Tax is a necessary evil. If we want to live in a country with access to public services, taxation is the system used to pay for these services. We can (and do!) argue and moan about the different levels of tax payable and whether they are levied fairly. But at the end of the day, […]

In financial planning businesses such as our own, a relatively small proportion of our time is spent dealing with the implementation and servicing of financial products on behalf of our clients. Because financial planning is so much deeper than simply putting products in place. Instead our clients today come to us with relatively simple questions […]

According to the Census carried out in 2011, 12% of families in Ireland are now made up of cohabiting couples.  This cohort of our population still faces some unique challenges when it comes to personal finance and inheritance. In this article, we’re going to identify some of the significant issues to be managed, and set out […]

Small & Medium Enterprises (SME’s) and pensions schemes… they don’t appear too often in the same sentence! Pensions are a real issue for employees working in these small businesses and a headache for their employers. So what is the current situation and what needs to be done?   Pension coverage is at historically low levels […]

History teaches us many things. Particularly if we’re looking for a bit of guidance in prudent personal financial management, the last decade offers us a wealth of useful lessons. During the last decade we’ve seen a (hopefully) once in a lifetime global economic collapse, the entire banking system teetering on the brink, followed by a […]

A marriage breakup is usually a traumatic time. Very significant life decisions are needed about custody of children and access arrangements, and where each party will live. Often relations between the parties become quite fraught… and then financial arrangements need to be agreed. At this stage, the difficult areas of dividing up the assets, maintenance […]

You might have heard references in the media to “universal pensions” and to “auto enrolment” of employees in pension schemes. So we thought it might be useful to give you some thoughts about our thinking on these concepts.   What are universal pensions and auto enrolment? Universal pensions are pretty much what it says on […]

One of the more important business activities of any company owner or partnership is the whole area of risk management. Yes of course you have the day-to-day challenges of bringing your products to market, selling, building your brand and your presence, and meeting and exceeding the expectations of your customers through your product delivery. Sitting […]

Lots of factors are currently creating a great deal of uncertainty for investors; Britain breaking up with Europe, President Trump settling into the White House (and everything that promises!) and continuing low growth across Europe. Then when you consider interest rates at rock bottom, uncertainty caused by global terror and other such negative factors, the […]

“Well none obviously” I hear you say. But is that actually the case? This is a really important question, and one that we spend a lot of time on with our clients, helping them to answer it. It is really important because it helps you clarify how much risk you are willing to take with […]