29th November 09
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) are keen to ensure that Pension transfers are wholly justified in terms of being beneficial to the transferor. The FSA suggests 7 key questions to pose/cons...
Read More25th November 09
Mortgage interest rates are at their lowest level for a good few months, having fallen back since July. This is great news, the disparity between the Bank of England (BoE) ‘Base’ rate of interest...
Read More20th November 09
I visited a corporate Client yesterday to complete the paperwork for their business life & critical illness insurance. The three company Directors were taking sensible steps to protect their business...
Read More11th November 09
Picking a managed investment fund is a little like picking a share, yet on a more ‘global’ basis. By this, I mean that you will choose an individual share on fundamental issues i.e. Market Capitali...
Read More4th November 09
Big changes are a’comin to work-related Pensions in 2012. The operative word being ‘changes’ – something the Pension industry seems never to be far from. After all, didn’t we have ‘A-day’ (aka Pen...
Read More28th October 09
To start off, a few figures from the National Office of Statistics , published on October 1st 2009. - Over the last 25 years the percentage of the population aged 65 and over has increased from 15...
Read More15th October 09
I think I advised on only 8 insurance (life, critical illness, income) policies in 2008. In 2009, I believe it is already approaching four times that number. Why is this? I can only think that I ...
Read More11th October 09
From October 6th 2009, the over-50’s can save or invest more into Individual Savings Accounts (ISA). This applies to the rest of us from April 6th 2010. The overall limit is increasing from £7,200...
Read More7th October 09
The golden rules: Never discuss Religion or Politics. Well, I chose to take a brief look at modern religion a few Blogs ago, so why not go the whole hog... You have to give the Conservatives credi...
Read More30th September 09
I rarely get wound-up, but am vexed at today’s Royal Mail proposals to increase the cost of a first class stamp by 7.7% (3 pence). Second class stamps do not avoid the pain, seeing a 2p increase....
Read More28th September 09
I read an article about the effect of annual management charges on Pensions. It was authored by a BBC Radio 4 MoneyBox journalist, but prompted by a study commissioned by the Royal Society of Arts....
Read More21st September 09
A cheery topic today – your Death. It is not a topic any of us willingly contemplate, but more of us undoubtedly should. I can’t say that I know the figures, but I am aware that they are shocking ...
Read More13th September 09
Sitting there this morning, nursing a cup of tea whilst trying manfully to wake up, my attention was taken by a piece on the BBC morning news. Apparently, a lady had logged-on to the internet to ...
Read More9th September 09
A heartening story, this. I hail from the same town as Dean Macey , Britain’s Commonwealth Gold medal winning Decathlete. Although living elsewhere now, I remember bawling encouragement at my tel...
Read More5th September 09
Almost exactly a year ago, I penned a Blog entitled ‘ AutoTrader & Ebay car scam ’. Please use the Blog Calendar on the right and select September 7th 2008 if you would like to read it. I feel it ...
Read More2nd September 09
Women whose husbands were born on or after 6th October 1945 will soon face a rude awakening in terms of the State Pension benefits due after his death. The Basic State Pension is not transferrable ...
Read More1st September 09
An alternative way to describe discretionary spending is those non-essential purchases we make i.e. a day out, a restaurant meal, etc. Over the Bank Holiday weekend, I watched a live Premiership fo...
Read More26th August 09
Less waffle here today. I have been asked by a couple of friends of mine to see if I can obtain a mortgage for them, wishing to live together for a little while before their impending marriage in 201...
Read More24th August 09
The prize for the most unrealistic activity of the weekend goes to…me! Why? Well, I have always wanted to play Football, but have never really been in the position to affiliate to a team. I have ...
Read More19th August 09
The statistics tell us that people are living for longer. So, quite a few of these will need varying degrees of care, whether it be full-time nursing or simply to reside in a care home. I am in th...
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