richardv

Pensions are one of those marmite investments (love them or hate them) with many investing a good deal of income towards a safe retirement. However as you would have read on this site before, pension charges are a real issue. For many the providers in the market place (probably your pension provider) is charging you more than you could be paying simply by looking around at the alternative providers in the market place. The key is that it's not that simple. Some of the highest charging... Read Full Story

What a year this has been, the recession has continued and we have managed to find ourselves getting to the end of  the year and things are not looking much better for the New Year. Well that's  got the negatives out of the way, the next thing  I will be doing will be to give some guidance as you need to be acting in 2012 and what the options are for then and beyond. Personal Financial Planning Update It now just needs me to wish you a great christmas and a even better 2012. Richard... Read Full Story

Financial Advisers NHFA Limited has been found guilty of providing pretty poor investment planning advice to it’s customers in the UK.   NHFA a subsidiary HSBC and appointed by some local councils in the UK to provide investment advice for it’s elderly that needed to cover nursing home costs  which just goes to show how much due diligence these authorities carried out when recommending a firm like NHFA.   Some 87% of recommendations made by NHFA have proven to be flawed.   There... Read Full Story

Unknown to most investors is the issue of trail commission being paid to Financial Advisers once any initial payments have been made for the setting up of the investments. Now I feel sure that if most investors using an adviser bothered to read the papers provided once an investment is made I am sure things would be clearer. This 'trail commission' usually about .5% per year but can be as high as1.5% is paid by the product providers in order to cover the cost of ongoing advice and support... Read Full Story

  Cheapest Life Insurance Premiums   During my working life as a Financial Adviser the issue of low cost or cheap Life Assurance has always been raised as a question by clients; and now we are facing uncertain times with the economy it is vitally important that you preserve as much income as possible.   Making changes to your Life Insurance plans could be the first step in doing this.   There are a couple of options for you dependent on the kind of cover you have   Pure... Read Full Story

If you have a financial services complaint about the financial advice you have received then there are several options open to you and we are pleased to outline the process for you. Take it up with the firm or adviser that provided you with the advice in the first place. If that does not provide you with the settlement you require. Take the case up with the Financial Ombudsman scheme who will investigate on your behalf. Now that all seems to pretty straightforward at... Read Full Story

Before the internet came along finding cheap (or the cheapest life insurance ) was not an easy task. Most of the comparison services were controlled by a handful of brokers or you were forced to get on the phone and trawl the market place in order to get insurance quotes from the various life insurance firms in the market place. In the last 10 years the market place has changed dramatically, with most forms of Life Insurance being available online or at least comparable online. Some of... Read Full Story

    Have you made a complaint about the Financial Advice received from Nationwide? Have you submitted it to the Financial Ombudsman?   Please let me know what the outcome is, we have been made aware that a number of complaints have been rejected by the Ombudsmen (this is called refuted) and it does not mean that your complaint has ended. It just means that you need some specialist help and guidance.   We provide a range of review services to help you ensure you get a fair... Read Full Story

  Have you ever been concerned that the Financial Services industry does not act in your best interest? Ever worried that you could be doing better with your money?   Perhaps you feel that some new skills and learning some new stuff about your Finances and Financial Planning could help you make better decisions?   Answered yes to any of the above we can help you.   The Finance Zone provides one on one and group coaching to people just like you. Financial planning using the... Read Full Story

  Over the last couple of years there has been increasing pressure on the Financial Services Authority to consider carefully what should be done with the ‘projections’ provided by insurance companies either when starting Pension contributions or when the annual statements arrive.   It is clear that give poor investment returns during the past couple of years these projections are no longer accurate. In fact in some quarters they have been called grossly optimistic.   Not sure that... Read Full Story