Financial Focus

“No news is good news” as the old saying goes. By that definition, April was a good month in that there were no disasters. Europe remained relatively stable, Cyprus didn’t implode, Barack Obama and Congress continued speaking to each other and Kim Jong-un kept his finger off the trigger.

In Britain a very long time ago, we were tribal and divided in status within our separate tribes into the chief, elders and others. Later in our history, tribes met and merged and the rich and the poor became more defined as the landowners and the peasants, until in the last two centuries with industrialisation and expansion, we came to recognise three classes in society – upper, middle and lower.

Many of us are not aware of the considerable range of products which can be part of our ISA holdings. Taking advantage of our tax-free ISA allowance by increasing or organising our ISA holdings in 2013/14, with a concern to choose the best ISA destinations for our savings and investments, might open up a wide range of possibilities and cause us to seek expert advice.

The cost of securing an income in retirement has increased by almost a third since 2009, statistics from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) have revealed.

Research by Standard Life has evidenced that people in Britain’s baby boomer generation, now approaching retirement, say that their biggest financial regret is not starting saving for retirement earlier.

The right to deal with the estate of someone who’s died is called ‘Probate’. When someone dies, to gain the legal right to deal with the person’s Estate - their property, money and possessions - you may be able to apply for a ‘Grant of Representation’.

In a recent Which? investigation, some of the UK’s biggest banks were identified as failing to give the right advice when it comes to transferring and managing their Cash ISAs.

When I started making notes for this Bulletin at the beginning of March it was quite clear what the main ‘story’ was going to be.

Once upon a time it was all so simple. Nothing could be safer than the UK banks. They were the cornerstone of every fund manager’s income portfolio. Do you want to build your financial planning on shares that would protect you against market fluctuations and deliver a steadily increasing dividend income? Sober, well-run, cautious businesses that the rest of the world could learn from… Look no further than the UK banking system.