continue reading
Posted in Inheritance Tax, Investment, Pensions
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Market Recovery – Are we there yet?
With the ever-increasing problems that are coming out of the Eurozone, first Greece and now Spain and Italy falling under the spotlight, it is fair to say that the positivity the markets were demonstrating earlier on in the year has … Continue reading
Posted in Investment, LIFT-Financial, Market Updates
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Solar Energy – The Future’s Green
Following recent UK and European legislation, the UK government must ensure that by 2020, 30% of the UK’s electricity is generated from renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind. Currently only 5.5% is generated from these sources, and as … Continue reading
Posted in Investment
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Inflation Busting
Inflation has been running ahead of target since the end of 2009. Rising prices continue to erode the real value of our cash, reducing our purchasing power. Prices have been driven up by soaring costs for food and fuel, and have been further boosted by a higher rate of VAT. Continue reading
Posted in Investment
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Oil Prices
Commodity prices have been volatile in recent weeks, affected by mixed economic data and ongoing concerns about geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and North Africa. Crude oil prices plummeted in early May and, amid the instability, the price of Brent crude underwent its most severe weekly fall on record. Nevertheless, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) believes that prices reflected short-term market fundamentals more accurately following the drop. Continue reading
Posted in Investment
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Irrational Behaviour
Investors are strange creatures: they wait until the market has risen before they put money in and then sell out when the market has plunged – or worse, hold on to a floundering stock, waiting for it to get back to the value they paid for it. Continue reading
Posted in Investment
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Junior ISAs
The Coalition Government has now confirmed details of the long awaited savings plan analysts had been expecting since the withdrawal of Child Trust Funds (CTF) last year. Continue reading
Posted in Investment, Tax & Planning
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Interest Rates
With interest rates offered by the major banks/building societies for cash being poor and fixed rate bonds are offering in the region of 3%, which is not really sufficient to compensate for the lack of , you may be interested in an instant access account, accessed via registered financial advisers. Continue reading
Posted in Investment
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Japan Aftershocks
There has been only one story in Japan since the end of February – the earthquake and its aftershocks, both human and economic. Whilst news analysts have contemplated the human devastation, markets have focused their attention on the costs of the disaster, ie: the rebuilding, its effects on economy and the extent to which companies may be affected. Continue reading
Posted in Investment
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