The many changes to the state pension age has caused confusion and anger among thousands of people approaching retirement over the years.  From December 2018 both men and women have, for the first time, a state pension age of 65, and now both men and women’s state pension ages will increase together.  In October 2020 the state pension increases to 66 and will gradually rise to age 67 between 2026 and 2028. 

We are likely to borrow c.£300bn in 2020/21 on top of the current c. £1.8trn that we already owe. The huge cost of the Covid-19 measures will initially be met by borrowing, but what more can be done to repay this debt?

The asset allocation or the investment mix of a portfolio is designed to meet an appropriate risk profile of an investor and typically consists of Global Equities and Global Bonds. Rebalancing a portfolio is the process of bringing the current asset allocation back into line with the original or intended asset allocation.

The Great British Public has long had a love affair with bricks and mortar, witness the continued (if waning) popularity of buy-to-let. It set us wondering what the last decade revealed about the returns from UK residential property compared to UK shares.

With the end of the tax year just a few weeks away, here are my top 10 tips you can benefit from.

Before I became a financial planner, investing was all about making money and buying a ‘hot stock’, 25 years later, I reflect on my naivety and appreciate how others may also be thinking this and asking themselves what is the right way to invest?

Over the years there has been so much research in how stock markets work, this makes sense since there’s a lot of money at stake, it seems sensible to understand it.  You’re unlikely to trust your neighbour on medical decisions, preferring to rely on a qualified doctor, so why would you trust your neighbour over your qualified financial planner, or what some of the leading business schools have been telling us for decades, on investment decisions?

A defined benefit pension is the gold standard of pensions, the scheme promises you a guaranteed income at your agreed retirement age for the rest of your life, the amount of income you receive will rise in line with inflation and the amount you receive is based on the number of years you were a member of the scheme and your pensionable salary.

These schemes offer benefits, which for the majority of cases mean that they are best left alone until your scheme retirement date, however, if you wanted to retire early, should you take benefits early?

If you started getting financially organised this year, then you should have set yourself some outcomes in January. The Money Plan is a book and a system I created to getting people on track, which includes splitting the year into quarters where you can ‘check in’ to assess your progress towards your goals. By Q4, […]

This short video clearly explains why were believe in using the Index Funds rather than Active Fund Management.

In most cases, the answer to this question is more than you’re putting in now! The minimum that you should be putting aside for your retirement plans, if you’re free of unsecured debts like credit cards and loans, is 12.5% of your income.