November 2010 - Page 3 of 4 - Financial Planning in Wimbledon

Keeping up with the Joneses

I saw “The Joneses” over the weekend. Its a film that attempts to explore the notion of … you guessed it keeping up witht the Joneses. It has some amusing observations and centres upon a fake family (of salespeople) moving to an area near you to influence the way you buy. My own view is that the idea is not developped thoroughly and scarcely embarks upon why we fall for the enticements of the “good life” and very little is done to unpack exactly what the “good life” is. The main message seems to be – don’t spend money you don’t have, but ideas about what delivers lasting happiness are largely ignored. It is possible to be incredibly wealthy and be very happy – its also possible to be poor and happy. The question about why we often forget this is largely consigned to the irrelevant and replaced with our new HD (hardly different?) TV.

Its an amusing film, but offers little bite.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Keeping up with the JonesesDominic2023-12-01T12:52:44+00:00

Ethical Investing Myth 1

Myth 1: Green and ethical investing means a specific set of products, particularly those with negative screening.

Fact: Green and ethical investing is an investment philosophy that combines environmental and social criteria with conventional investment criteria to meeting both a client’s financial objectives and any social or environmental objectives that they may have. It is defined by use of this philosophy not by any one technique.

Many modern green and ethical investments aim to help investors to make money and make a difference in society at the same time. For example, they may use thematic investing, selecting companies offering profitable solutions to particualr social or environmental problems. Negatively screened ethical funds can be selected for those that do want to avoid profiting from certain activities but this is not the only aspect of green and ethical investing.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Ethical Investing Myth 1Dominic2023-12-01T12:52:45+00:00

National Ethical Investment Week

Today is the first day of the third “National Ethical Investment Week”. Many of our clients want a bit of ethical investment within their portfolio. According to a study by Eurosif around 11% of a portfolio for High Net Worth individuals consists of some form of ethical investment holding by the end of December 2009. This was an increase of 35% over two years previously. At the same point (December 2009) there was roughly £9.5bn invested through UK ethical investment funds. I will outline 4 common myths about ethical investing this week

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

National Ethical Investment WeekDominic2023-12-01T12:52:45+00:00

Bonkers Bankers?

RBS posted concerning financial figures today, recording a Q3 loss of £132million. I wonder what the overdraft charge on that is? In general things at RBS seem to be improving with operating profits improved to £726million and core banking profits increasing by 10%.

Income has reduced to the Banks Core banking for the 9 month period to 30 Spetember from £24,706million in 2009 to £22,508million in 2010. So core income is down. The good news is that the size of the losses has reduced from a loss of £4,879million for the period in 2009 to a profit over the same period in 2010 of £1,450million. This is a considerable improvement.

Obviously there are still problems and reducing revenue is rarely a good thing. Shares are currently trading about 6% less than the price the Government paid for them, so don’t expect the largely (84%) nationalised bank to revert to the private sector any time soon.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Bonkers Bankers?Dominic2023-12-01T12:52:46+00:00

Friends & Money

Last night I saw the film “The Social Network” which I greatly enjoyed. For those that don’t know, this is a film about the story of Facebook – the world’s leading online networking site. The film charts the rise of Facebook from its contraversial launch at Harvard University in 2004. Its a fascinating tale of how an idea became reality and now has over 500million active users, with most people checking their Facebook account on a daily basis.

This success has made the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg a billionnaire. The film charts the ironic tension and breakdown of the relationships between good friends as they build the social network. This resulted in legal actions between the parties concerned that resulted in significant sums of money exchanging hands. No one is depsicted as blameless within the film and frankly all posed some pretty good arguments for their case. I’m not sure where truth and story part company, or indeed if they do – but from my perspective, the main observation is the leathal impact of a combination of pride and money on a relationship.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film and as you may know, am a regular user of Facebook. Zuckerberg is frankly a post-modern genius.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Friends & MoneyDominic2023-12-01T12:52:47+00:00

New Magazine

I came across a new magazine called “The Market” and am impressed with the content that I have read so far. An easy read with a good layout and some really excellent content and tips. Samples many aspects of stuff that I find of help/interest without getting too heavy like the specialist magazines.

Do have a look at a copy for yourself – here’s their website.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

New MagazineDominic2023-12-01T12:52:47+00:00

University Fees – Young Ones Once

Lunchtime news is that the Coalition Government has altered the way that Universities will charge students for their course. The proposals (yet to be approved by the House of Commons) make way for Universities to charge up to £9,000 a year for a course, although more typically this is expected to be around £6,000.

The current tuition fee is set at a flat rate of £3,290 for all courses and all Universities. This is typically paid for by applying for the Tuition Fee Loan. The obvious point to make is that loans in the future will be much larger (at least double). As a result students and their parents will be keen to ensure that the selected course is good value for money. The consequence of which is that Universities will certainly have to be price aware and clearly increase their marketing profile.

Another consequence is that some, perhaps many of the smaller courses will simply close due to a lack of interest from students. In addition, one suspects that the number of students living at home will also increase.

The Tuition loan itself will now be linked to an agreed rate of interest as well as inflation, which appears to be offered at inflation+3%. The concession from the Government is that the loan will now not need to be repaid until the student is employed and earning £21,000 as opposed to £15,000 at present. The loan is repaid gradually directly from a payslip each month.

This is of course a hugely political issue. Setting aside any personal view for the moment, the increase in fee suggests that courses have been heavily subsidised by Governments and that the current view is that this is not fair on the taxpayer.

Of course the “value” of education is brought into the spot light once again – are we better off having a society of well-educated citizens to Degree level and certainly this is a personal question that the student must ask of themselves before embarking on a course. I am not one of those that believes our youth are less intelligent than predecessors and knowing the workloads of my daughters and other young people I find this particularly irksome. If students are not prepared, that has more to do with a national curriculum that attempts to standardise learning and only proffer students likely to do well up for examination. We all know that an enthusiastic and inspriational teacher is worth his/her weight in gold, we also know that many find their way into teaching for lack of a better idea – as in all walks of life.

Certainly we must engage with the price of education, but the potential cost of a poorly educated society, struggling to keep pace with a global workforce is certainly a “concern” after all these are the very people that will make policy in our dotage.

As a quick guide, I estimate that with the new £6,000 Tution fee, the annual cost of University is likely to be in the region of £12,500 per student once allowing for housing and living costs… perhaps we will see a return to old-style student digs.

Click here for the BBC news report.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

University Fees – Young Ones OnceDominic2023-12-01T12:52:48+00:00

Skandia – Valuations

Clients should shortly recieve valuations for the half-year to 5th October 2010 directly from Skandia over the remainder of the week. Please remember that this is a valuation at 5th October, now nearly a month ago.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Skandia – ValuationsDominic2023-12-01T12:52:48+00:00

Dates for your Diary?

The Wine Show is being held ta Olympia 12-14 November. Ticket prices are from £20.50 and include entry to the MasterChef live, running concurrently. Lots of wine experts on hand for advice about buying and investing in wine.

This is followed by the Winter Fine Art and Antiques Fair running at Olympia from 15-21 November. There should be over 140 dealers exhibiting and is for investors and collectors alike.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Dates for your Diary?Dominic2023-12-01T12:52:49+00:00

The Spirit of Chirstmas

Yes, the countdown has begun, we have now booked our office Christmas party and thinking about cards and the shopping that all of us face over the next 7 weeks or so. If you are seeking a little inspiration how about the Spirit of Christmas Fair held at Olympia this week, conveniently starting at the same time as the tube strike. This is a high-end fair with some great exhibitors. Tickets are only available on the door at £18 each. Don’t bother trying to phone the ticket booking line.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

The Spirit of ChirstmasDominic2023-12-01T12:52:50+00:00