[no_blockquote text="“DON’T JUST DO SOMETHING, STAND THERE.” JACK BOGLE" show_border="yes" show_quote_icon="yes"][vc_separator type="transparent" thickness="1" up="25" down="0"] I couldn’t resist posting this video, from Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, on why the ‘traditional’ finance industry has got it all the wrong way round....
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Here as usual is our summary of the main announcements in today’s Budget, with some thoughts and comments to boot. The build-up to this Budget suggested it could be far-reaching and highly memorable, but in the end it appears that political pressures linked to the EU referendum in June may have got the better of the Chancellor. There was a lot of fluff and not much...
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Humans are terrible investors. Our brains are primarily driven by emotion and, in certain situations, it can make us act irrationally. This presents a problem for traditional economics, where there is a presumption that everyone acts rationally. To demonstrate this, imagine I offer you a game to play. A simple coin-toss: heads or tails. If you win, I will give you £1; if you lose, you...
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2016 has started in spectacularly poor fashion, eerily reminiscent of 2008 – a story that didn’t end well. In the furore of doom-and-gloom headlines, we prefer to ask a slightly more unorthodox question: How does it make you feel? If all this uncertainty* makes you feel anxious then you should try to go back to basics and follow these three rules: 1. Understand your risk tolerance: research from...
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April heralds a number of major changes to tax and pension rules (as outlined in previous editions of this newsletter). One, that has so far avoided most of the headlines, is the change to the taxation of dividends and the introduction of a new dividend allowance. From April, everyone will be able to receive £5,000 of dividends without incurring any extra income tax. In the right circumstances,...
Read MoreWelcome to the latest edition of the Kennedy Black Quarterly Private Client Newsletter. First off, we are delighted to be able to say that Kennedy Black Wealth Management recently won not one but two prestigious awards: Boutique Wealth Management Firm of the Year and Financial Planning Product of the Year (for our INTELLIGENT WEALTH MAP planning tool). As well as that announcement, we also cover a few interesting...
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Effective home insurance is an important part of protecting your family’s finances. We often find clients are under-insured, which means any prudent planning could be undone through events beyond their control. Part of the problem is that online comparison sites primarily focus on price. That means insurers are incentivised to reduce core levels of cover and exclude any extras, in order to keep headline rates low. But...
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A relatively sobering conversation recently highlighted the risk of relying on employer-based life assurance (often referred to as “Death-in-Service”). Most employers offer life cover as a benefit for employees: often a multiple of salary (3 or 4 times being most common). There are a number of benefits of doing it this way, for employees, employers and insurers. While some cover is better than none, it is worth...
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As we approach the end of the tax year, Enterprise Investment Schemes (EIS) and “Seed EIS” (SEIS) will be high up the agenda for a number of our clients. These are high-risk investment vehicles that attract significant tax benefits because they invest in small businesses. The government has repeatedly asserted its commitment to EIS in recent years. While tax avoidance has become a sensitive issue lately,...
Read MoreGeorge Osborne announced his half-yearly Budget yesterday. This is, in fact, his third visit to the despatch box this year after the Budget in April and the Summer Budget in July. The build-up was very much focused on the continuation of Mr Osborne’s austerity measures. There was plenty of that, as well as a few items that our clients are likely to find interesting. However, given the...
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