The term ‘frozen pension’ refers to a pension pot (or pots) that you held in a workplace which you no longer pay into. This could (more accurately) be called a deferred or a preserved pension.

Just because you have left the workplace doesn’t mean you should not be maintaining a keen interest in the pension pot. You should continue to receive an annual statement from the pension provider/administrator and that should be a trigger for you to check that the capital held within the pot remains well invested. In addition, over time pension legis...

How do I make sense of my private pensions?

History tells us that in the distant past people would leave school, select a career and stay in that job for life. Through their employer they may well have benefitted from being joined to the employer’s Occupational Pension Scheme or Group Personal Pension Plan Scheme. The very fortunate however, would find themselves enrolled into the employer’s final salary scheme. In these Schemes members had no personal risk or responsibility towards the investment, which ultimately meant that if the investm...

This is an interesting question that I often get asked so here is a quick guide to the basic differences between pensions and ISAs.

Firstly, a pension and ISA can in theory be invested in exactly the same funds or assets. What makes a pension different to an ISA or vice versa are the rules attached to that investment product.

ISA (Individual Savings Account)

An ISA grows free of tax and can be accessed tax free at any time. There is an annual contribution limit. This is currently £20,000 for the 2020-21 tax year (and remaining the same in...

Perhaps you find yourself in one or more of the following scenarios:

• I want to start saving for my future, but don’t want the expense of using a financial adviser

• I want to start investing month-by-month for the first time and want to start with a modest monthly amount

• I have a small lump sum of money that I wish to invest

• I want to invest into a stocks and shares ISA for the first time

• I want to set up a Junior ISA for my child / grandchild and don’t know where to start

• I want to start paying a modest amount e...

The Rise of Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Investing

Never have we been more aware of the challenges that we face in looking after our environment. The possibility of a global pandemic is now a reality; a stark reminder of the fragility of our existence on planet Earth.  That we must strive to look after the planet that looks after us as well as look after one another has never been in such clear focus. 

How much harm we are inflicting on the planet may still be open to some scientific debate but nobody can dispute that we are ha...

We are now in the last three months of the tax year (tax years end on 5^th April). Now’s the time to think of the financial planning that you might wish to carry out before that deadline. We have set out below five tax year-end financial planning ideas that you may wish to consider. If you would like to discuss tax-year-end planning please do not hesitate to contact us.

1. Using your ISA allowance

ISA capital is free from UK income and capital gains tax, so it makes good sense to consider whether you should be making use of your annual ISA ...

What should you expect when working with a professional Independent Financial Adviser?

Well, there are a number of areas where a professional Independent Financial Adviser can help and add value for a client.

We have just set out a few below. However, what needs to be remembered is that fundamentally the professional adviser is working for you with your best interests at the heart of the work.

1. The adviser will firstly listen to you in order to understand your needs and objectives

Clearly, it is important that an adviser understands...

Annuity Versus Drawdown.pdf

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HFL Newsletter 1.pdf

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