Spending all of our time advising clients in relation to their investments and pensions, researching markets and investment propositions, and meeting fund managers and investments specialists comes with a significant occupational hazard: the use of jargon! So first of all, our apologies if you have been on the receiving end of jargon from us. We’re […]
Is Independent Advice all it is cracked up to be?
You hear a lot in the media when they discuss personal finance issues, about the importance of getting independent financial advice. Is it so important that the advice you get is independent? We believe it is… To give you a sense of why it is so important, it’s probably useful to briefly cover what we mean […]
Life Cover – “Surely that’s only for older people?”
Experience in the life assurance industry shows that most life assurance policies are taken out by people in their 30’s, 40’s and to a lesser extent in their 50’s. There is a very low uptake of life assurance by people in their 20’s who think; “I don’t need it now, I’ll buy it when I […]
Pensions – keeping the dark clouds away from your later years
The economy is recovering, incomes are starting to creep up again and hopefully you have some spare money that you are considering how to make the most of. Maybe your pension planning took a bit of a back seat during the last few years and it’s time to start thinking of planning for your later […]
Income Protection – the glue that holds your financial portfolio together
Income Protection is that still relatively rare product in many people’s financial portfolio. Why is this? Particularly when it covers far and away your biggest asset, your income. The reason I believe that income protection remains ignored by many people is because they don’t have to take out this cover. Unlike car insurance, which is required to […]
7 years on – what have we learned?
Think back 7 short years. A huge US investment bank that few people in Ireland knew much about called Lehman Brothers collapsed and started a shockwave in global banking that had huge ramifications in Ireland. Soon after, we saw the government guarantee scheme, followed by the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank and then the biggest […]
How well are you looking after your Business Partner?
The health and welfare of your business partner is a really important factor in your financial planning. After all, they have probably been working alongside you since you came up with the idea for your business, and also have shared the highs and lows as your business survived those difficult early years and has hopefully […]
8 Investment Tips Worth Remembering!
People face a whole range of different personal finance challenges and often ask us for tips. The area of savings and investments is the one we’re asked about the most. So we thought it might be useful to give you a few tips to consider to best manage your hard-earned cash. Of course we strongly […]
Mortgage cap will squeeze out first-time buyers, say bank chiefs
According to the Irish Independent in a recent article The Central Bank’s new mortgage deposit plan risks squeezing first-time buyers out of the market, bank chiefs have warned. Ulster Bank boss Jim Brown said almost seven out of 10 first-time buyer mortgages approved by his bank this year would have fallen foul of the move […]
Giveaway budget failed: most don’t feel any richer
MOST people believe that Minister for Finance Michael Noonan failed to put any money back in their pockets in last month’s budget, according to a new poll commissioned by the Sunday Independent. The survey shows only 8pc of respondents believe they are better off as a result of Noonan’s budget while 35pc believe they are […]