http://www.yellowtail.co.uk/blog A Future without Compromise Wed, 12 Nov 2008 09:54:12 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en From time to time we take on a client who has (in our opinion) received bad advice warranting a formal complaint against the former adviser. The following tale describes one of those cases which we had to take to the Financial Ombudsman Service who finally found in our client's favour, though ... http://www.yellowtail.co.uk/blog/67/too-many-fingers-in-the-pie/ The winners of the Financial Planner of the Year awards 2008 were announced at a special gala dinner, held at The Dorchester on Park Lane and hosted by Gyles Brandreth. Adding to his collection of industry awards, we are delighted to be able to say "congratulations" to our very own Dennis ... http://www.yellowtail.co.uk/blog/66/financial-planner-for-the-year-awards-2008/ We all know we aren't supposed to put all our savings eggs in one basket, especially because of the limited protection against losses for savings deposits in the UK. UK deposits in bank or building society savings products are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).  FSCS is an independent ... http://www.yellowtail.co.uk/blog/65/protecting-your-savings-without-the-paperwork/ Samantha Potter, 31, a geophysicist from Warrington, divides her time between her job on board a ship, her partner in China, and her friends and family in the UK. She has no rent or utilities bills to pay, but is concerned about her long term savings. "I don't know whether ... http://www.yellowtail.co.uk/blog/64/will-i-have-enough-to-retire-on/ Dennis gives advice to a student trying to cope with debt that must be repaid later. Helen Stevens, 20, is keen to enjoy her remaining two years of student life before tackling the £30,000 debt she faces on graduation. She estimates she will owe this sum, made up of tuition fees ... http://www.yellowtail.co.uk/blog/63/the-debt-burden-that-awaits-on-graduation/ The changes to inheritance tax rules announced last October in the pre budget speech allowed the transfer of unused allowances between spouses and civil partners following the first death. Yet many people with existing nil rate band discretionary trusts might have considered the change to be largely irrelevant, but it would be a ... http://www.yellowtail.co.uk/blog/62/problems-with-nil-rate-band-discretionary-trusts/ Going back to my earlier post on measuring economic output per person or capita, Bill Mitchell on his website obviously thought that ranking Olympic achievements on a per capita basis was going to be fairer than the overall picture presented by the conventional medal table. As he says, “I consider [the ... http://www.yellowtail.co.uk/blog/61/olympic-medals-per-capita/ The report today that the UK economy is grinding to a halt, based on the release of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures by the Office for National Statistics, reminded me of an interesting article in the Economist about GDP. According to the author the conventional view is that America’s economy has ... http://www.yellowtail.co.uk/blog/60/uk-economy-grinding-to-a-halt/ Want to live rent free in London?  I read an interesting comment in the property section of London Lite yesterday.  Yes, I know I shouldn’t be reading that rag, but it’s difficult holding my investment management textbook open on a crowded tube! The Director of a property search company was talking ... http://www.yellowtail.co.uk/blog/59/live-rent-free/ “Really, if you’re hanging on to your policy you want a degree of predictability... [t]hose who do not feel they have this may want to move on.” Dennis is quoted in an article in the FT on with-profit policies.    While the Aviva payouts announced this week are good news for some with-profits investors, ... http://www.yellowtail.co.uk/blog/58/with-profits-policies-failing-to-live-up-to-expectations/