Latest News - Rockwealth LLP

How to invest ethically

April 25, 2018 / by Robin Powell / Latest News / 0 comments

There has been a huge growth in interest in recent years in ethical investing. Ethical investors want to see a good financial return, but they also want to invest in a way that, in some small way, helps to make the world a better place. Several different terms are used to describe, and they all […]

Why being over 40 is the new mid-20s

April 23, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / Financial Planning, Retirement / 0 comments

Healthier lifestyles and feeling happier about financial planning for retirement An increasing number of middle-aged Britons are getting healthier as they exercise more and eat better than they did when they were younger. Over-40s are turning to healthier lifestyles, with more than half rating themselves as more health-conscious than they were in their mid-20s, according […]

Stocks & Shares ISAs

April 16, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / ISA, new isa / 0 comments

Investing in a wide range of different tax-efficient investments From July 2014, Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) can now be used to hold stocks and shares or cash, or any combination of these, up to the current annual limit. An ISA is a ‘wrapper’ that can be used to help save you tax. A Stocks & […]

The wisdom of Warren Buffett

April 14, 2018 / by Robin Powell / Latest News / 0 comments

Warren Buffett is generally recognised as the most successful, and highly respected, investor in the world. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, has provided excellent returns for its shareholders over many decades. So, what advice has Buffett given over the years to ordinary investors? Well, he’s certainly passed on plenty of it, both in interviews and, in […]

What will influence your retirement income needs?

April 9, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / Retirement / 0 comments

What will influence your retirement income needs? Retirement is a time for you to do the things you’ve always wanted. When considering your retirement income needs, you need to consider the types of events you would like to happen after you retire that may impact your budget. Thinking about these early could help you when […]

Glaciers move faster than the UK fund industry

April 6, 2018 / by Robin Powell / Latest News / 0 comments

It can be very frustrating for those, like me, who’ve been campaigning for improvements to the UK fund industry, to see things changing quite so slowly. Successive reports by regulators over the last two decades have highlighted a whole host of problems which militate against good consumer outcomes. These include a lack of transparency around […]

Investment objectives – a lifestyle financial plan

April 3, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / IFA, Investing / 0 comments

Protecting your wealth from market ups and downs A lifestyle financial plan has no value unless it is properly implemented through an appropriate investment strategy. If you’ve got a sufficient amount of money in your cash savings account – enough to cover you for at least six months – and you want to see your […]

How to make the most of your retirement

March 27, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / Retirement / 0 comments

Steps you could take to increase your eventual income Even if retirement isn’t far away, there are steps you could take to increase your eventual retirement income. This applies both to your State Pension entitlement as well as to any personal or workplace pension pots. We’ve provided some areas to consider that you may wish […]

What’s the best way to plan your retirement spending?

March 19, 2018 / by Robin Powell / Latest News / 0 comments

As any experienced mountaineer will tell you, there’s more to climbing a mountain than getting to the top. Statistically, there are in fact more accidents on the descent. It’s a similar story with wealth management. Most of what we read about it focuses on the so-called accumulation phase — in other words, building a sufficiently […]

6 Reasons to Review your financial needs and goals

March 19, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / Financial Planning / 0 comments

Take the time to think about what you really want from your investments You need to consider what you really want from your investments. Knowing yourself, your needs and goals, and your appetite for risk is a good start. 1. Consider your reasons for investing It’s important to know why you’re investing. The first step is to […]

Things to take into account once you’ve retired

March 12, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / Retirement / 0 comments

How our spending might change in retirement Living longer is a good thing, right? Most people would probably agree with that. Living longer means more time to enjoy all the world has to offer and more time to spend with cherished family and friends – and everyone wants at some point to stop working and […]

What’s a journalist doing at a financial planning firm?

March 9, 2018 / by Robin Powell / Investing / 0 comments

This is such an exciting moment for me — the start of my very first post for the RockWealth blog, having just joined Tim, Matt, Mark and the team as Head of Investor Education. It’s a huge honour to be here. You may already be familiar with me from the documentary that my company, Ember Regis […]

Funding your future lifestyle

March 5, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / Financial Planning, IFA / 0 comments

Think about the level of risk you might be willing to take with your hard-earned cash We all dream of a more prosperous financial future, but how do you turn this into a reality? With interest rates on savings accounts stuck at low levels, it’s difficult to get any real growth on your money over the […]

Are you sleepwalking into retirement poverty?

February 26, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / pensions, Retirement / 0 comments

Lack of pension knowledge among UK adults The UK’s middle-aged workers could be sleepwalking into retirement poverty. Four in ten people aged between 40 and 65 cannot accurately estimate their total pension savings for retirement. Just over a third of 60 to 65-year-olds who took part in a questionnaire by the JLT Employee Benefits research […]

‘Miss List’

February 19, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / Retirement / 0 comments

With retirement in your sights, what do you think you’ll miss? Spending time with family, easily having a shower or bath and driving a car are the top day-to-day moments that most people would miss if they could no longer do them. However, seven in ten (69%) people – over 36 million[1] people – fail […]

7 pension tips for nurturing your nest egg in 2018

February 12, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / pensions, Retirement / 0 comments

Helping you realise your financial goals We’ve now entered a new age of retirement planning with the introduction of pension freedoms. Your retirement is likely to be the most important time in your life you’ll even plan for – you could be retired for 20 years or more. Thinking about pensions sooner rather than later […]

The bank that likes to say ‘yes’

February 5, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / Financial Planning, Retirement / 0 comments

Repeated payouts to children could have a detrimental impact on your own long-term saving Many parents who are in a position to do so would want to provide financial help to their children. However, in many cases, this financial support ends up being gifts from Mum and Dad rather than the loans from the Bank […]

Millennial outlook

January 29, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / pensions / 0 comments

Pension saving high up on the list of workplace priorities Workers from the so-called ‘millennial generation’ are putting pension saving high up their list of workplace priorities. Nearly six in ten (57%) people in their first ten years of work considered the quality of their current employer’s pension scheme before deciding whether to take the […]

ISA returns of the year

January 22, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / Financial advice, Financial Planning / 0 comments

Taking control over where your money is invested tax-efficiently A new tax year is nearly upon us – and that means, for all diligent savers and investors, you should make sure that you take full advantage of your current Individual Savings Account (ISA) tax-efficient allowance. What is an ISA? An ISA is a tax-efficient investment […]

Making solid financial resolutions

January 16, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / Investing / 0 comments

Grow your money and live the life you want The New Year is the perfect time to overhaul your life for the better, and one excellent place to start is by making solid financial resolutions that can help get you closer to your money goals, whether it’s increasing your retirement savings or setting enough money […]

Savings black hole

January 8, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / Investing, Latest News / 0 comments

Inflation set to erode Britain’s £60 billion cash savings Millions of Britons could see their savings shrink, as they don’t know how to shield them from the threat of rising inflation. Currently, UK savers are hoarding over £60 billion[1] in cash for long-term savings and investments, which stands to be eroded by £1.5 billion this […]

5 reasons to open a Stocks & Shares ISA

January 2, 2018 / by Tim Horrocks / Investing / 0 comments

Whatever you’re putting money aside for, there’s likely to be a role for Individual Saving Accounts (or ‘ISAs’). Low interest rates on cash savings since the financial crisis have meant that many savers have turned to the markets in the hope of achieving a better return. Although investing means taking risks with your money, this […]

Get ‘wrapped’ up

December 18, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / Investing, pensions / 0 comments

Autonomy to make your own investment decisions Some people don’t want a pension company deciding how their pension savings are invested – they want to control where their money goes and how it grows. For people wanting to have autonomy to make their own investment decisions with their retirement savings, a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) […]

Autumn Budget 2017 | What the Chancellor had to say

November 28, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / IFA, Latest News / 0 comments

Your wealth. Your legacy

November 20, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / Inheritance tax / 0 comments

Will IHT affect me? Families shying away from difficult conversations If you have significant assets, you may be wondering whether Inheritance Tax (IHT) affects you. Worryingly, some families appear to be shying away from difficult conversations, as almost half (47%) of UK adults say they have never discussed inheritance matters, according to new research[1]. IHT receipts […]

Turbocharge your pension

November 13, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / pensions / 0 comments

Will you be able to afford the retirement lifestyle you want? If you’re still working, what kind of life would you like to lead when you’ve said goodbye to the 9-to-5? Saving for your retirement is essential if you want the financial freedom to enjoy your later years. After all, you’ll still want to do […]

UK pension savings gap

November 6, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / pensions / 0 comments

The need for a greater awareness of what must be saved today If savers want a particular standard of living at retirement, then they will need a greater awareness of what must be saved today. Despite efforts by the Government to tackle the savings gap through auto-enrolment and raising the pensions age, challenges still exist. […]

Shopping around for a better pension deal

October 30, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / pensions, Retirement / 0 comments

Consumers lost £130 million by sticking with the same pension provider in 2016 New research finds consumers could be missing out on thousands of pounds in retirement by not shopping around for a better pension deal/product. This means their pension pot may not stretch as far as they hope it will, yet a significant proportion […]

Average age of divorce at an all-time-high

October 23, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / Financial advice / 0 comments

Forecasting the long-term effects of the settlement The financial ramifications of a divorce can be devastating. The average age of divorce has reached an all-time high at 45 years and 11 months for men and 43 years and six months for women, according to data released from ONS[1]. Obtaining professional financial advice is essential during […]

Planning for your retirement

October 16, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / Retirement / 0 comments

Getting ready to slow things down One of the critical aspects of retirement planning is how you structure your financial affairs to make sure you have sufficient money if and when you stop working. Making sure you have enough money in retirement to enable you to spend your time the way you want to, doing those […]

Financially unprotected

October 9, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / IFA / 0 comments

Dads putting their family’s financial security at risk if the unexpected were to happen What would happen to you and your family in the event of unforeseen circumstances, such as the diagnosis of a serious illness or premature death? Worryingly, research from Scottish Widows reveals that more than half (53%) of men in the UK […]

Family Succession planning

October 2, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / Financial Planning / 0 comments

Taking advice early and developing a personal financial plan is crucial to meeting long-term goals Succession planning may be one of the most challenging experiences facing any leader, especially an entrepreneurial business person who has built a family business from scratch, so it is crucial to get right. For a family business, transition is a […]

Gender income gap

September 25, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / Retirement / 0 comments

Minimising the impact on your retirement income The gap between women’s and men’s annual average expected retirement incomes in 2017 has grown by £1,000 in the last year, according to new research[1]. Future financial plans The unique annual research has, over the last ten years, tracked the future financial plans and aspirations of people planning […]

Retirement taxation

September 18, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / Retirement / 0 comments

Understanding the bottom line – tax in retirement Retired households handed over an average of £7,400 each in tax last year – the equivalent of nearly 30% of their annual income, according to analysis of newly released data[1] by Prudential. The total annual tax bill for the UK’s 7.1 million retired households was £52.7 billion […]

Sleepwalking into a pension shortfall

September 12, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / Auto-enrolment / 0 comments

Auto-enrolment shouldn’t be seen as a silver bullet How much money you should be saving for your retirement is a key question when visualising the type of retirement lifestyle you want. However, the 13th annual Scottish Widows Retirement Report reveals that, despite the success of auto-enrolment – 80% of 22 to 29-year-olds are paying something […]

Pensions revolution

September 4, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / pensions / 0 comments

Awareness and understanding amongst the public still remains low 6 April 2017 marked the anniversary of both the new State Pension and the new pension freedoms. These major overhauls have revolutionised the UK pensions landscape, but research from Aviva[1] suggests work to improve pension saving is far from done as awareness and understanding amongst the […]

Brexit triggers saving

August 29, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / Brexit / 0 comments

Current affairs have a significant impact on how people feel about the economy People who feel pessimistic about the UK economy or their own personal finances are more likely to plan to save more over the next 12 months to ensure they have a financial safety net, according to a Zurich survey of over 4,000 […]

Investment trusts

August 21, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / IFA, Investing / 0 comments

Public company aiming to make money by investing in other companies An investment trust is a public company that raises money by selling shares to investors, and then pools that money to buy and sell a wide range of shares and assets. Different investment trusts will have different aims and different mixes of investments. Investment […]

Investment objectives – a lifelong process

August 14, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / Investing / 0 comments

Protecting your wealth from market ups and downs If you’ve got a sufficient amount of money in your cash savings account – enough to cover you for at least six months – and you want to see your money grow over the long term, then you should consider investing some of it. Investing is a […]

Working 9 to 5

August 7, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / pensions, Retirement / 0 comments

Almost three quarters of employees expect to work beyond the traditional retirement age The proportion of UK employees who say they will work beyond the age of 65 is at an all-time high. The findings from Canada Life identified that almost three quarters (73%) of employees expect to work beyond the traditional retirement age, up […]

Retirement choices

July 31, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / pensions, Retirement / 0 comments

How much time do you spend planning for retirement? The 2015 pension freedoms gave us greater flexibility over our retirement options, but the reforms have also made retirement choices much more complex. This means we need to start thinking about our retirement earlier. However, half (50%) of respondents aged 45–54 to a LV= consumer survey[1] […]

Funding future care costs

July 24, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / IFA, Retirement / 0 comments

‘The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young’ With the UK’s population ageing, more people will be living with long-term care needs. Oscar Wilde once said: ‘The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young.’ But the good news of […]

Inheritance Tax rule changes

July 17, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / Inheritance tax / 0 comments

Effective estate planning can safeguard your wealth for future generations If you want to have control over what happens to your assets after your death, effective estate planning is essential. After a lifetime of hard work, you want to make sure you protect as much of your wealth as possible and pass it on to […]

Pension time bomb

July 10, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / IFA, pensions, Retirement / 0 comments

Planning to prevent the financial equivalent of climate change Millions of workers across the UK could be heading for a significant shortfall in the amount of pension they need for an adequate income. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has issued a warning that calls on the Government to impose faster pension-age rises as it earmarks […]

Personal pensions

July 3, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / pensions / 0 comments

Saving tax-efficiently for retirement A personal pension is a type of defined contribution pension. You choose the provider and make arrangements for your contributions to be paid. If you haven’t got a workplace pension, getting a personal pension could be a good way of saving for retirement. Your pension provider will claim tax relief at […]

Buying an annuity

June 19, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / pensions / 0 comments

A regular retirement income for the rest of your life One way to use your pension pot is to buy an annuity. This gives you a regular retirement income, usually for the rest of your life. In most cases, this is a one-off, irreversible decision, so it’s crucial to choose the right type and get […]

Tax relief and pensions

June 12, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / pensions / 0 comments

Annual and lifetime limits Tax relief means some of your money that would have gone to the Government as tax goes into your pension instead. You can put as much as you want into your pension, but there are annual and lifetime limits on how much tax relief you get on your pension contributions. Tax […]

Advice matters

June 4, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / Financial advice / 0 comments

Do you have the time to keep fully up to speed with everything that’s going on? With a burgeoning choice of products on the market, and considering the busy lives we all lead, it can be difficult to find the time to keep fully up to speed with everything that’s going on – especially when […]

Inside the mind of a scammer

May 29, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / IFA, Investing, Latest News / 0 comments

Tactics investment fraudsters use to deceive over-55s The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is urging over-55s to check that investment opportunities are genuine before they part with their money. This comes as new research[1], commissioned as part of the FCA’s ScamSmart campaign, reveals that only two in five (42%) think they know how to spot a […]

UK General Elections and the Stock Market

May 24, 2017 / by Tim Horrocks / IFA, Latest News / 0 comments

Over the long run, the market has provided substantial returns regardless of who lives at Number 10. Next month’s snap election is the first national vote in the UK since the EU referendum. While the election’s outcome and overall impact are unknown, there is no shortage of speculation about how the election will impact the […]

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How to invest ethically