Category: Hot Topics
Children Learn, Adults Work and Old People Rest…. Or do they?
In the classic three-stage model of life’s cycle; children learn, adults work and old people rest. As a result, most institutions still treat 65 as a cut-off point for social and economic usefulness, and the State start seeing people as a financial burden rather than an asset. There…
DB Wood Team
26th January, 2018
Truth fears no questions: A perspective from one of our clients…
“Honesty is such a lonely word, Everyone is so untrue, Honesty is hardly ever heard, But mostly what I need from you” …..so sang one of the greatest singer/songwriters of the last 50 years, Billy Joel, expressing a sentiment about a dying species…
Anonymous
6th December, 2017
Autumn Budget 2017 – what it means for your Financial Planning…
This was the first Budget of the new Parliament and the first in its new permanent autumn home. Thankfully, this provides welcome breathing space between the announcement of Budget changes and their introduction. In truth, it was the dull budget we had anticipated; devoid of much in the…
DB Wood Team
24th November, 2017
Tax Returns: The Present & Future
Following the Spring Budget, Philip Hammond revealed his policy to reduce the relatively new dividend tax allowance from £5,000 to just £2,000 as of April 2018 (make your mind up for goodness sake). Roll back to 2015/16 and you could potentially have earned a whopping £42,385 in total…
DB Wood Team
4th August, 2017
Human psychology has always fascinated me. It’s one of the main reasons I find myself in a client-facing role. I really enjoy the variety of interaction with clients and colleagues. I consider it both an honour and a privilege to be partly responsible for one of the most…
Dominic
28th July, 2017
What’s on the menu this spring…? Oh no, not politics again! Every time the TV’s on in our house, politicians or chefs seem to dominate. Perhaps cooking is the central theme; one cooks a range of (generally) tasty fare, whilst the other cooks the books… or so it…
Ashley Brooks
5th May, 2017
Budget 2017: Few surprises but plenty of detail
The entrance of Philip Hammond into the exchequers seat got off to a slow start in November as he delivered a relatively uneventful Autumn Statement. Surely, five months on, his first full budget would be more compelling? Unfortunately, not. Its actually turned into a bit of a mess…
DB Wood Team
24th March, 2017
An increasingly expensive drive to work…
A forty-minute commute to work doesn’t float many people’s boats. Personally though, I find it gives me some down time. When I’m not analysing how bad my backhand was the night before, my mind often tries to make sense of changes in the investment world. So it’s not…
Alex Chappell
10th March, 2017
I’ve been running on and off for about 10 years now. It started as a way to keep fit and that still plays a part in why I run. I’m no Mo Farrah that’s for sure, but I have improved over the years which is great.
Rhiannon Sanders
10th February, 2017
Economic cycles come and go. Expansion, boom, bust, recovery… expansion, boom, bust, recovery… repeat. Each stage of this familiar cycle bear certain characteristics. A “recovery phase” for example, usually features high but improving unemployment, with low interest rates to try to stimulate growth. Next comes the…
Alex Chappell
27th January, 2017