As a firm, Herbert Scott have always been proud to support the ongoing professional development of its staff. Even with the crazy year we have all had, various members of our team have still been sitting, and passing, their professional exams! Our newest client administrator, Susana Duarte, is now one exam away from achieving her Certificate in Regulated Financial…
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The festive season is fast approaching and so we wanted to share our office opening times over the holiday period. We will be working as usual up to, and including, Wednesday 23rd December. Our office will then close for the festive season. However, the team will be working remotely until 12 pm on Thursday 24th December. The office…
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Who’s in power? The final days of Donald Trump’s Presidency are turning out to be a somewhat unedifying affair. Enough said. Yet when it comes down to the returns of stock markets under different Presidents – Democrat or Republican – does it really matter who’s in power? Should we change our portfolios? Can we predict what is going…
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Are you worried about how to time the investment of your savings. What if the market dropped sharply just after you did? Here is one idea about how to overcome the dilemma, together with two examples of potential outcomes. Pound Cost Averaging – explained. The idea behind pound-cost averaging is to provide some protection against the market dropping…
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An article on last night’s news about a review of Capital Gains Tax made me sit up and listen, then question whether I had actually heard correctly. On reflection, perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised; after all the Government has been propping up the economy and British businesses with billions of pounds to help us through the Covid-19 pandemic. According…
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Is it too early to retire? I recently read an article from the over-50s finance provider SunLife. Based on three separate surveys they had undertaken, rather alarmingly, they were suggesting that over three quarters (85%) of retirees aged over 50 feel they retired too early. It also stated that 10% of those surveyed felt they retired too late, leaving…
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What are annuities? An annuity is a guaranteed income for life and you can buy this with your pension fund at retirement. However, if you are approaching your personal pension retirement age (often set at 55, 60 or 65) an annuity may not be the best option. I used Just to aid me in my research of annuity policies,…
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Interest rates rumoured to turn negative are currently being overshadowed by the news that the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine could be ready by Christmas. You may also hope that it will be a magical cure for our economy. However, it is highly unlikely that a vaccine will be able to fix our country’s current economic difficulties. Especially when considering the limited…
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Boris Johnson recently announced that we need to “build, build, build” new infrastructure to help boost the UK economy. The relaxations of the planning system bring good news for the construction industry and house builders. However, this could cause tax issues for pension members holding commercial property. An advantage of providing pension benefits in a SSAS or SIPP is being…
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I recently had the pleasure of meeting some new clients who provided me with the perfect example of why cash may be a ‘risky’ asset class. The couple in question had worked hard. They had diligently built up a significant sum to fund an exciting and fulfilling retirement and were about to embark on this journey. Cash and cautious investors…
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