By John Cossons, Mortgage and Protection Designer at Anstee & Co. Firstly, what is a Green Mortgage, and should I have one? A green mortgage is meant to increase the appeal of owning a green, or energy-efficient, property. On top of the savings, you'll make on your energy bills each month. Also, the idea [...]
For many of us, our working life is stretching out. As our life expectancy rises and pension provisions become less generous reviewing your financial plans has never been more important. As we work longer, it is highly unlikely that we will have just one career path. The day's of a "job for life" has [...]
By John Cossons, Mortgage and Protection Designer. With the ever-increasing cost of living, is your retirement income keeping up? We are all feeling the pressure of the rising cost of fuel to heat our homes and keep our cars moving, along with the relentless increase in the general cost of living. You may have [...]
When undertaking a financial planning review with our clients our financial planners often talk about different asset classes. So what do they mean? Below is a brief overview of what these asset classes do. Some asset classes are better for income while others come into their own when you are looking for capital growth. [...]
When was the last time you sat down with a financial planner to review your objectives and your attitude to risk? Hence your circumstances may have changed and you may be taking more risk and seeing more volatility than you need. Our investment philosophy and process is shown in more detail on our website. [...]
Whether it’s called Estate Duty, Capital Transfer Tax or now Inheritance Tax (IHT) death duties have been around for centuries. The purpose of these taxes has always been the same. To raise revenue for the Chancellor. Initially, the tax was aimed at only the very rich but over the years the bar has lowered [...]
Secret Santa goes to Kettering Foodbank. No office "Secret Santa" again this year. Instead, it was agreed that we would help a local foodbank charity in Kettering. This is all part of our community programme The money that we would have spent on often a funny (some would say), but unwanted presents to each [...]
Care Plans or to give them their technical name – Immediate needs annuities. These types of plans are designed to provide an income for life in exchange for a lump sum investment. The income from the annuity is paid out regardless of how long, the plan holder, may live. These types of plans are [...]
If you have a pension, do you know how much you have saved or more importantly, what level of income will it produce for you in retirement? Firstly, have you reviewed those old pensions from past employers? If the answers “I’m not sure”, then follow these top tips about, questions to ask about your [...]
The mortgage industry estimates that over two million of us are paying too much for our mortgage. Homebuyers have not taken note of when their fixed or discounted rate deal has ended and have gone onto their mortgage lenders standard variable rate (SVR). With a remortgage, a homebuyer could save themselves a considerable about [...]
