There is a growing unease about the economic fallout of COVID-19. Many businesses are laying off contractors and putting staff on extended leave. There is also the natural worry about contracting the disease. What this crisis has shown is being unable to work can turn our world upside down. No one likes to think something
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More than a fifth of UK households live in privately rented accommodation. The Government has introduced measures to protect renters affected by COVID-19. This radical package of measures protects renters and landlords affected by COVID 19. With these in force, no renter in either social or private accommodation will be forced out of their home.
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Although many spend a lot of time trying to, no one can accurately predict the future. If I could, I doubt the Governments of the world let me spend my time dealing with investment portfolios. Because we do not know which investments will outperform, we invest money into a wide variety of them. We know
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Something happened yesterday which has never happened before. The Debt Management Office (DMO), the Treasury arm charged with the task of selling government debt, sold £3.8bn worth of gilts at a negative yield. The stock concerned was 0¾% Treasury 2023 and the average yield was -0.003%. There was no shortage of market interest as they could have
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a Accumulation Units A type of fund where any income generated (dividends/savings interest) is used to purchase more units in the fund. An accumulation unit will have ‘Acc’ at the end of the fund name. This differs from Income Units. Allocation Rate The insurer may decide to allocate more or less than the contribution to
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There is a debate about whether gold makes for a good way to protect portfolios against stock market declines or rising inflation. When I was at school the currency of the playground was premier league stickers. If you had a “shiny” you could command a higher price than the standard card. Deep down, there is
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Some mortgage borrowers may have been adversely affected financially by The Coronavirus (COVID-19). Because of this, they may consider requesting to take a mortgage payment holiday on their mortgage for up to three months. The Government’s policy aims to ease the stress some borrowers will face during the pandemic. It also provides some flexibility at
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A Whole of Life Assurance policy with guaranteed premiums promises payment of a known level of cover upon death of the life / lives assured whenever death occurs, provided that premiums are maintained. The premium and sum assured are fixed throughout the life of the policy (in some cases it is possible to include an
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The damage from falling victim to a fraud or scam is not only financial. It can also have huge emotional consequences. Remember that if you are a victim of this type of crime, you are not alone. Support is available, but you need to report what has happened as soon as possible. How to spot
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MIT AgeLab has identified three simple questions to ask yourself to gauge how prepared you are for retirement. They uncover crucial factors which may determine your future quality of life. When it comes to retirement planning, we are inclined to focus on accumulating wealth and spending it wisely. While not outliving our wealth is essential
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The research on how best to generate retirement income has been evolving for decades. In the 1950s and 1960s, the leading strategy was to buy bonds live off the interest. This prevailed until the high inflation of the 1970s ravaged the true value of bond interest. In the 1980s, retirees shifted to buying dividend-paying shares
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After the events of the first quarter of 2020, world stock markets bounced back in April. The US market was the standout performer, enjoying the best month since 1987. Over March the S&P 500 rose by more than 14%. Indeed, the index is up by 30% from its 23 March low, meaning that the US
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