Blog

It’s been a while since you’ve last heard from us here at True Advice with some market information, I hope you haven’t missed us too much! Today we are taking a deeper dive into why the rental market is spiraling out of control with higher rents than we’ve ever seen and no sign of them slowing down.

With a new year comes a new strategy. We are in a time of high inflation and higher rates. Typical financial planning has to be modified to the change of financial landscape we find ourselves in. Different aspects to our finances have to be considered and there’s not a better time than at the start of the year and nearing the end of the tax year to refresh your financial plan.

Let’s take a look at some key topics in this area and what you can do to maximise what you earn, save and invest.

As April rapidly approaches, it’s a good time of year to start thinking about tax and how you can minimise your capital gains tax liability. There are many different tips and tricks you can use to ensure that your tax bill is lowered or even gotten rid of completely.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can do this and hopefully you take away something that may be useful to your own personal taxes.

What a year we have had. It definitely has not been a straightforward one but we have been by the side of our clients throughout it and will continue to do so into 2023. Today we look to wrap up the year and also look forward to the next year whilst also defining the holiday schedules of our advisers.

We wish all our clients and friends a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

The Autumn Budget is one of the most significant budgets delivered by a chancellor in recent years. With the UK seeing record inflation, rising interest rates and bills soaring it’s not an easy time for anyone. These budgets can be quite hard to understand at the best of times as there is a lot of information and data within them.

We’ve dissected some of the best bits to see exactly how it relates to the every day Brit and have explained it to the best of our knowledge in the attached article. Let us know what you think.

‘Bank of England increases rates’ you have seen this plastered across the news several times over the last year. And it’s likely we will continue to see it more over the coming months until inflation cools.

But what exactly does it mean for the every day person and their personal finances? Often this isn’t particularly clear. We take a look at how it effects you directly and what the whole purpose of these rises are.

Pensions have made the news quite a bit recently. With the state pension being talked about increasing in line with inflation. How exactly can you make the most of your own pension though?

Making your own savings go as far as possible is really key. Pension planning is a long term process so making sure you are getting all the possible benefits is quite key. We take a look here at some tips that can help you with this.

There’s no doubt the markets are a bit bonkers right now. Rates are the highest we’ve seen in a long while but how exactly does that effect the overall markets and specifically what will happen to the property market?

We take a look at what is going on and what that could mean for the property sector as a whole.

Inflation is all we are hearing about in the news currently.

Being inactive with your savings has never been more prominent than now with inflation devaluing money at a faster rate than has been seen for many years. It’s important to look at your overall financial position and what you can do to mitigate this.

In life, no one wants to make mistakes. Let a lone ones that cost you actual money. Avoiding costly mistakes when investing is key to making sure your money goes as far as it can. There are many ways you can be lost in the sea of investing and end up losing money. We’re here to help and give you some impartial advice on tips that mean you can avoid a lot of these common pitfalls.

Have a read & let us know if you’ve ever fallen foul of any of these and how you learnt from your mistakes.

With more people than ever starting up their own businesses over the last few years, what are the financial pitfalls that can arise for the self employed and how there are ways around this.

We take a look at some of the vulnerable factors of being self employed and how this sector can seek the appropriate advice to give them financial peace of mind.

It’s all over the news, record inflation and rates are increasing. But why is this all happening? And how does it actually effect your back pocket?

We take a look at some of the complex themes surrounding these rate rises and try to simplify it as much as possible for the every day consumer. Take a read and learn about the reasons behind inflation and how it effects you.

It’s common to want to keep as much of the money as you earn. Well how about preserving it to pass it on efficiently? This should be just as important as building your wealth over time.

There are many ways that you can preserve your estate. We take a look at some of the key concepts here and how it can assist you and your wealth management.

The current rapid rate of inflation effects all of us across the UK. The cost has been felt more readily by the rise in fuel and energy tariffs but there are other areas that have contributed to a cost of living crisis.

In times like these it’s best to get educated and organised as best as you can to make sure you have financial security going forward. Let’s look at 10 tips to help your back pocket in these tough times.

Everywhere you look, it’s tough to get away from the fact that inflation is at record highs across the globe. As with most of us, you feel it especially when you go to do your normal fill up your car at the pumps.

But what can be done about the rising cost of living? We look at the nitty gritty of inflation and potential strategies to tackle it in this article.

Having a lasting power of attorney can really give you peace of mind that your future will be taken care of if you become unable to do so yourself. So why do a lot of people not set these up? And what happens if you get in this scenario and it’s all of a sudden too late to set one up? What happens to the decision making process?

It’s a very important part of personal finance and not one that is talked about enough. Let’s take a look into the ins and outs of how it works, what it does and where it could benefit you.

The UK state pension is a model we all pay into with our regular national insurance payments. But what exactly does this entitle you to and from what age? How can you check if you are on track to receive the full amount or part of it?

Let’s go into some detail on the British state pension here and see exactly what you are due to get and when.

We take 5 personal finance and budgeting and provide some alternative ways to look at your own budget and some tips to help improve it. Day to day finance is often neglected but it makes up the whole of your financial picture and future and is very important.

The Bank of England rate raise has impacted a lot of lives. How exactly though and what we can do to combat it are what we need to focus on. When it comes to financial advice how exactly has it effected mortgages, investments and what does it mean for the future?

Let’s take a look and see what we can do to help you understand the change of the Bank of England base rate.

We are getting asked this more and more by clients after the madness of 2021. Although we aren’t estate agents, it’s definitely in our interests to have our finger on the pulse when it comes to property and the prices.

Let’s take a look at some of the contributing factors to the big drive in prices recently and what 2022 holds for the property market.

It’s that time of year, time we are all starting a new and acting on our New Years resolutions.

We take a different slant on your typical resolutions. As we close in on the end of the 2022 tax year we are taking a look at some of the ways you can save on your tax and make the most of your money.

It’s been well covered that the Bank of England have raised their base rate from 0.1% to 0.25%. But what exactly does that mean for the mortgage marketplace?

Let’s take a look deeper into why the bank does this and what effects it eventually has on every day retail customers.

We all write New Year’s resolutions with the best intentions in our hearts. But so often they fall by the wayside, we miss a lot of the goals, get demoralised and forget about them.

One of the keys to writing good resolutions is fully understanding them and making them realistic. With finances a lot of the problem with planning is knowing exactly what you want and how to get there. We take a look at some of the variables in play and how to best approach new years resolutions as to get maximum value from them.

We take a deep dive into the needs of the modern renter. With renting becoming more and more common with time, it’s time we started looking at their financial situation and how insurance should be playing a big role in giving tenants peace of mind.

It’s not something that is widely discussed but something that should be at the forefront of every renters mind. Because at the end of the day, the last thing you want is to not be able to pay your rent and end up in that terrible financial situation.

Planning anything in life leads to a higher chance of you reaching your goals. Structured and well thought out financial plans can give your future self increased stability and the freedom to do more with your time than just work. We want building your own financial plan to be at the top of our clients priority list. This way they can reap the benefits of financial security for the future.

Take a look at some of the points and tips we give here to start building your own financial plan. As always, feel free to discuss with us any extra bits you want more information on or have questions about.

Every parent and grandparent naturally wants to see the best for their children and grandchildren. We wanted to get into some of the methods that this can be done financially.

Setting them up for adult life through financial education is key to giving your offspring the best chance at success in this heavily competitive world. There are many ways this can be done and we look at the most applicable solutions here.

The mortgage marketplace has been an ever evolving and constantly changing landscape ever since the pandemic hit. Banks and lenders have been changing interest rates along with their criteria on a weekly basis. Competition for lending is rife and rates are currently very good considering the Bank Of England’s interest rate remains supremely low.

We look to give you a full update in this article to bring you right up to speed with what is happening in the world of property finance.

Looking at your options in retirement can be really key. How will your exact pension plan be able to fund your needs for finance in retirement? There are many different situations and avenues you can take all with different pros and cons.

Having someone guide you to a path that suits your own personal circumstances can be key and we look at a few of the options you have and how these differ.

No one wants to think about death and what happens after life but, as the old saying goes, failure to prepare is preparing to fail. This is very much the case with inheritance tax planning if you want to avoid a lot of your estate going to the tax man upon your death.

It’s tough to boil down the key points of a broad topic such as investing. There are many caveats and things to look out for when looking to make your money work for you.

We’ve done our best to squeeze as much information as possible into our Six Principles Of Investing piece for you to read. Hopefully at the end of this you will have a better outlook on how to invest your money profitably and sustainably for the future.

Here we look to simplify what can often be a complex part of insurance. Many clients don’t know or understand what critical illness cover is but it’s something we should all be considering to protect us. We take a look at common questions and different factors that need to be taken into account when looking at this insurance product.

We take a look at the key points in portfolio diversification when it comes to investing. Spreading your funds across multiple different investments is a great way to keep your risk low and your potential for a good return high. There are many ways to do this, let’s take a look at how.

Here we take a look at a lot of different ways that estates and wealth can be passed on whilst mitigating tax liabilities. Overall it’s always best to seek advice from our fully qualified and experienced estate planner but this guide can help you gain an understanding on the ins and outs of passing your wealth on efficiently.

Financial advisors can be a real help to you and your finances. But it can be tough to know how and when is the best time to approach one for their services. We take a look at what exactly financial advisors do for you and when it’s best to use them for professional advice.

It can be really tough to get a mortgage with only a 5% mortgage. What this does is it opens up the house purchasing market for a greater deal of people. Saving a deposit more than 5% can be really tough going as it takes a lot of discipline. Let’s look at the current marketplace and what you can get mortgage wise.

Managing your retirement savings in one place One thing retirement is not, is an age. Not any more anyway. Gone are the days of being told to stop working one day and pick up your pension the next. Today you have new pension freedoms to decide when and how you retire. A Guide To Pension

Mr Sunak’s Spring Budget is a huge financial occasion. As the UK gets out of the latest lockdown, there is a great need for us to be set up for prosperity and growth to mitigate the losses felt by COVID-19.

95% mortgages are slowly coming back into play but with the end of the stamp duty deadline the chancellor has a few key decisions to make. We preview the spring budget to see what exactly he could do to keep this great and resurgent property market strong.

The mortgage marketplace amid 3rd UK lockdown is constantly changing With a third national lockdown being implemented last week by Boris Johnson we will take a look at how this has and will effect mortgages across the UK. Now this lockdown is not the same as the ones prior. We have a lot more freedom

Whilst other businesses close or move towards changed working schedules we are still here to assist our clients. Whilst face to face meetings are postponed for now, we are still on the end of the phone to provide advice to clients across all financial services.

COVID-19 has no doubt had a big effect on everyone from one person businesses all the way up to the big companies. Here we take a look at the self employed client and how their business has been impacted by COVID-19 and how this refers to a mortgage application. We provide tips and tricks to be prepared for the ways lenders are now approaching these types of clients.

How can a first time buyer get a buy to let? This is a question that we get asked a lot as mortgage advisors. A first time buyer buy to let isn’t massively common but with the promised income from letting, it makes buyers more keen. Property is considered the holy grail of investment so can

Whilst COVID-19 disrupts the world, it’s business as usual for us. With a home based office we can continue to work and support our clients from home with their ongoing requirements. If you have any questions or needs regarding mortgages, pensions, life insurance or equity release we remain ready, willing and able to assist you.