UK residents now change jobs 17 times, on average, across their working lives. With each new job that you take, moreover, your employer is obliged to sign you up to the organisation’s pension scheme under UK auto-enrolment rules. As such, you could end up with over a dozen pension pots from your career…
An inheritance tax (IHT) bill can cost families thousands of pounds if no careful planning is put in place. Fortunately, a range of tools is available in 2022-23 to help you reduce an unnecessary tax bill – leaving a more meaningful legacy for your loved ones. In this guide, we share six ideas to help you mitigate a future IHT liability…
Many self-employed people struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the onset of social distancing restrictions, quarantine and work-from-home orders, several businesses struggled to keep going. Hairdressers, tattoo artists, photographers and others could not meet their clients…
The NHS is under great strain at the moment. A&Es are turning away ambulances, with over a quarter of ambulances waiting 30 minutes (or more) to deliver patients to hospitals. Partly, the situation has been driven by surging hospitalisations from COVID-19 – which has also caused thousands of…
With inflation running at 9% (the highest since 1982), many people are wondering how to keep their savings growing, in real terms. Interest rates from regular accounts rarely beat 1%, so a 9% inflation rate could represent more than 8% loss – even if your bank statement says you have earned more interest…
The Bank of England (BoE) has raised the base rate four times in six months. With inflation now standing at 9%, some analysts believe further rises may be on the horizon. Rising interest rates have multiple effects on the economy and household finances. However, they can also have an impact on stock markets…
Households are facing increasing pressure from the rising cost of gas and electricity. In 2021, the average annual gas bill was £575 (£47.92 per month) and electricity was £764 per year (consumption of 3,600 kWh/year) – bringing the total to £1,339. At the time of writing in June 2022, however, the energy price…
Some recent headlines have argued that public sector pensions (civil servants, doctors etc.) offer the best deal. Yet is this truly the case? This is important to address, as it may affect your future career choices. Below, our team at Elmfield Financial Planning in Padiham, Burnley, puts forward some…
The UK’s specialist police unit for tackling fraud has warned that the rise in living costs in 2022 may encourage more scammers to target people’s finances. DCI Gary Robinson, head of the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), has said that criminals are likely to “use the cost of living crisis…
Investors can, of course, invest in companies and assets in their home countries. However, can you invest overseas – and should you? As financial planners, we believe there is a strong case for “global diversification” (spreading your investments across different countries). However, why is this often…
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