There was particular local interest in last Saturday’s Oscars because the immensely kind and talented Charlie Mackesy was nominated for the animated film of his best-selling book, The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse. His book broke all records, spending over 150 weeks in the Sunday Times best sellers list and the subsequent film premiered on BBC 1 on Christmas Eve…

Blimey, it’s enough to keep you awake at night, so much going on it’s quite wise to stand at the side and watch the world go past – after all, you saw all this in the 70’s, 80’s and then the 00’s (the noughties, I believe). In the blog today I have just outlined a list of ten key items that caught our financial eye this week.

Every weekday evening, just before the news, Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman host the ever-popular Pointless tv quiz show. On Saturdays there is a celebrity version which last weekend featured BBC sports journalist Mike Bushell and news presenter Kasia Madela. We were quite chuffed to see our company name advertised on BBC peak viewing. Then it got me thinking about other pointless things.

The largest survey of recent retirees in the US found the biggest source of anxiety that retirees suffered from was a lack of routine. We can tell when retirees are bored, they spend too much time fiddling with the detail of their money, accounts, investments, and sometimes ex-City workers keep…

My two eldest children’s first school was Little Missenden Church of England Infant School, an idyllic establishment catering for just 45 pupils. The next-door churchyard was separated from the playground by a low iron railing fence and often an elderly looking gentlemen would chat to the children at breaktimes. None of the children really knew who he was, but the teachers did.

In January this year, Kseniia, our Ukrainian analyst, ran comparisons over the last ten calendar years of the Vanguard FTSE tracker (cost 0.09% pa) versus a unit trust JO Hambro UK Equity (cost 0.67% pa) versus the Merchants Trust (cost 0.61%). Kseniia ran two scenarios, both covering 2013 to 2022…

Fishing is, by a distance, the biggest participation sport in the UK with over 1.5 million taking part each year.

I am no fisherman but have enjoyed a fishing trip three times in the last three years when on holiday. On our latest encounter we…

Being independent, we are agnostic in our choice of assets, products, managers, platforms, strategies – we have the luxury of being able whatever we want in creating client portfolios. We live and die by the sword though – if the income a client needs isn’t delivered then the relationship is very short lived, so our job is finding the optimal solution to meet your specific needs.

Spending money – your retirement money – starts off being a science and then moves to the emotional. How people invest money is hidden, not visible, but how it is spent is the opposite and that may be more insightful. Money is a utility, it’s for a purpose; if it is…

I came across a tv news story of a chap in New Zealand, who, on his first day of retirement cut the lawn. The next day he cut it again. 

He then scarified, treated and reseeded it.

While waiting for nature to catch up he…

If you’re nearing or at retirement, you should be aware of two new taxes that were introduced alongside Pension Freedoms back in 2015. And the two things your retirement depends on.

In my youth I’m not sure I paid much attention to climate change, a hot summer’s day in Yorkshire was a treat and not something to be concerned about.

Then we were in New Zealand’s largest city Auckland last Friday when it experienced its most extreme rainfall on record…by a distance…

I noted on a DIY investor site this week that they were running a story on people who run their lives – top to bottom – on being able to retire when they reach 40. I wonder if they have understood what retirement really is? It's not just the length of retirement that’s important, it’s also the breadth…

Unless you only visit high end restaurants where it’s still difficult to get a table unless you book three months ahead it seems, you might have noticed a distinct absence of staff in catering establishments across the board. So much so that…

This week David Stevenson wrote about us in Citywire, asking why don’t more people realise trusts are great pension income providers if you care more about steady income than steady capital growth.

My wife is a Kiwi and so combining a winter holiday with visiting relatives and friends is a double win. After a family gathering in Wellington, we took the ferry to the South Island and the start of a five-day hike along The Queen Charlotte Track…

Working with people like you all day, every day, we run several continual, repetitive conversations so I’ve outlined for you here the three dilemmas every client gets caught with, and why the questions are non-binary. There’s a point to noodles, but more importantly we outline for you the three main ways of drawing income from your pension.

This time I cover two aspects of retirement for you – one is what to do with the free time and your Third Age, the other is how to pay for it.

First a quick look at the fun part of retiring, the whole point – stepping away from the desk brings 24/7 freedom so what’s your plan? Here’s what Steve & Judy from the BBC did in the mid-50’s as a change of tack (pun intended) and plan for filling retirement years.

As we approach The Season of Goodwill and Peace on Earth to all men….and women… it seems the narrative is more hostile than ever. Is it social media or are we simply less kind than we used to be?