All Blog Posts Tagged 'wells' (52)

How are you?

I cannot quite believe we are fast approaching August already! Where does the time go?

Bear with me on this but, I have also noticed recently just how much my children enjoy playing with Lego… I am not talking about some “Harry Potter”, “Doctor Who” or “Star Wars” version that you can buy these days, just the plain old vanilla flavour Lego, the one you and I probably had as children – in fact, some of it may well be my old Lego?!

Anyway, without wishing to…

Hi, how have you been this week?

As well as the usual reviews, my week has been spent looking at care fees funding for a couple of clients and a few trustee investment cases as well as another client who simply needed reassuring that she still had enough money to live on – to say she is prudent would be an understatement and her assets are well into 6 figures!!

We now face the summer holidays so my wife has been busy planning her diary (and mine!) for the next 6 weeks or so…

Oh well, I was not the one to be blessed with such good fortune by the Euro Lottery on Tuesday night so, if it was you, by all means do let me know if you require any sort of investment advice?!!

Joking aside, someone somewhere has to, hard as it may seem, come to terms with the fact that they, their children (if they have any), their grandchildren (ditto) and who knows how many other generations or branches of their family will never have to work again… added to this they will most…

How have you been this week?

The Valiant Golf Day went well yesterday despite the heavy cloud that seemed to follow us for most of the day… it was a relatively dry day by all accounts and, although we had a few “soakings”, we all escaped a full on 4 hour plus drenching!!

The storm clouds have been looming for a while now too, as far as social care is concerned (sorry I had to shoehorn that one in a bit!) and with the Dilnot commissions report being eagerly awaited, even with…

Did you see the golf at the weekend? There was a change at the top with Lee Westwood relinquishing his number one spot to fellow countryman, Luke Donald, at the PGA championship.

And, if you are a tennis fan, no doubt you will be keeping a close eye on the French Open this Friday – Murray certainly seem to be proving he has what it takes to be considered a very talented player - and he is British!

Yes I know he is Scottish and there is a whole other debate there but as my…

I hope you have had a good week?

All this talk of “super injunctions” - as well as the controversy surrounding them - this week has got me thinking… no matter how much money you have, it does not necessarily guarantee happiness does it? Perhaps that is stating the obvious to most; after all, no one would be foolish enough to think otherwise would they?...

What it does go to prove though is that the more money you have the more choice you have… and, unless you are fortunate…

How has your week been? It seems to have flown by for me this week and I am not that sure where it went – are we really coming to the end of May?!...

In case you missed it, inflation was up in April from 4% to 4.5% (http://bbc.in/mKeetB).

This relates to the Consumer Prices Index, or CPI, and does not include the cost of mortgages. The Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation - which includes mortgage interest payments - fell slightly to…

Good Morning

I hope you have had a good week?

It may have been a bit of a struggle for some, having been the first 5 day working week in almost a month but I am sure we will all get used to it again soon?!

It’s a welcome return for National Savings Certificates this week and, although the investment has some limitations, expect a rush of people eager to secure a return designed to help investments keep pace with inflation…

Recent, as well as shortly expected,…

It seems like an age since my last update, what with Easter and then the Royal Wedding weekends, so I hope you have been well and enjoyed any (extended) time off?

Aside from the wedding and, of course, the weeks other major news from Pakistan, Long Term Care shows no sign of going quietly just yet… I am guessing that the column inches are simply a lead into the results of the Dilnot Commission which is due out in July.

Just like most (anticipated) reports there is a vast array…

I hope you have had a good week?

Well, after a quiet few weeks, there have been some interesting articles, relating to finance, over the last seven days or so.

We also had another “protecting assets” seminar last night on ways to fund for care fees and what struck me (and not for the first time) is that people are still very frustrated – mostly at not knowing what they can do?

Some obviously want to have their cake and to eat it but, as we know, this is not always…

How are you this week?

An early start this morning as I have a 3 year olds birthday party to prepare for later today, well I say prepare, most of it has been done actually, I just need to do the ‘useful’ things such as blow up balloons and so on!...

Anyway as you can imagine, it’s been full of cross examination of last week’s budget as well as those articles talking about the end of the tax year and, over the next few weeks at least, we can expect more of the former as the…

Hope you have had a good few weeks?...

Well, I suppose you could say that the budget was a bit of a damp squib by all accounts this week, we knew most of what was going to be said after all but, to be fair, Mr Osborne didn’t really have a lot of room to move now did he?!...

Income Tax

Good news for those with earnings up to £100,000 with the personal allowance going up by £1,000 this year then to £8,105 per annum from next April although higher rate tax…

So, what have you been up to this week? I hope it’s been busy for you – in the nicest possible way of course!

Amongst other things, I presented at another Pre Retirement seminar. We had a good turnout and some interesting comments from the delegates as they venture towards what will be the longest “holiday” of their lives!...

I also had one of the most emotional meetings of my career with a client who is terminally ill and was looking to arrange her affairs for her heirs……

Hope you have had a good week?

Don’t know about you but I for one was glad to see the Governments climb down this week, over the proposed woodlands sell off, following a massive public backlash… good to see that we still have some say over our land at least!

It wasn’t such good news on the financial front though, with another setback for savers as inflation hit 4% in January but, is it simply an accounting anomaly due to the increase in Vat or are the projections of 5% more…

Good Morning

A turbulent week for those in Egypt and Australia - for very different reasons – perhaps we should be a little more grateful here in the UK?...

This week I have been advising on the impact of long term care for some clients as well as an unmarried couple (one of whom owned more than £1m in assets) without wills, who thought that their respective estates would pass to each other on death as they were “…common law husband & wife…”

Obviously they were…

So, how has your week been then? There has been more discussion on interest rates this week as Mervyn King hinted that it was unlikely there was to be any immediate change in interest rates?... Personally I am not sure, what do you think?

After last weeks article about the fine imposed on Barclays, they have now stated that they intend to withdraw from giving financial advice in their branches – is this as a result of the fine or is this the shape of things to come with the new rules…

How has your week been then?

Some significant pieces this week in the news, what with the Shadow Chancellor changes and yet another bank being fined by the FSA over its advice procedures.

Also, the visit above 6000 was short-lived for the FTSE but perhaps the return is just around the corner – once the Chinese jitters have faded?....

Did you manage to see the BBC2 programme on Wills? It certainly raised questions for people to consider when it comes to what they “should”…

Hi, I hope you have had a good week this week?

Not sure about you but I am still struggling with this whole 2011 thing, the number of times I have typed or written 2010 in error over the last few days amazes me, I don’t usually have this problem at the start of a New Year so I am now wondering if I have some sort of subconscious desire to go back to 2010?...

Anyway back to 2011... Interest rates were held at 0.5% again yesterday as inflation nudges closer towards 4% (well above…

Happy New Year and I hope you have had a good festive break with your loved ones?

So, what does 2011 have in store for us?...

It’s off to a good start, sport wise at least, as the Ashes return to England but I wonder what changes we will see on the financial front – will interest rates rise as high as some expect? Will we see inflation creeping up even more? Now that the FTSE100 is through the 6000 barrier, how long will it remain there and will it keep going?

Over the…