Category: Market commentary & Uncategorized
November saw the G20 group of world leaders meeting in Canberra. The summit was notable for the new sport invented by the great and good: a bizarre game of musical chairs in order to avoid being photographed sitting next to Vladimir Putin!
Category: pensions & retirement & Uncategorized
2014 was a momentous year for pensions. Changes around how pensions could be drawn at retirement and how death taxes on pensions would be improved were both announced in the year, with the intention that all these new rules will be in place by the end of April 2015.
Category: Uncategorized
Many people have successfully made substantial fortunes from investing over the years, in various ways and styles, using many different methods. They would have had one thing in common: a fixation on the management of their downside risk.
Category: Market commentary & Uncategorized
In all the time we’ve been writing these market commentaries it’s difficult to remember a more turbulent month than October 2014.
Throughout the summer we have been writing about events in the Ukraine and the worries that conflict posed for Europe. Fortunately we now have a ceasefire in the region – and Russia and the Ukraine have just concluded a deal (brokered by the EU) for supplies of gas to resume. Just as well, last week the temperature in Kiev dropped to five degrees and 60% of Government buildings were without any heat.
Category: Economy & Uncategorized
Those owning properties worth more than £3million will be hit with tax bills starting from £10,000 under a Labour government, according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Under the party’s mansion tax plans, homes worth between £2m and £3m would attract around £3,000 in liabilities, but properties worth above £3m will take a far greater hit in order to make up the £1.2bn Labour intends to raise for its NHS policy.
Category: Economy & Uncategorized
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) reports that the public-private pay differential is now broadly back to pre-crisis levels with pensions remaining a big difference between the sectors. In the immediate aftermath of the recession, the real level of pay in the private sector fell much faster than that in the public sector. Since 2010, public sector pay has been held back such that the gap that opened up during the crisis has been closed.
