The debate about the relative benefits of investments trusts and investment funds (unit trusts and OEICs) could be coming back into focus. Investment trusts have a history going back over 150 years, long before the first unit trust appeared in 1931 or, later still, the birth of the open-ended investment company (OEIC).The major difference between […]
The state pension triple lock may not survive much longer. The impact of Covid-19 on earnings could mean a change in the way that state pensions are increased in each year. If nothing is done, it could give pensioners a large income boost, but cost the government dearly. At present, the new (single tier) state […]
The adoption in the UK of a transatlantic approach to income tax could appeal to a cash-strapped Chancellor. “…only the little people pay taxes.” That 1980s comment by the New York Hotel owner Leona Helmsley sums up an attitude that many taxpayers still believe to be true. Today the same idea often manifests itself in […]
The second quarter of 2020 saw a substantial switch back from the falls of the first quarter. Index 2020 Q2 Change FTSE 100 +8.8% FTSE All-Share +9.8% Dow Jones Industrial +16.4% Standard & Poor’s 500 +21.8% Nikkei 225 +17.8% Euro Stoxx 50 (€) +16.0% Shanghai Composite +8.5% MSCI Emerging Markets (£) +17.7% 2020 so far […]
Any discussions involving money can be uncomfortable and particularly so when it involves the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next. However, the next 30 years are expected to see the largest ever intergenerational passing of wealth, as Baby Boomers pass on assets to their heirs. Baby Boomers have been the wealthiest generation […]
The Covid-19 pandemic has seen the values of many investments fall. But lower values can have a useful upside. ‘It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good.’ So it is with the drop in the value of shares and investment funds that has occurred since the start of 2020. It’s worth remembering, however, that […]
