View image | gettyimages.com This was touted as the 'most political' Budget in years, and it didn't disappoint on that front. Stronger growth and falling unemployment proved too good an opportunity for the Chancellor to miss. In fact, what that meant for the poor viewers was more than 30 minutes of economic 'preamble' as an introduction to one of the longest Budgets that I can remember (at more than...
Read MoreWelcome to the twentieth edition of the Kennedy Black Quarterly Private Client Newsletter. In this edition, we focus on why proper financial planning is important and worth paying for. This month has also seen George Osborne's Autumn Statement, which we summarise briefly. Finally, we include the tenth and final 'irrational behaviour' in our series, wrapping things up with perhaps the most duplicitous of all: Hindsight Bias. December 2014 KBWM...
Read MoreWelcome to the latest edition of the Kennedy Black Quarterly Private Client Newsletter. This edition is 100% pension-focused, now that the dust has settled on some ground-breaking changes in the Budget (apologies in advance if we get a bit excited about pensions). We give a quick no-jargon explanation of how pensions currently work, what the changes are and, now that some time has passed since it was...
Read MoreWelcome to the latest edition of the Kennedy Black Quarterly Private Client Newsletter. In this edition we focus on some important pension changes that are coming into force in April. If you have built up pension pots with a total value of £500k or more, we would urge you to get in touch immediately. Some action may be required before 5th April. We are also pleased to update the performance of...
Read MoreWelcome to the latest edition of our Private Client Newsletter We focus on a couple of important topics in this edition. First, why we have concerns about equity income investing. And secondly, how simple retirement planning can be (very) good for your wealth. Furthermore, we continue our series on Behavioural Investing, focusing on the oft-misunderstood concept of 'Mental Accounting'. October 2013 KBWM Private Client Newsletter (requires Adobe Reader) We hope...
Read MorePlease see below a link to May 2012's Quarterly Private Client Newsletter from Kennedy Black Wealth Management. In this edition, we address one of the furthest-reaching changes to pensions legislation in a generation: Auto Enrolment. These new rules will force employers to offer contributory pensions to their employees. Great news from a retirement planning perspective (since people are still doing far too little), but potentially disastrous...
Read MorePlease see below a link to February 2012's Quarterly Private Client Newsletter from Kennedy Black Wealth Management. In this edition, we are pleased to recap on some prestigious recognition that we've received over the past three months. We are also pleased to report that we are expanding and would like to welcome Cathi Harrison to the team. Cathi is a highly qualified paraplanner and will work...
Read MoreOn a day of public pension strikes, I thought some comments on pensions (especially private vs public) would be a topical subject. If you are confused as to how much to contribute towards your pension, then you are in the majority. When I was working in the City, I used to think that my employer's contribution (3% of salary) plus a contribution from me (another 3%)...
Read MorePlease see below a link to February 2011's Quarterly Private Client Newsletter from Kennedy Black Wealth Management. In this edition, we focus on some year end tax planning topics such as ISAs and Capital Gains Tax planning. The first article outlines how stocks and shares ISAs are almost as tax efficient as pensions - and since we all should recognise the tax benefits of pensions, perhaps...
Read MoreIn what could be the most revolutionary changes to pension legislation in decades, the Department of Work and Pensions ("DWP") has recently published "Making Automatic Enrolment Work" (October 2010), a review into two new proposals: Auto-enrolment and NEST (short for "National Employment Savings Trust"). For employers, the implications are significant so here is a summary of what has been proposed and what it means. Firstly, from...
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