ISA

Cash LISA market

As of 28 August, Nottingham Building Society has a cash Lifetime ISA (LISA) available. They are one of only two providers offering a cash version. This account can be opened with just £10 but you must go into a branch to actually open the account; however, an online version should be available by the end of this year. To recap, a LISA allows those aged between 18 and 50...

Building Wealth Slowly But Surely

Many people assume that to become a wealthy investor you need a large pot of money to begin with. Yet almost anyone has the potential to build a sizeable sum over time by investing small amounts regularly. The important thing is getting started, and the earlier you do the more time your chosen investments have to grow – and time can be an exceptionally powerful ally.   Time on your...

Savings returns likely to stay low

Long-suffering savers have seen little return on their money for years – so any rise in interest rates is likely to bring some good news.   Yet, commentators say that even if a rise in interest rates is announced by the Bank of England on Thursday, savers should not expect too much. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is widely expected to raise the Bank rate from 0.5% to 0.75%....

Are You An Idle Saver?

Idle Savers, people who stay in default pension funds, are losing 4.75 per cent in returns every year, according to research from Hargreaves Lansdown.   Data from a survey of 58,000 workplace pension members show 47 per cent of people with a pension above £25,000 choose their investments. Comparatively, just 5 per cent of people with a pension pot under £5,000 are actively choosing funds. Hargreaves Lansdown senior pension analyst Nathan Long...

Spend Spend Spend

It is likely that a large proportion of financial wealth will be left unspent, to be passed on to the next generation, rather than being spent in the retiree’s lifetime. We wrote about this back in May and encouraged you to spend some of your hard-earned savings on whatever your heart desires. We understand that not everyone is so whimsical as to pop out and buy a few speedboats,...

Financial basics – need to know!

A hot topic at the moment is the fact that many adults are not able to carry out basic financial calculations and do not have the knowledge to understand everyday banking and financial matters. It is estimated that 49% of working-age individuals find the idea of managing their money daunting and have a numeracy level equal to that of today’s primary school age children. It is thought that this...

Cash ISA slump

Historically cash ISAs have been the “go to” account for savers but, they are just not producing the returns savers need. Since the Bank of England cut interest rates to 0.5% in March 2009 cash ISA rates, and savings rates generally, have dwindled. They experienced their worst year on record in 2017, with average returns much lower than stocks and shares invested ISAs which on average will return between...

Annual Investment Review Seminar 2017

This weekend, I was pleased to spend my Saturday catching up with some of our Investment and Pension Clients for our Annual Investment Review Seminar. The purpose of the day is not just to update our Clients about important things changing in the world of ISA’s, Investments and Pensions, but also to reflect on the previous year’s performance and look where the growth will be coming from for the...

Annual Client Review Day

Saturday, 29th April 2017 marked our 3rd Annual Client Review Day, and I am pleased to say every year this event seems to gets bigger and better. So much so, that this year we had outgrown our offices and hosted the day at The Macdonald Botley Park Hotel. This is one of my favourite days in the Redwood calendar as some of our most valued clients come together for...

ISA Allowance – Use It or Lose It!

Like most of us, I am sure you are thinking that the start of this year has completely flown by! This is why we are taking this opportunity to remind you that the end of the Financial Tax Year is nearly upon us! The new Tax Year begins on the 6th April 2017, meaning you do not have long left to fully maximise your ISA allowances. The current ISA...