Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water … After several recent rallies in share prices, we are currently seeing another slight downturn; so investors could be forgiven for being slightly nervous about investing in shares, in case they fall even further in value. Markets might, of course, fall again [...]

Financial services professionals are so accustomed to think in terms of inheritance tax, that even we can occasionally miss some of the more obvious pitfalls of dealing with the financial consequences of death. Of course, one of the most challenging issues is intestacy; simply not having made a will. Where this occurs, money can end [...]

The government had intended to increase the public’s annual contribution to MPs pensions by more than 7%. It is hardly surprising, given the furore about MPs expenses – plus strong opposition from not only the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, but also that stalwart of the Labour backbenches and pension guru, Frank Field – that it [...]

Whatever you think of the job done by Michael Martin as Speaker of the House of Commons over the past nine years or so it is a fact that, like the Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor (head of the House of Lords) he is entitled to retire on a pension of half his earnings, in [...]

If reading about how banks pay massive bonuses to their employees – at a time when we have just had to bail them out – makes your blood boil, why not give a thought to how members of parliament are faring in the current economic environment? Salaries It has been announced that MPs received a [...]

Once in a while, it can be a good idea to get back to basics, so when the weekend press starts going on about ‘emerging markets’ as if there were the solution to all our investment challenges, it is worth putting this into context. What is an emerging market? Emerging markets are generally held to [...]

Have you ever considered that the focus for many communities is actually the local pub? Of course, not everyone goes there, but it is often the hub for discussion of what actually matters to people. So the fact that people can no longer go in and have a quiet smoke with their tipple is something [...]