FF blog

In our blogs and articles were always banging on about the economy here or the economy there but we thought we would let everyone know about our business and how we have changed our practises to weather this storm!  In fact, given the changes we have embraced it has arguably allowed us to thrive as…

First things first, inflation is real even though we often over-look this!  Remember how much a bag of crisps cost when you were a child?  How much would a bag cost now?  How many sweets were in a “10p mix up” whereas a 10p mix up probably doesn’t even exist anymore!!  Inflation is the biggest…

We are delighted to announce the entrance to our team of Bella Scully as Marketing & Events Co-ordinator!  Bella’s role is to further enhance our Marketing & Communications strategy, ensuring our existing and new clients remain of high priority whilst building their own Financial Fortress!  Having worked over 6 years for an IT Services & Solutions company and over 20 years of experience being in the IT industry,…

In 2014, we were told this would happen – but the UK Government has now announced they will legislate to raise the age at which you can access your pension from 55 now to 57 in 2028.  If you were born after 1971 you will be affected!  So why are they doing it?  Simply put…

We are sad to reveal, we have received our first ever 4-star review! Read on to see what was said….. “Used Financial Fortress to review and sort out my pension pots which were several. The person that I dealt with was Wayne M. The service I received was fabulous! Would defiantly use them again and…

Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that with the UK debt to GDP ratio surpassing 100%, the widely praised (so far) Chancellor of the Exchequer Mr Sunak now has a battle on his hands to reign in not only the spending but work out how this is to be repaid.  In short,…

The countdown is over and whilst other companies seem to be shrinking, as usual Financial Fortress bucks the trend with no less than 2 new colleagues joining our ranks taking the team to 9 dedicated experts in all things financial! Emyr joins us from another team of advisers with huge pedigree reaching back to 1992…

According to Morgan Stanley, the stock market is “dislocated from reality” and looking at how far they have rebounded since the depths of Corona-virus this statement is not really surprising.  The S&P (an American index) has rebounded more than 50% since the March lows and has actually now hit an all-time high today (18/08/2020)!  The…

The good news is, the world seems to be getting back to some normality on the employment front with business’s returning employees safely where they can.  Even “higher risk” sections of the economy such as hospitality and catering are returning to normal and from an economic point of view – this can only be a good thing. …

Bank of England data released today (20/08/2020) show that In May 2020, the number of mortgages being approved fell to their lowest ever recorded levels!  The small print shows however that records only began in 1993 (which was also a time of great recession – remember the negative equity debacle?).  This figure got better in June 2020 but were still nearly…

The House of Commons today has published key economic indicators for the UK housing market and it makes for some interesting reading!  Between April 2019 and April 2020 house prices (as measured by the UK House Price Index) increased by 2.6%.  On a “seasonally adjusted basis” however, they have fallen by 0.9%.    It also depends where you…

A “passive fund” can also be known as an “index tracker”, “index fund” or simply “tracker” and aims to replicate (or copy) a particular stock market index with the most common perhaps being the FTSE 100.  As it doesn’t rely on fund managers or stock pickers, they tend to be an extremely cost-effective form of…

Malcolm helped me secure a mortgage during a tricky time, after receiving two previous declines and in the middle of a pandemic!Malcolm provided honest and clear advice from the start. He ensured he only submitted my application to the most suitable lender by assessing my needs thoroughly and researching various lenders and products. He was…

This Saturday sees Chester Pride coming to our living rooms for the first time with Chester Digital Pride. Its the carnival of colour and acceptance, but members of our LGBTQ+ community (and indeed opposite sex couples living together) face some very specific challenges to their finances which, given correct planning in advance can easily be…

If you have reached the grand old state retirement age (currently 67), the way your income escalates (or goes up for inflation) every year is currently guaranteed by something called the “triple-lock”.  Basically, it means your state pension will be increased every year by the higher of 2.5%, price inflation or average wage increases.  Now…

Now any regular reader will know that we always harp on about the threat of inflation being too high, indeed the Bank of England is legally charged with keeping this under control (2% is seen as satisfactory long term) but could inflation now come to the rescue of Governments and the population whose debts are…

What a strange time we live in!  Trying to navigate our clients investments through this turmoil is a nightmare given most of the data is only available “after the events” and depending on how you read it can indicate either good news or bad news!  For example: Figures released last week show that the British…

Since the Corona-virus crisis, mortgage lenders have been withdrawing from various markets basically in complete fear!  Why would you borrow someone money where their job may be at risk or at best only have 80% of their income?  Low-points of the past 3 months include Nationwide pulling all tracker mortgages and no lender offering any mortgage with…

If your buying a property worth up to £500,000 until 31st March 2021 then the good news is, you don’t have to pay any stamp duty with immediate effect!  This could save you up to £15,000 – Wow!  However, if you live in Scotland or Wales, given stamp duty is a “devolved matter”, you will still have to…

One of the most important sayings we have is “past performance is no guarantee of future returns” but can turning to history ever help spot long term trends?  Particularly as we are in the middle of a technical depression that has not been seen in modern times?  There are very few parallels to this “Corona-crisis” but you…

So what do I mean about “Corona-aid”.  The facts are the last 3 months have been extremely expensive times for the tax-man and a combination of people not paying tax (think VAT holidays, 80% wages and corporation tax delays) plus huge payments out of furlough wages and guaranteed support to companies and the self-employed, this…

What a brilliant group of professional people! My particular interest was getting my Pension sorted out, which has been accomplished perfectly. Thank you Wayne, Ian, Kieran and everyone else I met, at your Office.I am grateful for your help, and amazed at the speed and effectiveness of your work! Flying in from Canada to take…

Recent statistics from the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) and sponsored by Age UK show that the poorest pensioners are relying on the state pension for over three quarters (78%) of their income. Where other state benefits such as housing benefit or pension credit are included, this figure rises to a whopping 86% of income being…

I know we constantly bang on about it but – pension scammers are scum bags that pillage the life savings of innocent hard-working people on a daily basis but…it seems the tide may be turning! Since the summer of 2018, the Government has been running campaigns (including TV adverts) warning people not to “let a…

Statistics from the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) and sponsored by Age UK show that the poorest pensioners are relying on the state pension for over three quarters (78%) of their income. Where other state benefits such as housing benefit or pension credit are included, this figure rises to a whopping 86% of income being provided…

The British and their castles… I mean err houses!  We have definitely seen an uptick lately in the number of enquiries for people to raise mortgages.  I would even go further and say probably 75% of enquiries are from first time buyers which, from a housing market point of view is a very good sign!…

During this crazy and unexpected time, there are some investments that continue to provide good returns and we get asked all the time, what should we buy?  We often talk about “defensive stocks” making up the bedrock of any portfolio.  Defensive stocks are said to have “elastic demand” and what this means is no matter…

At the beginning of the Corona-virus crisis, when every one was panic-buying their toilet rolls and hand sanitizer I was explaining to the team how complex and lengthy our supply chains really are.  Take apples for example, it takes around 10 years for an apple tree to produce enough fruit to make planting one worthwhile…

Firstly, anyone reading this will be far too young to have experienced first hand a real “depression” but during a recent chat with a senior Director or a UK Bank (which shall remain nameless), they suggested to me that the Board was seriously planning for such an eventuality. A depression is a sustained and long-term…

When all this Corona-virus first kicked off, we were very relaxed about it and thought that the indestructability of advanced and ultra-modern medicine would soon see the virus off and the first time we seriously realised that something was seriously amuck was when UK Government borrowings went into overdrive! Since then, we estimate the Government…

Why is it once again, we find ourselves inundated with clients trying to “beat the tax-man” and use their tax allowances before the end of the tax-year when they have had all year to plan?  Oh well, just a good job we are fully staffed (albeit working from home) and willing to help then, but…

According to the “Financial adviser” (an industry news-paper) there has already been £970,000 lost in Corona-virus linked pension scams since the start of February!  Demonstrating further that even in these confusing times you can never be too careful with your savings and whilst the country is generally pulling together and achieving amazing things, there are…

Nationwide Building Society, the UK’s second largest mortgage lender, has pulled all its tracker mortgages from the market following the Bank of England’s decision to reduce interest rates to an ALL TIME RECORD LOW of 0.1%! There are however many other lenders still in the market and being independent we have access to most and…

Holy shmoly! (that is a technical financial adviser term by the way so sorry for the jargon) but what a time we are in!  Any way in this-fast moving environment we thought we would update you with some more sources of assistance in this chaotic time.   We continue to manage our client’s wealth to…

Another very tough day in the markets after Friday’s brief lull (which we now know was a “Dead cat bounce”).  So, what is going on?  The answer is actually quite simple – no-one knows – which is why we are now firmly in the eye of one of the most chaotic investment storms we have…

If you are the proud owner of a property, chances are you will probably have a mortgage meaning the recent reduction in the “Bank of England Base Rate” has meant you now have opportunity to pay the least amount of interest ever!  The lenders amongst us (Banks, Building Societies etc) were already tripping over themselves…

“Money makes the world go round” or so goes the saying and one of the most important “tools” that those responsible for governing the economy has, is the decision to raise or lower interest rates.  A very cumbersome tool as it is difficult to be used in a targeted way and is set by The…

1 in 6 UK adults in their early 30’s are postponing either buying a home or having a family due to fears about the financial impact on their lives!!  According to a recent YouGov survey. Nearly one-quarter (24%) of 30-35 year olds said they were concerned about the financial impact of major changes in their…

Client’s receiving professional & ongoing financial advice between 2001 and 2006 were on average £47,706 better off by 2014-16!  Wow what a stat and really shows the potential power of using a great financial adviser (like us)!! Research by Royal London and the International Longevity Centre (ILC) released recently went on to say that “people…

Whilst the virus has been in the news since last year, as the coronavirus was generally contained to China, markets had largely ignored it until this week when news emerged that it was spreading more quickly to the “developed world”.  This has then fed through to markets this week resulting in a sell off in…

Leading local financial advice firm, Financial Fortress Ltd continues to invest in new talent with their latest apprentice, Ryan Hardwick joining their friendly team in Chester. Ryan joins Financial Fortress as Apprentice Marketeer having previously worked for a Supermarket.  He has already been enrolled on the Government recognised Level 3 Digital Marketing course and is…

According to the Prudential, arguably one of the UK’s largest pension and investment companies. Whilst this is a horrific number, the trend is actually positive and past research from the Prudential for example shows it was almost 1 in 4 (23%) of retirees just 10 years ago. The survey of almost 10,000 adults also showed…

Beware is the message from any reputable finance company (ours included) as the number of “scams” and “rip-offs” is on the increase. Indeed, leading lender NatWest has recently warned that first-time buyers are particularly at risk. So how can we protect ourselves? The deposit scam (AKA Money Muelling). This is where a fraudster steals your…

Given the continued uncertainty, more and more people are asking us what this means to their finances and how they can “Brexit proof” them so here are a few pointers for you to consider: Savings: Firstly, do you have savings with a EU (European Union) or EEA (European Economic Area) based savings account? Worried about…

How long are we going to live? A morbid question we know but all too often we get asked “what would you do” and our reply is always the same. Answer 1 simple question and we’ll calculate it to the penny…. “what date will you die?”. If we only knew it would make our job…

Why is this so important?  Because you will probably be paying your lenders “standard variable rate” and this will probably be much higher than necessary!  Having checked the “standard variable rate” of Halifax, Nationwide, NatWest and Barclays they are all 4.24% as this is written.  Given the cheapest available mortgage is 1.19% (and that is…

Whats your financial new years resolution ? Check out your debts.Review your mortgage.See if your investments are working hard.Find out where your pensions are. Ready for your new year review ? Contact your local experts to build your very own financial fortress !

We hope you are enjoying your day and spending time with your family, but when the festivities are over maybe you should start thinking of your new year’s resolutions!   Here is our short guide to sorting out your finances: Review your mortgage and make sure you have the cheapest interest rate Look at your pensions…

According to investment giant Scottish Friendly, the fact that interest rates have been rock-bottom for over 10 years means investors that used cash ISA’s could have lost out on over £40,000 in potential returns when compared to someone who used an investment ISA instead! Since 1999, investors in stocks and shares ISA’s have received an…

As you may by now know, Queen Elizabeth II presented the Queens speech to Parliament on Monday but what you may not have realised is that Her Majesty is proposing some changes to pensions legislation!  Read on for our explanation: In announcing the Pensions Bill, Her Majesty used the words “To help people plan for…

A “passive fund” can also be known as an “index tracker”, “index fund” or simply “tracker” and aims to replicate (or copy) a particular stock market index with the most common perhaps being the FTSE 100.  As it doesn’t rely on fund managers or stock pickers, they tend to be an extremely cost-effective form of…

Following publication of the FCA’s Mortgage Market Study, the UK financial services regulator (Financial Conduct Authority) found that 30% of all consumers could have found an identical or better deal elsewhere, regardless of whether they received advice or not!  On the back of this the FCA proposes that when advisers do not recommend the cheapest…

Action fraud now gets around 600,000 fraud reports per year! – wow that is a lot of potentially ripped off clients! As our clients know we can’t stand pension (and investment) pilfering scum bags but here at Financial Fortress we have spotted a recent theme – beware of the 8% return! Now it may very…

This Sunday once again sees Chester Pride coming to our great and diverse city with its carnival of colour and acceptance, but unmarried members of our LGBTQ+ community (and indeed all unmarried co-habiting couples) face some very specific challenges to their finances which, given correct planning in advance can easily be overcome. Here we discuss…

Our eagle-eyed readers may have noticed our new branding which we have been developing over the last few months! Apparently, it is more in tune with our “friendly”, “local” and “jargon free” attitude to providing the best standards of financial planning. We hope you like it, get in touch and let us know! Our new…

Based in Wrexham and want to contact your local experts? You can now call 01978 788559 or pop and see us in our new offices on Chester Street, in Wrexham’s town centre! Our clients know we love to help them and we continually strive to make visiting us as hassle free as possible. Give us…

Just when you thought it was safe to plan for the future, MP’s have gone and shown again that the end of the “Brexit tunnel” is no nearer! Given the continued uncertainty, more and more people are asking us what this means to their finances and how they can “Brexit proof” them so here are…

The Government has recently made further changes to the licensing requirements of Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO’s) which means a further estimated 177,000 HMO’s may now require a license! If affected you may soon receive a letter from your lender demanding you either revert the property back to a single residence or pay back the…

According to Legal and General, the amount lent to family members entering the property market in 2018 rose to £5.7bn, with a forecast that 2019 will see the figure top £6.3bn!! The average contribution from a family member was £24,000 making family the 11th largest mortgage lender! How can this be explained? Well, as average…

Despite the Governments best efforts, the cost of providing the state pension continues to rise with the total cost now topping a whopping £96.8billion. (that’s £96,800,000,000)! According to the Department for work and Pensions, this is estimated to increase by a further 2.1% in 2019-20. Add in pensioner benefits such as housing benefit and the…

A dormant pension is one that has not been reviewed for some years and therefore, it is very likely the growth will be poor, your charges will be high and generally any money you have invested is doing very little to enhance your long-term financial security! We recently had a case where it had grown…

Don’t forget, we offer everyone our FREE pension tracing service to everyone with no-cost or obligation! A reminder of how it works: Give us a call on our freephone 0800 195 1818, where your named expert will ask for as much (or as little) information you have including former employers, previous addresses and former names….

We had a photographer visit our offices yesterday and we are really pleased with the results! What is it about photos though that makes us all feel uncomfortable? It’s only a camera! Anyway, here is a great team shot of us all looking slightly uncomfortable… as always get in touch with your dedicated expert to…

With the population getting older and remaining fitter for longer, government figures show almost 1 million people continue working whilst in receipt of their state pensions. Problem is, this can then result in heavy tax implications whereas many of these could choose to defer their state pension instead! According to Royal London, of these people…

According to a Which? survey, 66% of recent property purchasers experienced problems with buying their homes before completion! Many of the issues raised can be easily avoided with either some additional knowledge or by using experienced and trusted experts such as mortgage advisers for example. Problems cited in the report included delays with others in…

We are delighted to launch our new FREE pension tracing service which we will provide to all prospective clients without any obligation! Here is how it works:   You have a phone call with a qualified expert They complete a check on the Government’s pension tracing service They contact your possible providers and former employers…

We never get tired of reading our client feedback! Kieran started as a Trainee around 12 months ago and is now a fully qualified mortgage adviser. Nice to see our clients think as much of him as they do our company so well-done Kieran and keep up the good work!! PS: No your not getting…

When you put money into your pension, the Government rewards you by also tipping some cash in. It works by the pension provider automatically reclaiming 20% of your contribution and adding it to your pot. If you are lucky enough to be a higher rate taxpayer (earning more than £45,000 per year), you could even…

An Article produced by Aegon has highlighted the consequences of not been a member of a workplace pension for differing periods of time. Ultimately, this will have a negative impact on the fund value of your pension and lead to thousands of pounds being lost. The study conducted provided an example of a 22-year-old earning…

There were a total of 28,800 first-time buyers in March 2019 which is a drop of 2.4% when compared to the year before according to UK Finance. The total number of home-mover mortgages also dropped by 6% to 25,280 in the same period whilst the buy-to let market completed 5,000 new loans (9.1% drop) and…

Almost 1 in 5 mortgages are interest only, meaning many people risk losing their homes due to not having a strategy to repay this debt prior to retirement! Do you have an interest only mortgage? – ACT NOW and read this….. Nearly 18% of all mortgages in the UK are interest only (or part interest…

Our very own Wayne Musker met with Ian Derrick from the Bank of England this morning to be briefed on the outlook for the global economy including the current headwinds and how this may affect what happens in the UK. Here is Wayne’s report: Consumer spending is still buoyant House price growth is probably negative…

We are delighted to announce the recruitment of another Pension Transfer Specialist to our Chester based team! Ian Daltrey (Dip FA, AwPetr) joins us from a competitor firm and takes our friendly team to over 56 years of experience in all things finance! Ian is another local chap, hailing from Chester and has attained the…

You may be one of the people who paid £17.9billion in tax but could have avoided it!! The Government has been accused of hiding “figures in the small print” after HMRC admits that pensioners in 2016-17 tax year actually paid £4.4billion more in tax than previously thought after making withdrawals from their pensions. The true…

The financial services industry managed to stop 2/3rds of attempted fraud last year but the scum-bags still managed to pilfer away £1.2 billion according to recently published figures! £354 million of this was “authorised fraud” meaning, the client was duped into authorising the payment to another account. 2018 saw an increase of 16% on 2017,…

Simply email us now at: info@financialfortress.co.uk and tell us: 1, How much you owe, 2, What your house is worth & 3, How long you want to borrow it for. We will then search the whole of the market and email you the results including the interest rate and what your monthly repayment may be….

According to pensions big-hitter Royal London, many women in-particular are still not taking responsibility for their own financial security and relying on their other half’s which, in the event of a relationship breakdown could leave them in “financial meltdown”. Why is this happening? Simples, they are not accruing their own financial assets such as pensions….

More and more lenders are offering mortgages with just a 5% deposit from clients, allowing more first-time buyers access to the market meaning competition for the lifeblood of the home-moving market is fierce! According to magazine, Moneyfacts, there are now 60 companies offering this type of mortgage, whereas there were only 40 in 2014 and…

Well done Malcolm, however placing all clients at the heart of what we do is standard practise here at Financial Fortress! Get in touch on a no-cost and no obligation basis to experience 5-star service yourself!

How many times do I need to say it? The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) whom is charged with refunding client’s money if a bank goes bust for example, has received over 625 claims already due to a now collapsed firm based in Neston (just up the road from us) for investments it recommended in…

Research from advice company Portafina has published a survey conducted from over 2,000 people aged between 18 and 70 with the vast majority (84%) calling for “plain English” documents and explanations being the main cause for them not saving enough! Other interesting stats include 55% of 30-50 year olds believe their savings will not achieve…

When you put money into your pension, the Government rewards you by also tipping some cash in. It works by the pension provider automatically reclaiming 20% of your contribution and adding it to your pot. If you are lucky enough to be a higher rate taxpayer (earning more than £45,000 per year), you could even…

Why is it once again, we find ourselves inundated with clients trying to “beat the tax-man” and use their tax allowances before the end of the tax-year when they have had all year to plan? Oh well, just a good job we are fully staffed and willing to help then, but why is it so…

Recent statistics from the Pensions Policy Institute (PII) and sponsored by Age UK show that the poorest pensioners are relying on the state pension for over three quarters (78%) of their income. Where other state benefits such as housing benefit are included, this figure rises to a whopping 86% of income being provided by the…

The ISA was introduced in 1999 when it replaced the PEP which had been around since 1987 and whilst the annual allowances has changed (meaning the amount you can put in every year) it is now possible to have saved enough for you to be an “ISA Millionaire”! – wow, imagine that!   So, what…

If you are age 46 or under you will be caught out by the Governments recent changes to the age at which you can access your own money! Legislation already exists to increase the age at which you can draw your pension, (currently 55) to 57 from 2028.  From then on, it will increase further…

What is the secret to good financial planning? Well that’s a secret obviously! Not really, but basically it is ensuring your money doesn’t run out and we are asked all the time.. “What should I do?” and our answer is always the same.. What date will you die? Morbid we know but if you can…

Another happy client – well done Kieran. We appreciate the review however 5 star service should be standard practise for any business! For anything finance including mortgages, pensions and investments speak to your local experts on a no cost and no obligation basis!

First of all, what is a dog fund? – Funds that fail to beat their benchmarks for 3 consecutive 12-month periods by a figure of 5% or more. The top 10 largest include 2 from St James Place (UK High income & Global Equity income), 2 from Invesco (High income (UK) & Income) and one…

Money transferred away from final salary schemes increased to almost £5billion in 2018 (up from £2billion in 2017) according to the Pensions Regulator.  Given the figure was just £591m in 2014 just what is causing this surge?  The simple answer… pension freedoms introduced in 2015. Given the huge rise from £591m to £5bn in just…

If you have a mortgage (or a family member does), then do yourself (or them) a favour and read this.  Here we explain probably the easiest way to save you possibly thousands of £ every year! Most mortgage lenders offer a variety of “fixed term” deals when you take a mortgage out and given that…

This happens when you take your very first income payment from a pension since 2015 using the new “flexible drawdown” arrangements! How does it happen I hear you ask?  When you make a withdrawal using the flexibilities you become subject to something called “the money purchase annual allowance” (or MPAA) which reduces your annual allowance…

Looking back, in January 2017, the average fixed rate deal available was 2.31%.  Fast forward to today and the average standard variable rate is currently 4.9% – Over double!! Therefore, if your fixed rate mortgage has or is coming to an end, you could expect your interest rate to double! – Here’s some maths: If…

We are delighted to introduce the newest member of our advice team, Alex Brown.  Alex has been a financial adviser for many years, is another local lad (hailing from Chester) and brings a huge amount of experience to the team.  Managing Director, Wayne Musker says “Alex has an excellent track record of helping clients with…

As we approach the end of January I ask, how are your new years resolutions going?  What were your resolutions and how are you coping?  Are you a changed person having given up smoking, enjoying a “dry” January or hitting the gym?  Whilst these are important for your health and longevity why not apply the…

Research from a pension’s software provider, Selectapension suggests that men are 3 times more likely to seek retirement advice, from a financial adviser when compared to women!  Is it because some advisers prefer to “sell” products by blinding clients with jargon, gibberish and science?   Not how we work! Selectapension found that whilst take-up retirement advice…

Did you see our very own Wayne Musker being interviewed on the BBC news last night?  Worried about Brexit and the impact on your pensions and investments?  Get in touch with your local experts and use your no-cost and no obligation first meeting!

The UK Financial Services regulator (FCA) is publishing guidance to consumers due to the rise in Brexit related pension scams!  So be careful! A key concern from the regulators recent board meeting was that consumers would be unable to make “timely and informed decisions”, or in other words given the possible panic associated with Brexit…

What an incredibly important, but daunting decision.  Chances are this is for a relative that has cared for you for many years so getting a home that provides a pleasant and caring environment fit for their later years will be incredibly hard.  Throw in the worry about the costs (and selling the family home to…

As our existing clients know, we always get together at least once per year to check their investment and pensions, allowing for any changes in the year whilst making sure their long-term plans (such as a happy retirement) remain on track!  We also have no doubt that in January we will be inundated with new…