Five Pension Myths Busted
With final salary pension schemes becoming less common and more people having to fund their own retirement with a money purchase pension, our pension geeks are on a mission to bust some commonly held myths about these types of pensions. | full story...>>

Interest Only Mortgages - What Are The Options?
You may have seen or heard a good deal of media coverage on Interest Only Mortgages. That is because the Thematic Review into Interest Only Mortgages has now been published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with the headline numbers being; | full story...>>

Lost in Space? Act Now to Track Down All Your Pensions!
One marked change in modern life is the huge shift in work patterns. Many people will do a large number of jobs and possibly multiple careers throughout their life time. | full story...>>

Green Shoots of Spring for Mortgage Business - Good News for Borrowers!
We may have read in the news about the encouraging signs for the housing market and in the last two quarters the Worldwide Financial Planning Mortgage Department has also reported consistently strong levels of new business each month when compared over the previous five years.  | full story...>>

Young People 'More Interested in Pensions Than Their Elders'
It may come as a surprise to many but recent research has suggested that the 1980s generation are more "switched on" to pensions than many of their older peers and is also more determined to save extra in the coming year. | full story...>>

55 is the Pension Highway Legal Limit
With the state retirement age galloping towards 70 faster than a Findus lasagne, it is worth noting that there are ways to access your personal pension at 55 - but there are a lot of 'buts'. | full story...>>

When Mortgage Size Makes a Difference
No off-colour jokes, we promise! We're talking mortgages this week - more specifically, how much you can borrow with a mortgage. When it comes to a mortgage, size can make a big difference. | full story...>>

Don't Go Without When it Comes to Your Money
2013 is racing onwards and it's February already. Is it really more than a month since Christmas? It might seem hard to believe, but it really is. And it's at this time of year that some of us think about those resolutions we haven't managed to keep - we've resigned ourselves to the fact that our determination to visit the gym at least twice a week isn't going to happen and instead, we have started thinking about cutting back on something for Lent. | full story...>>

What's Happening With the Retail Distribution Review?
Big changes came into effect on the 1st January. It was the start of a brand new year and also the start of a brand new era for financial services. We've written previously about the Retail Distribution Review (also known as the RDR) but now the changes have actually come into force, it's a good time to take a look at the impact they have had. | full story...>>

Pensions Made Simple
Apart from the pension geeks at Worldwide Financial Planning, very few people get excited by pensions. Pensions are boring, right? Most of us would probably agree, until we need to start drawing one. | full story...>>

What Can a Commercial Mortgage Do For You?
Maybe more than you think. If it's something you're considering, do you know how you can find the best one? And if you have one, are you making the best possible use of it? | full story...>>

Making the Most of Your Mortgage
It's the time of year when many of us are thinking about renewing and reviewing, along with lots of good intentions to eat more fruit and vegetables and less chocolate - definitely the case for some of our sweet-toothed advisers! With Christmas just behind us, many of us are no doubt thinking of ways to lose a few pounds… and gain a few pounds of the money kind. | full story...>>

What's Ahead for us in 2013?
03/01/13 - After our look back at 2012, this week we look ahead to the coming year. What's in store for the financial world and, more importantly, for your finances in 2013? | full story...>>

Reviewing the Year
27/12/12 - It's been an interesting year for the financial world. 2012 started out with storms in the Eurozone and fears that the Euro itself was possibly facing its demise. 12 months on and the Euro is still very much with us, although there are still choppy waters around the continent. | full story...>>

Inheriting a Problem
20/12/12 - In his recent Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the current freeze on the Inheritance tax threshold (otherwise known as the nil rate band) would be raised in 2014/15. In April 2014, the Inheritance tax threshold will rise by just over 1% from 325,000 pounds to 329,000 pounds. | full story...>>

The 2012 Autumn Statement - Good News or Bad?
In short, for most of us, it held a mixture of good and bad news. There were announcements that will affect individuals and also companies, with money being taken in some places, given back in others. | full story...>>

The Future For Your Interest Only Mortgage
As we talked about in last week's article, interest only mortgages seem likely to become a thing of the past. For first time buyers or anyone taking on a new mortgage, it's not the best news, but it's potentially even worse news for anyone who has already taken out an interest only mortgage. | full story...>>

Interest Only - On The Way Out?
There have been a few news stories about the issue of interest only mortgages being phased out by lenders recently, so it's a good time to look into the subject more closely. Interest only mortgages seem to be heading for a slow demise; at the very least, lenders are fast losing interest in them. | full story...>>

Do You Have An Inheritance Tax Issue?
Judging by the experience of many of our clients, then you could well have. Inheritance tax is an issue affecting more and more people and is not, as it perhaps once was, confined to a small, wealthy section of society. | full story...>>

Act Now to Beat the EU Pension Deadline!
The European Union's income is much in the news recently. Even though Parliament has recently voted to freeze the amount of money we send to Europe, this "freeze" will allow for an increase to compensate for inflation. The end result is that the EU hasn't suffered a significant drop in income. However, if you are a man approaching retirement the EU has plans to reduce your retirement income, significantly, forever! | full story...>>

And We Wonder Why Our Children Get Into Debt!
It's really quite simple - children aren't educated in real depth as to how to deal with money. Financial education forms an apparently small part of the National Curriculum. There is also, it seems, autonomy in schools on the subject meaning that some schools make it a focus, while others don't. | full story...>>

Ethical Investing
Last week saw the 2012 National Ethical Investment Week, the fifth year that there has been a focus on investing in companies and funds whose aim is to make a positive difference to people and the environment. | full story...>>

Auto-Enrolment: Make the Most of Your Choices
The politicians are meddling with pensions again! Cynics may say that the pensions crisis could be solved by rolling an existing perfect pension scheme out to the nation - the one currently enjoyed by those lucky members of the House of Commons. However, this would in all probability bankrupt the country so most of us have to make do with schemes that result in us paying big charges and being exposed to stock market volatility. | full story...>>

Investments, Pensions and Technology
We're taking a slightly different approach to pensions and investments this week and going via the world of new technology. If you're thinking that the worlds of pensions and technology such as smart phones couldn't be further apart, well, it might be time for a rethink. | full story...>>

Independent vs Restricted Financial Adviser
Ever heard of a 'Restricted Financial Adviser'? We're guessing probably not, but after the 1st January 2013, it's a phrase you could well be hearing more often. It sounds a little bit painful, but it's all to do with the new rules from the Financial Services Authority's Retail Distribution Review (RDR). | full story...>>

Ringing the Changes for Financial Services
01/10/12 - As you may be aware, the Financial Services Authority (the FSA) have been conducting something called the Retail Distribution Review (RDR). The outcome of this is that from the start of 2013, there are changes to the structure of financial services coming into force. The overall aim of the RDR is to make things fairer and more transparent for people. | full story...>>

Commercial Case Study Pt 3 - Case Closed
23/09/12 - In the third and final instalment of this series, we'll reveal the outcome of our case and we'll describe some of the pitfalls that can arise during an application like this, so you know how to avoid them yourself. | full story...>>

Commercial Case Study Pt 2
19/09/12 - In the second part of our commercial case study series, we're going to continue the story of our clients. We'll explain here how we helped them present their application for finance to lenders in the best possible way. | full story...>>

Commercial Case Study Pt 1 - Best Case Scenario
10/09/12 - With the UK officially in recession, following a fall in output for the 3rd quarter in a row, many businesses are finding it difficult to borrow and lenders are finding it difficult to lend. What that means is that it's even more important that you and your business research the best lender for your purpose and get your approach right, first time, when you want to borrow money. | full story...>>

Five Pension Myths Busted
03/08/12 - With final salary pension schemes becoming less common and more people having to fund their own retirement with a money purchase pension, our pension geeks are on a mission to bust some commonly held myths about these types of pensions. | full story...>>

When Cover Is Critical
In one of our recent articles about mortgages, we mentioned life insurance. It's not the easiest subject to discuss - not many of us like to think about the fact that at some point, we're not going to be alive anymore. But, along with taxes, death is one of life's very few certainties, so we'd like to offer you a few thoughts on life insurance and critical illness cover. | full story...>>

Blowing the Company Trumpet!
If you currently run your own business, you may well know that in so many ways, providing employee benefits to staff can be a frustrating experience. | full story...>>

You've Bought Your First Home... Now What?
Buying your first home is a pretty big deal, in more ways than one. A house is probably the biggest, most expensive purchase you'll make during your lifetime. It's also one heck of a financial commitment. | full story...>>

Buyer Beware... especially if you're a first-timer
Buying anything these days seems to be fraught with potential problems. Even choosing groceries involves checking ingredients, use-by dates, even calories for those of us (including a few of Worldwide's advisers) who are watching our weight. | full story...>>

So You Want to Buy a House...
...But a small deposit is holding you back. You've managed, with a lot of hard work and economies, to save up a couple of thousand, but you know that realistically, this will soon be swallowed up by costs. Buying a house isn't cheap, certainly not when you factor in all the costs such as legal fees, new furniture, moving costs and so on. What's the solution? Is there any alternative to waiting and saving up for years? | full story...>>

Pensions: What's the Benefit?
Following on from last week's pensions article, we'll look in more detail here about how you can find the best pension scheme for you and for your employees, following the changes to workplace pensions. | full story...>>

Pensions: what's going on?
16/07/12 - As we've mentioned in a few articles recently, there are a lot of changes afoot with pensions. If you're an employer, these are changes that are likely to affect you and your employees. They may also have an impact on you as an employee. Our pensions team have put together the key facts here; so take a look and get yourself clued up ahead of the changes. | full story...>>

LIBOR - how does it affect us?
09/07/12 - It's dominating the headlines at the moment in the national press, not just the financial press, but what exactly is LIBOR and what does the recently revealed rate-fixing scandal involving Barclays mean for us? Is it an issue confined to the banking world, or does it have wider implications? | full story...>>

Pensions: a 'Woolly' Subject
02/07/12 - Here's a question for you; what could sheep and goats possibly have in common with pensions? No, it's not a trick question; our pension geeks have the answer. Even though some of them are many years away from their Sunday school days, they remembered the bible story about the sheep and the goats very clearly. | full story...>>

Tax. Is it child's play?
25/06/12 - One of our jobs as financial advisers is to identify tax planning opportunities for clients. When it comes to tax, one thorny issue that often comes up is the issue of tax avoidance and tax evasion. The two things are often confused, but it's crucial to be clear of the difference! | full story...>>

How Fit Are Your Finances?
11/06/12 - Olympic excitement is building up at the Worldwide offices and we're all looking forward to the 27th July and the opening ceremony of the 2012 games. Britain's hosting of the games is (almost) a once-in-a-lifetime event; the games themselves happen only once every 4 years; keeping yourself and your finances in top shape, however, should ideally be a much more regular event. Whether or not you're a sports fan, or even an Olympics fan, how about taking the opportunity to check out the fitness of your finances? | full story...>>

Auf Wiedersehen, Mrs Merkel?
28/05/12 - The debate about whether Greece will remain in the Euro zone continues. Eurobonds are again being hailed as the solution to the Greek hokey-cokey dilemma (1). But what are Eurobonds? Do they possess any magical Euro-crisis solving properties? And how do they differ from one of our favourite financial planning emergency cash reserve recommendations, the humble Premium Bond (2)? | full story...>>

Back to the Basics of Financial Planning
14/05/12 - ISAs, SIPPs, SSASs, VCT, EIS... It's enough to make your head and eyeballs spin. Judging by the amount of acronyms the financial services has, there's some justification of the view that the industry is awash with abbreviations and jargon. No wonder it's easy for people to view financial planning as over-complicated. | full story...>>

Finding the Right Finance
07/05/12 - Our commercial department were challenged recently by a business to find a finance package for them. They were looking to expand their hotel business and had outgrown the leasehold premises they had occupied for the last five years. They had seen a freehold property for sale nearby that suited their requirements and would allow them to continue to grow over the coming years. | full story...>>

Take the Strain Out of Financing Your Business
30/04/12 - Does your business need finance or are you considering a refinance package? Probably for many people, the answer is 'yes' to one or the other. Finance, whether it's for starting up or to fund expansion is a vital part of any business, meaning it's crucial to get it right. | full story...>>

Planning for your future? Take action!
16/04/12 - Pensions are in the news again and with so many legislation changes over the last few years on private pension provision, it's always useful to have a look over all the options available to you. Pension and retirement planning now needs a multi-dimensional approach and with many choices available, it can seem daunting and quite often leads people to put planning off for another day. Unfortunately, a comfortable retirement isn't something that happens by itself - it needs careful and active planning. | full story...>>

Fancy a Norwegian Pasty?
16/04/12 - In the recent budget it wasn't the cut in the higher rate of tax, the granny tax, even the new child benefit rules that most irritated most people, and especially those in Cornwall. What was possibly the last straw was the attack on the iconic Cornish pasty! (1) | full story...>>

New Tax Year, Same Old Investments?
11/04/12 - Now the new tax year has dawned, it seems a good time for some financial spring cleaning and reorganisation. With that in mind, we thought we would share the question one of our clients asked us recently: how can I be confident that I've got a suitable mix of funds in my investment portfolio? | full story...>>

Corporate Bonds - A Good Time to Invest?
02/04/12 - With Bank of England interest rates remaining at a record low, we've been asked by a few of our clients whether they should be investing in corporate bonds. In short, there's no simple answer to this. As with many things, it depends on your circumstances and what you want from your investments. | full story...>>

RIP Protected Rights 6th April 2012... and yet another tax rise!
26/03/12 - We're afraid the politicians are at it again with yet more changes to pension rules. For pensions geeks (like those at Worldwide) these constant changes provide interesting challenges to be overcome when helping clients plan their retirement. | full story...>>

Absenteeism and Presenteeism - The Potential Costs of Mental Ill-Health
12/03/12 - If you are an employer, you'll know that absences from work due to mental health issues such as stress or depression can cost your business substantially. | full story...>>

How to Shrink Your Tax Bill
01/03/12 - Running a tight tax ship, or is your money leaking away? Staying with the nautical theme, we thought we'd look at how you can keep your expenses and allowances ship shape, especially as it's nearing the end of the tax year (the current tax year ends on the 5th April). | full story...>>

Which Retirement Road to Take?
28/02/12 - Given recent Government rulings about pensions, retiring in your mid-fifties might seem like a far-fetched dream. But is it possible to have a pension scheme flexible enough to allow you to retire at the age of 55? | full story...>>

End Of Year Tax Allowance - Use It Or Lose It!
22/02/12 - With Christmas now just a distant memory, what do we have to look forward to in the coming months until the Easter rabbit calls? But if you've already had too much of creme eggs and chocolate bunnies, how about looking forward to making use of your unused tax allowances. | full story...>>

Annuities? I don't think so!
This was the reaction of one of our clients we were discussing their income in retirement. If you've not heard the term before, an annuity is a guaranteed income for life, which you buy from an insurance company with your pension fund. | full story...>>

Dental Insurance - What the Experts Don't Tell You
Dental treatment: it's expensive, right? Well, not as much as you might think. In fact, the range of prices for dental treatment can vary rather wildly. The problem is how to find the best value treatment and the most affordable way of paying for it. | full story...>>

Here's to the Duke!
And here's something you may not know... If you don't make a will, you may be giving your estate away to the crown when you die. | full story...>>

Stock Market Predictions for 2012 - it's Fear and Greed Again
It's almost as difficult to avoid New Year predictions at the start of January as it is to avoid tinsel at Christmas. Particularly predictions about the Stock Market. Newspapers are full of experts predicting what will happen to the Stock Market in 2012 and we've been casting our eye over them. | full story...>>

Employee Cash Plans - Bridging a gap?
09/01/12 - If you're an employer, you might be wondering how to bridge the gap between offering no Employee Benefits at all, and the "ideal" world of all benefits for all Staff. For most employers, it is the potential cost which offering benefits would incur that is off-putting. | full story...>>

Economic Good News
02/01/12 - Yes you did read that correctly, there is some good economic news. The current media 'glass half empty' obsession with economic depression is not giving a balanced view of the World economy. Next year in the UK is likely to be economically difficult but there is more than a glimmer of recovery in the UK and World economy. | full story...>>

The National Lottery It Could Be You - But Probably Not
26/12/11 - With the Stock Market gyrating wildly it is easy to see investment and gambling as very similar activities. Understanding risk and managing it are crucial to successful investing with successful returns. But how do you get the balance right? | full story...>>

Long Term Care Costs - Why Where You Live Makes a Difference
19/12/11 - Two weeks ago we wrote about long term care costs and funding. One of the subjects we mentioned in our article was the contribution to nursing care costs that some people are eligible to receive. This is an area where many people who are facing the prospect of long term care for themselves or for family have found themselves in a maze of rules and criteria. | full story...>>

Doom, Gloom and Taxes
15/12/11 - The days are short, the economic recovery seems uncertain and Christmas is still several weeks away. Amidst all the gloom and bad news a discussion on death and taxes with one of our clients didn't seem inappropriate... | full story...>>

Protect Your Property from Long Term Care Costs
The subject of long term care is an emotional one for many people. It's also very much a financial subject. Long term care can be expensive. There is no getting away from that. However, by taking the right advice and having the facts, it doesn't have to cost you. | full story...>>

The Pension Geek's Pop Quiz
Welcome to the Worldwide Pensions Pop Quiz! Want to know more about pensions? Worried about how you can fund yours? Test your knowledge of pensions, and pensions-related songs, against our Pension Geek's and find out the facts along the way! | full story...>>

Employee 'Perks' - Who Really Benefits?
If you're a business owner, times might be feeling tough. In the current economic climate, it might seem as if every part of your business is under review - costs, processes, suppliers etc. Wherever costs can be cut, they are being cut. | full story...>>

Greeks 1 Trojans 0
We've been following events in Greece and Europe closely, and have put together our interpretation of the Greek national debt saga and what it means for our economy and investments here in Britain. | full story...>>

Take a SIPP from the pension cup
Pension funds... Probably not something you spend much time thinking about. But they're something we think a lot about. Especially when one of our readers asked us recently how could an adviser add value to her pension fund? | full story...>>

Junior ISAs: Kick-Starting the Savings Habit?
The Junior ISA launches on the 1st November, after much fanfare from the government. It all sounds good at first glance - a children's version of an Independent Savings Account (ISA), with a tax-free contribution allowance and access allowed when the child is aged 18. | full story...>>

Time to die, Mr Bond?
It will soon be Christmas and the inevitable James Bond film will be on the TV. We've noticed some similarities between these action films and the financial services industry. | full story...>>

QE2 - Will the Second Round of Quantitative Easing Sink or Float the Economy?
Not so long ago, if you mentioned QE2, most people would think of a very big ship. Not anymore. QE2 has now come to mean the second round of the Bank of England's Quantitative Easing policy. | full story...>>

Planning Your Retirement for the Lifestyle You Want
Mention 'life style' and for many people it creates an image of hobbies, holidays, interiors and fashions. Life style is basically the style in which you live your life. It's about the choices you make in life. | full story...>>

Pocket Money, Porsches and Pensions for Children
My twelve year old son George is saving his pocket money to buy a Porsche. At five pounds a week, it's going to take a long time. | full story...>>

Investing for income: how to protect and increase your money
With the FTSE100 seeming to be on a rollercoaster ride, you may well want to keep your money away from it. However, particularly if you are looking at investing for income, there are some interesting opportunities out there for you. | full story...>>

How to Beat Inflation: The Best Savings and Investments
19/09/11 - In a blow to savers wanting to beat inflation, National Savings and Investments (NS&I) have withdrawn their Index-linked Savings Certificates and Fixed Interest Savings Certificates from sale. | full story...>>

When Will the Current Economic Gloom End?
At the start of a rather damp and chilly September, many of us are wondering not only where yet another barbecue summer went, but when the current economic gloom will end. Is there any sign that things are getting better? | full story...>>

What is the FSA Retail Distribution Review?
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) wants to make sure you get a better service when you use financial services. Its aim is to create a 'level playing field' and to make much clearer the differences between professionals offering advice and financial planning, and others who primarily sell products. | full story...>>

Fixed or tracker mortgage?
29/08/11 - A few weeks ago we wrote about fixed rates compared with standard variable rate mortgages, and with the Bank of England holding rates at 0.5% for another month it seems like a good time to return to mortgages. With rates so low and showing no sign of significant increases in the near future, do you choose a fixed or tracker mortgage? | full story...>>

US Debt Ceiling
What is your view on the U.S. debt ceiling and its impact on investments, as my pensions and ISAs have taken a pounding. | full story...>>

'Absolute' Nonsense - And It's Your Money
Absolute returns, the latest buzzword from the financial marketing world. But what exactly are absolute returns and do they really have a part to play in your pension fund, investments or ISAs? | full story...>>

80,000 Pounds Per Person in Inheritance Tax
I have just found out that my life insurance could be liable for UK Inheritance tax. Is this correct? | full story...>>

When 'Cheap' Costs You 11m Pounds Per Year
25/07/11 - Are tracker funds the most efficient solution to making money or is it just noise, noise, noise? | full story...>>

Why Your Pensions and Investments Never Seem to Rise
Investment of your money, in investment products, whether through your company pension, personal pension, ISAs, or insurance products is one of the more complex decisions that you can make. | full story...>>

The Staggering Hidden Cost of Holiday Money Transfer
With the holiday season upon us the thought of popping off to a temperature with double digits becomes more and more appealing. | full story...>>

Mortgage Customers Pay Over Three Times What They Need To
Despite all of us needing to economize, the colossal loss on mortgages is bewildering. Yet more and more of us allow banks and building societies to blatantly rip us off, despite the relatively simple task of remortgaging away from our existing lender by using an Independent mortgage broker. | full story...>>

The Cheapest Way to Get Life Insurance?
27/06/11 - Ok so life insurance is as cheerful a subject as watching your premiums go out every month for no apparent benefit. | full story...>>

60% of investments performing badly - are yours amongst them?
20/06/11 - As an investor, you want to choose the best for your investments. It's certainly not an easy task. In a recent report, it was revealed that there are close to 26 billion pounds in underperforming funds (1). | full story...>>

Investing Cautiously
Investing cautiously. In many ways it's a sort of paradox, a bit like having cake and eating it. | full story...>>

Open Market Option - it pays to shop around for your annuity
30/05/11 - If buying an annuity is on your financial 'to do' list, you may well have been studying the paperwork from your current provider to see what they can offer you. | full story...>>

Nationwide Remortgage
I have been offered a Nationwide remortgage as an existing borrower and want to know whether or not to fix my mortgage and whether or not I should stay with Nationwide. | full story...>>

Which life insurance is best?
16/05/11 - I have been advised to take out some life insurance and have been given an option of a whole of life insurance or a term assurance plan and I don't know the difference. Also, which is the cheapest? | full story...>>

The Retail World - Making Thousands From Your Investments
How often do we come back from holiday and complain about the quality of customer service we receive when we return? Fascinating. Yet somehow we continue to experience this customer service and accept it. | full story...>>

Gender Bias Ban - Some Of You Win and Some of You Lose
02/05/11 - The European court of Justice has created a ruling which effectively bans the use of gender bias for insurance products from December 2012. | full story...>>

Equity release - The Risks and Guarantees
25/04/11 - Releasing equity from your property has its risks: many homeowners are often marketed this option as an easy way to put cash in their bank account, yet for many, it is the most expensive way to do that. | full story...>>

Cheap investments - get back to bed
Just how inefficiently can someone invest money

I've always been told to make columns meaningful. Talk about the sizzle not the sausage, talk about how fast the car goes, not how many piston things it has!  | full story...>>

Investment Performance
My financial adviser is telling me to invest into a range of funds based on their investment performance last year. Is there any relationship between last year's investment performance and the future performance? | full story...>>

7 Things You Don't Know About Investment Bonds But Should
28/03/11 - It is perhaps the most sold investment in the market yet many investors seem to be unaware of the potential traps included within investment bonds. | full story...>>

Economic Impact of the Japanese Earthquake
The tragic events of the Japanese earthquake will no doubt have traumatised us all. In much the same way as the Tsunami in Asia on the 26 December 2004 led to an immense impact, the seemingly heartless capitalistic world needed its answers. | full story...>>

ISA Advice
It's called an ISA season but I don't know why, as we have all year to invest in our ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts). I assume, as we have a sell by date of the 5 April, most people have the 'use it or lose it approach.' | full story...>>

With Profits Exodus
With profit bonds! Now there is the world's greatest enigma. Not only were they never a good idea, but it is now over ten years since they were really shown to never be a good idea. Yet, today there is over 330bn pounds sitting in such arrangements, fermenting at the expense of the unaware investor. | full story...>>

Attraction of 6.5% dividends
The news that BP is to reinstate its dividend is a welcome one, and investors with all but zero interest rates may well be flocking back to the stock. | full story...>>

Banks finally easing lending
Do you believe that commercial banks are beginning to lend and do you think Project Merlin will force them to? | full story...>>

Fix my mortgage at 2.14% or gamble

Should I fix my mortgage or keep it at a standard variable rate?

 | full story...>>

Cautious investors lose again
I have been advised to invest in a cautious fund in the stock market but have read about how some cautious funds are really quite risky. Are they suitable? | full story...>>

Barclays financial planning- Exit stage right
It's not been a great start to 2011 for the banks in terms of fines for the advice they have given. | full story...>>

The Easiest way to invest
I have been advised to invest into a tracker fund but have also read about exchange traded funds (ETF) as they are cheaper. Is that wise? | full story...>>

Money for nothing, but it can be for free
17/01/11 - I read a column recently explaining that if I used a direct broker for my investments that I was losing out as they were effectively charging me but not giving advice. Is this correct? | full story...>>

Money vision for 2011
 So what does the New Year hold for us in terms of finance? | full story...>>

Staggering cost of the small print for savers
I have seen some advertisements for combination investments with Barnsley Building Society and Yorkshire Building Society. They offer a high interest rate but I appear to be forced into another investment plan otherwise I don't get their savings rate. | full story...>>

New Year's Financial resolutions
They probably take 5 days on average to break. It's probably because they are made with a bloated stomach and zero blood in your alcohol stream, but with little real drive or belief for the actual benefit at the end | full story...>>

Christmas and Fat Cats
'Christmas is coming and the financial companies are getting fat, please put your entire wealth, and that of your kids in the old man's hat'. | full story...>>

Fake Stocks and Shares
I have been contacted by a financial adviser who wants to sell me some shares which apparently are' under the radar of the stock market' and are 'set to fly'. Do you have any thoughts? I can let you know the name of the two shares they have said are well worth it. | full story...>>

Understanding the Markets
It used to be really easy to understand the markets. You could read sentiment and marry that with reasonable economic data but today it's a great big bun fight that makes it suitably complicated for some. | full story...>>

Critical Illness Life Insurance - Is Cheaper Better?
My life insurance policy for my mortgage has critical illness and I am being asked to change my policy to another for a cheaper premium. Is that a good idea or is cheaper likely to mean less cover? | full story...>>

Get Life Insurance Right
In an all too complicated world life insurance is one of my least written about areas but it is fundamentally one of the most important tasks a family should make sure they 'get right'. | full story...>>

Long Term Care - Estates Don't Need to be Liable
Long term care is, for definite, one of the biggest threats to the passing down of capital to our children. | full story...>>

How Risky Are Structured Guaranteed Products?
08/11/10 - Following on from last week's introduction to structured products/guaranteed products, I'll answer a few questions we have been asked by readers, namely, how transparent they are, what are the charges, and how risky they really are. | full story...>>

Complicated Structured Investment Products
01/11/10 - Perhaps the single biggest question I am asked about is structured investment products and they bore me senseless. | full story...>>

What Is a Tracker and How Successful Are They?
There is often a wonderful argument delivered by the different sides in relation to the argument 'do I invest in a tracker fund or a fund that is actively managed?'. | full story...>>

Investments That Just Don't Deliver
Like most I suspect , I have just left my investments in the hands of my adviser and have hoped all will be fine, but every year, when I see the valuation comes through, I cant see how on earth my adviser is paid so much for doing so little. | full story...>>

The Great Mortgage Rip Off
11/10/10 - The great mortgage rip off, and I'll bet most of us don't even know it. | full story...>>

Is Your Pension in the Background?
04/10/10 - I remember back at the age of 22 I was told to make a will and start a pension. | full story...>>

Where will house prices go from here?
27/09/10 - Where will house prices go from here as we are thinking of buying a property for the first time? | full story...>>

The End of Cheap Credit?
20/09/10 - As if banks and their swashbuckling lifestyles, bonuses and irresponsible purchases and lending isn't enough. Today the chief executive of the British Banking Association (BBA) has announced that the new rules put in place under Basel III will force up costs for borrowers and that the end of cheap credit is nigh. (When did cheap credit exist?). | full story...>>

How to lose 131,000 pounds easily.
13/09/10 - Quite easily, the worst possible opening chat up line would be to begin to talk about pensions. | full story...>>

Long Term Care
06/09/10 - A financial adviser at the bank has told me to take out long term care insurance and I wonder if it's a bit of a waste of money | full story...>>

Raising a Quick Business Loan
31/08/10 - I read your column last week on factoring. I am looking at a short term loan with my bank but don't really want to wait for months to secure the debt and go through endless contrived hoops. | full story...>>

Icy Banks
16/08/10 - I'm not sure if its just my taste of adverts but there is something about that Halifax advert (ice ice baby) that seems to have a negative effect on me. Is it the poor, contrived beginning, or the fact it really tails off in the middle or that the end is just best not talked about. | full story...>>

Is China a Spent Investment Story?
09/08/10 - Is China a spent investment story or do you feel it's a place to be investing your money? | full story...>>

Uncovering Hidden Charges
02/08/10 - When asked about how stressful the responsibility can be for investing advice for the public, I balance the thought with how stressful my life would be should I not be qualified to make the decisions I do. | full story...>>

Pensions if Insurance Companies Really Cared
30/07/10 - Personal pensions, or any pension for that matter, are about as exciting as getting a DVD extended version of a Halifax advert for Christmas. | full story...>>

Immediate Inheritance Tax Saving
I was looking at the best methods of mitigating Inheritance tax immediately. | full story...>>

Child Trust Funds
I have grandchildren and wanted to save for them but wanted to know if saving into a child trust fund was a good idea. | full story...>>

Is BP's share price undervalued?

There are various conflicting views on BP and for most of us looking for a quick bargain on our shares, BP could easily be a target.

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The Budget and Pensions

28/06/10 - Pensions, that's a conversation stopper. How to clear a bar in a split second. However it is one of our biggest investments next to our house and the pitfalls are considerable.

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How To Invest in the Best Fund
21/06/10 - How do you decide which are the best funds to invest into? I know they say that past performance is no guide to the future but what is the best way to analyse which are the best funds? | full story...>>

Is Property a Good Investment?

14/07/10 - Do you think house prices will continue to rise and would you advise on investing into property now?

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Should I Cash in My Endowment?

07/06/10 - I have an endowment policy and I am wondering if I should encash it. I took it out for a mortgage and I no longer have that mortgage so I thought about just keeping it for a savings plan. Is that a good idea?

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Tax, Tax and More Tax
01/06/10 - As we move closer to the budget, the political noise becomes louder and louder, but few can get away from the points in relation to capital gains tax we covered last week. | full story...>>

How Will Capital Gains Tax Affect the Property Market?
24/05/10 - It is widely believed that we will find ourselves with capital gains tax increased from the current 18% to as much as 40-50%, with the gain added to income. This will have two possible impacts on the housing market. | full story...>>

Is There a Tax Storm To Come?
I had the joy of having to review each and every manifesto from an economic perspective pre the election. There was more detail in a pint of milk, yet one, in fact two parties actually got in. That is confusing. | full story...>>

Hung Parliaments, Greecey Debt, and a Mounting Deficit
For most, this is too hard to read let alone study and understand. To the volatility makers (hedge fund managers et al) it's a dream. | full story...>>

Hung Parliament
04/05/10 - It's amazing the conversations that some parties are having around a hung parliament. I find it as exciting as an election campaign. | full story...>>

Dangers of Pension Poverty?
26/04/10 - I have had my pension valuation through from my insurance company and once again the valuation is poor. Can I transfer this so I can invest it myself? | full story...>>

Ethical - To Be Or Not To Be
19/04/10 - Ethical, green or not, how do you choose? | full story...>>

Which life insurance in the event of my death?
12/04/10 - Which is the best type of life insurance to cover my family in the event of my death? | full story...>>

Tax, Tax and a Little More Tax
07/04/10 - Well there was no surprise regarding the budget. Tax, tax and a little more tax. But if you are bailing out banks at a rate of knots its no surprise that you need a sub from the unsuspecting tax payer. | full story...>>

Petrol: 120p a litre, 150p or normality?
29/03/10 - Petrol prices are very much the talking point as we speak but what is behind it? Talk of 120p per litre was quickly extinguished as fuel is already selling on some forecourts at that price. | full story...>>

The Budget? Budge it more like.
22/03/10 - Don't expect anything at all. Remember when we wrote about the impending 'doom' in January '08 when the government and Bank of England were talking about inflation. | full story...>>

State Owned Banks
18/03/10 - State owned banks'. Boy do I detest that statement. That's were the 'government', known to you or I as the UK tax payer, has promised to protect banks who have shown they are clueless in running a business. | full story...>>

Why With Profits Don't Work
08/03/10 - Following on from last week's with profit bond comments I thought I would use this week's column to explain exactly how they work - without the salesman and insurance company's noise. | full story...>>

Death of With Profits - At Last
01/03/10 - I am hoping that twelve years after writing my first column on with profit bonds that this will be one of my last. I faced heavy criticism from many about the initial articles, but thankfully the basic natural laws brought this contrived rip off 'investment' crashing to its knees. | full story...>>

Savers Are Between a Rock and a Hard Mountain
22/02/10 - Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard mountain. Savers today are enjoying the paltry returns of c2.8% for instant access savings and 3% for a one year fixed bond.(1) That's the rock. | full story...>>

Quantitive Easing Has the Red Bull Effect
15/02/02 - Do you think it is a good idea to keep any investments in corporate bonds/gilts as I am hearing from some sources that they are a massive bubble. | full story...>>

Potential For Catastrophic Losses
07/02/10 - President Obama proudly announced he would 'fight' the banking institutions who were using our money to buy up investments in commodities making record profits at the same time. | full story...>>

Obama Takes On the Banks
01/02/10 - If you fully understand what Obama is doing with the swashbuckling banks, you will note the financial world as we know it will never ever ever be the same. | full story...>>

Will Property Prices Keep On Rising?
25/01/10 - No. There is no real reason why residential property should increase in value at all. | full story...>>

Cautious investors could lose millions
18/01/10 - Cautious investors could easily become fooled by some of the investment options available on the high street; and judging by the millions poured into so called 'guaranteed products' investors must clearly be reading information I am not. | full story...>>

Is there a Pound Crisis Ahead?
12/01/10 - A new year, a great year? Unfortunately not. This column accurately predicted the inevitable back in 2007, and how that would run out in time for an election, and the very real potential of a hung parliament. (By the way prepare for lots of media coverage on that subject). | full story...>>

The Problem With Investment Funds
04/01/10
Is there really that much difference in performance between investment funds or are they all much of a muchness as I have some investments and pensions and I have no way of knowing whether or not I am getting the best performance for my money or not. | full story...>>

Struggling With Business Finance?
14/12/09
My bank is telling me that it is still very active in lending in the commercial market but they are not supporting me and my commercial finance broker is struggling to assist me with my business finance. Are banks really being more relaxed with their lending or is this all hype? | full story...>>

Stressful Houses
07/12/09
Buying a home, and in turn ascertaining which are the best financial solutions for your family is rated one of the most stressful scenarios you can possibly go through. | full story...>>

Oil
30/11/09
'Oil sharks sit off Brixham coast'. 'Dear oh dear' I thought as I passed the newsagent window. And like most of these things I yawned and resigned myself to that old saying 'it's like that deja vu all over again'. | full story...>>

Commercial Property
23/11/09
Back in February I was asked about commercial property and if I would buy it and I said no. | full story...>>

Taxed Lottery Winnings
16/11/09 - 45.5 million pounds. That surely is a good Saturday morning reading when you pick up your lottery winnings. But it isn't all plain sailing as some of you might think! Consider the problems Les and Samantha, the lottery winners now have. There may be some mild sarcasm to follow. | full story...>>

Quantative Easing
09/11/09 - What do you think of the introduction of a further 15 billion pounds in quantitative easing? | full story...>>

Long Term Care and Trusts
02/11/09 - I read your article which explained that putting assets into trust was not a way to get around care costs. My will writer advised me of a ruling that says that Local Authorities cannot recover assets placed in Trust providing they were transferred more than 6 months before the claimant was placed into care. Is this true? | full story...>>

Interest Rates and Sterling
26/10/09 - Will interest rates rise and will sterling continue to depreciate? | full story...>>

Long Term Care
19/10/09 - What do you think of the Conservative's proposals for long term care funding? | full story...>>

Banks Saving Themselves
12/10/09 - I was speaking to someone a moment ago who asked me what I did. 'I am an independent financial adviser'. I said. 'Ah, you are the cause of the problems in the economy then!' He blubbered. I responded with 'yep, every last bit of it, every last bit'. | full story...>>

What's Going on With the Banks?
05/10/09 - We all know the banking sector is one of the biggest cash cows for the government in terms of tax. The banking sector has however really let itself down. The phrase 'a job in the bank, is a job for life' sits firmly along with that of 'bricks and mortar boy, bricks and mortar' and 'I'd love a night in, and a fine conversation with Jordan and Peter Andre whilst watching Strictly Come Dancing'. | full story...>>

When Good Banks Go Bad
29/09/09 - Financial regulators have taken some abuse of late in relation to their monitoring of banks, yet banks have seemingly been allowed to close the door behind them on their antics of the last few years. Apathy! | full story...>>

Mortgage Advice
22/09/09 - Mortgage owners everywhere are being asked to seek mortgage advice on their methods of repaying their mortgage - apparently. Or so the headlines go. | full story...>>

Tax Kills
14/09/09 - I read an interesting report which showed that 10 million people in the UK (a third of the working population) are not saving for retirement. | full story...>>

Inheritance Tax
07/09/09 - Inheritance tax is clearly one of the most unpopular taxes in the system and it's about to become even more unpopular. | full story...>>

Business Protection
02/09/09 - Business protection is easily one of the most passed over subjects in any company. | full story...>>

How Much Life Insurance do I Need?
25/08/09 - Everyone needs a different amount of life insurance depending on their situation. A single person with no mortgage might arguably need no life insurance whereas a couple with a business, family and mortgage will have a considerable life insurance need. | full story...>>

Property Investment Excellent Gains
19/08/09 - It seems more than peculiar that for four years to be calling property investment a no entry zone that I find myself writing about it as a potential for some excellent investment gains over the coming six to twelve months. | full story...>>

Hedge Funds and Short Selling
Can you explain what short selling is and how hedge funds use them? I have heard they are highly risky and I also know of concerns that exist about some of their ethical standards.
11/08/09 | full story...>>

The Bottom for the UK Housing Market?
Is there really stability in house prices or is it actually just the higher level houses that are supporting the market?
04/08/09 | full story...>>

Structured Products Revisited
I made two statements ten years ago on structured products: 'These investment products are for financial advisers who do not know how to explain investment risk and investment reward to their customers'; I also said I would never write on them again.
27/07/09 | full story...>>

What Is The Cost Of Investing?
For many investors the costs of investing money have been hidden within the plan. Investment bonds are a real example where the set up costs can easily exceed 10%. On the second page of an illustration you will see the cost of the product if you encashed the day after investing so be sure to read that.
20/07/09 | full story...>>

Tracker funds? So how do they add value?
I remember back when Virgin money hopped on the tracker bandwagon years ago with the line that active investment managers rarely performed well and indeed charged heavily for it.
14/07/09 | full story...>>

Bank Share Prices Face a New Pressure
I am sure you are all focused on the retail distribution review (RDR) but in case you missed it, its more than a little interesting and as a consumer you should take careful note of its contents for a number of reasons.
07/07/09 | full story...>>

Investment Illustrations Explained
When my financial adviser prepares an illustration for me on my investments I find them virtually impossible to understand. How useful are they?
30/06/09 | full story...>>

Is it Time to Fix My Mortgage Rate?
Is it time to fix my mortgage rate, and are we near the bottom for the housing market?
I will answer the housing market question first: If you had asked me three months ago I would have said absolutely no chance. Here I am only weeks ago saying that the economics didn't support a bounce but there are a number of factors that look very promising.
23/06/09 | full story...>>

10% income per year for ten years - can't go wrong?
I have read about an investment called the ARM assured income plan that produces an income return of 10% and is not subject to the vagaries of the stock market and wondered if you had any thoughts on it. Surely after ten years I have had my money back?
16/06/09 | full story...>>

Property Shares
Following on from last weeks column on the purchasing of property shares I finished by saying I would explain where to buy them. And so...
09/06/09 | full story...>>

Commercial Property Looking Attractive Again
Well who would have thought it? My first article on the potential for loss in property was back in 2003 as a warning, followed by a series of 'get out' signals from 2005. The key issue with property was liquidity.
02/06/09 | full story...>>

Self Invested Personal Pension
25/05/09 - You may remember the government announcing pension simplification in it's A-Day a couple of years back... | full story...>>

Investing. An art or just pure stress?
The key to making good investment decisions is to think properly. As rich and obvious as that may sound, consider that most financial decisions are indeed made emotionally.
19/05/09 | full story...>>

Structured Products
I know you are often asked to write on guaranteed products and structured products but I have seen one offering full capital protection plus 22.5% more than any growth in house prices or 22.5% if house prices remain unchanged.
12/05/09 | full story...>>

Homeowners Borrowing
Is it true the Financial services authority (FSA) are considering cutting down the amount of money homeowners can borrow? Owning a home is already out of my reach and if the FSA make it more difficult, surely it would be impossible for first time buyers?
05/05/09 | full story...>>

4.95% Income For 3 Years and Capital Returned
I have read about a plan that offers 4.95% income for three years and capital returned at the end. Is this a good plan?
28/04/09 | full story...>>

Better Solutions For Investors With Dismal Returns
With such dismal returns being available on cash do you believe there are better solutions for investors who want to make a better return and what risk will they have to take?
20/04/09 | full story...>>

Child Trust Funds
My granddaughter has received her child trust fund money and my daughter wanted to know what to do with it. I was also thinking about adding to it, so wondered if you had any thoughts on the better schemes and child trust funds in general.
15/04/09 | full story...>>

What Exactly is the Credit Crunch?
Ah there is a question. Well in political terms, the credit crunch is a damn good opportunity to dump everything that's gone wrong on an inanimate object that no-one can blame.
07/04/09 | full story...>>

Extra Allocation Investments Explained
I have just received an offer from my bank for an investment that offers me an extra allocation if I invest now. How do these extra allocation investments work? Are they real or is it a gimmick? This one says it will give me 102% of the amount of capital I invest.
30/03/2009 | full story...>>

Quantitative Easing: Your Questions Answered
Following my previous article on quantitative easing I had a number of questions which arose which I will endeavour to answer below.
27/03/2009 | full story...>>

What is Quantitative Easing?
Quantitative easing. Oh what financial times we are going through. So to coin a phrase for all those people who are now thinking it... just what is this quantitative easing all about?
16/03/2009 | full story...>>

Business Finance
Business finance has never been in the news more than it is now and justifiably so.
09/03/2009 | full story...>>

What are the Economy and GDP?
I often hear about the 'economy' and wondered exactly what it is. GDP is often referred to and I never understand it. Can you explain?
02/03/2009 | full story...>>