The world’s share markets enjoyed strong rises in 2019. Index 2019 Change FTSE 100 +12.1% FTSE All-Share +14.2% Dow Jones Industrial +22.3% Standard & Poor’s 500 +28.88% Nikkei 225 +18.2% Euro Stoxx 50 (€) +24.8% Shanghai Composite +22.3% MSCI Emerging … Continue reading →

The Lifetime ISA is now on its own as the ISA option for first time buyers. At the start of December, the Help-to-Buy ISA was withdrawn for new investments. Its disappearance means that the Lifetime ISA (LISA) is now the … Continue reading →

New calculations from the Office for National Statistics have lowered life expectancies. Source: ONS Every two years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recalculates its national population projections (NPP). As part of the exercise, the ONS reviews and updates its … Continue reading →

How will the new government affect your financial planning?   December’s general election delivered a Conservative government with the sort of majority which consigns the knife-edge parliamentary battles of recent years to the past. So what will the new government … Continue reading →

In early November, HMRC undertook a distinctly non-festive bulk mailing. “We receive information about investment funds and this information shows that you may have invested in Offshore Investment Funds.” Those slightly discomforting words are contained in a letter which HMRC … Continue reading →