FF blog

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…

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…

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!

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…

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…

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…

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…

Government tax-relief into pensions tops £41billion and costs more than our entire armed forces and around one-third of all spending to the NHS! A little birdie tells us the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in a recent private conversation “pension tax relief is eye-wateringly expensive”.  Does this mean the Governments generosity may come under some…

If your children are both working and you are a Grandparent helping with the childcare, your daughter (or daughter in-law!) can give you their unused national insurance credits towards building your state pension!  As they are still working they can’t claim it anyway and it is called the “specified adult child-care credit” and is easy…

When we get to retirement it is vital to look after your money and not spend it too quickly but a survey of over 55’s by AJ Bell has revealed some interesting stats.  Some given are: 51% of retirees age 55 – 59 expect their pensions to last less than 20 years 44% of savers…

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 looked at the current “standard variable rate” of Halifax, Nationwide, NatWest and Barclays they are all 4.24% as this is written.  Given the cheapest available mortgage is 0.99% or…

Around 1.6 million pension pots worth nearly £20billion remain unclaimed is a scary but true fact according to the Association of British Insurers!  If you want to check if your one of them, see below for details of the governments FREE pension tracing service! The average person reaching retirement may have had as many as…

According to industry giant Legal and General’s recent survey of over 55’s.  They found that 27% of respondents thought withdrawals would be tax-free!  Wrong! See our examples that follow! This is a fundamental mis-calculation that could dramatically cut-short your financial security and one that is easily avoided.  Our regular readers will know that up to…

From today, 6th November 2018 state pension ages have been fully equalised to 65, meaning no longer can anyone receive their state pension before the age of 65.  Once upon a time, it was the case that women qualified for state pension at age 60, where as men had to wait until 65 but not…

We have had the date booked in our diaries for months and were all keenly huddled round the radio straining every sinew to understand the true meaning of every single word coming from Mr Hammond’s mouth.  Anyway, here is the Financial Fortress guide to the budget 2018. Here are the “high-lights”: * Personal allowance to…

For any of our clients reading this, please rest assured this is not how we invest your money (as tempting as it is)!!  You may have read that a US lottery is a whopping $1.6 billion ($1,600,000,000.00) today.  In sterling terms that calculates to around £1.2billion and at Financial Fortress we have come up with…

For any of our clients reading this, please rest assured this is not how we invest your money (as tempting as it is)!!  You may have read that a US lottery is a whopping $1.6 billion ($1,600,000,000.00) today.  In sterling terms that calculates to around £1.2billion and at Financial Fortress we have come up with…

The rumours are true and we have agreed to sponsor all home kits for Newton Athletic FC in Chester and are delighted to reveal our banner which has been erected today at their home ground, The Cheshire County Sports Club in Chester.  Being a local and family owned business, we are super proud to support…

Following our sponsorship of the International Rugby 7’s last weekend, here’s a pic of our own @WayneMusker with England super-star @PhilGreening. Some great stories were being shared here and well done for organising a great weekend of rugby! Phil is also founder of @TheAthleteFactoryChester and well worth a visit!  

The Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee has warned that thousands of parents may have lost out on state pension entitlement due to the changes in child benefits introduced in 2013!  It is estimated that in excess of £1billion (£1,000,000,000) of pension entitlement has been lost in total or £23,000 per individual based on a…

As our regular readers will know, our apprentice Kieran came to work at Financial Fortress without being able to swim so we immediately enrolled him in some lessons! Kieran has now completed his 14 swimming lessons (in work time) and we are proud to announce that (although Adam Peaty doesn’t need to worry about his…

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…

Where the nation’s health and diet improves, statistics show more and more of us are living longer.  Whilst this is great for us personally it means that we tend to live with ongoing conditions and eventually we will all get frail.  Whether down to ill health or just simple old age, more and more of…

On Friday we shut the office early and went to give blood in work time!  Just another little way Financial Fortress gives back to the community we serve! Register to become a donor here: https://www.blood.co.uk/

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…

A Government report has called for the introduction of a new tax for the over 40’s to tackle the ever-increasing burden of social care.  Now this doesn’t mean it will be implemented but again demonstrates the radical reform needed to tackle this ever-growing crisis!  The facts are we have an ageing population who need more…

The latest FT Financial Adviser mystery shopper results have been published. We are not surprised to find out our mortgage advisor Malcolm was the “shopper’s choice” with the top score of 35/35!!  Contact us, your local Independent Financial Advisers to discuss all aspects of your finances including mortgages, pensions, investments, life insurance, estate planning, equity…

Investments and pensions taken out since 2012 are what we in the industry call “clean” shares meaning the annual management charges are as low as possible and the share itself doesn’t murkily and perpetually pay commission to the adviser that set it all up. In the bad old days before the industry tried to clean…

This really makes me angry, you save your whole life and some low life scum-bag convinces you to give your money away.  Sounds like fantasy but the FCA estimates up to 40% of pension transfers are linked to either fraud or un-regulated and unsuitable solutions!  I have at least 4 clients who have been ripped…

Insurance and pension provider Royal London has released its report entitled “State of the protection nation” which reveals not only our headline stat but also that almost half of mortgage holders (42%) have no life insurance, nearly three-quarters (71%) have no critical illness cover and 81% no income protection.  69% of respondents claim premiums being…

A record £34.2 billion (or £34,200,000,000) was transferred out of pensions according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) smashing the all-time record! In 2016 it was a much lower £12.8 billion. So why do people do it?  Number one reason will most certainly be to access the freedom’s brought in 2015 giving you the…

According to pension firm Aviva, early retirement (defined as those retiring before their 65th birthdays) will all but disappear to most UK workers in the coming years!  Yes – you may panic! Aviva points to employment figures recently published by the ONS (Office of National Statistics) which shows a continued decline in the number of…

Wow who would have thought, but not only is this great for the English nation but it has also provided an unexpected boost to the struggling high street! England’s progress also appears to have been great for the economy!  Coupled with the un-seasonably fine weather it has seen the nations consumers head for the shops…

According to the Prudential, arguably one of the UK’s largest pension and investment companies, 1 in 8 people retire with no pension savings.  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…

On Thursday, our young apprentice will complete his third swimming lesson so here’s a quick update on his progress. We asked Kieran before day 1 how he felt and he said:  “I am very nervous and to be honest and feel like a bit of an idiot for not being able to swim.  I am…

Well 26% actually according to research by the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI).  What a crazy fact, especially as most pensioners rely on the state pension for more than half their total income in retirement and in some cases even more! The research shows that 40% of savers expect their state pension to be less than…

A financial advice firm in Wrexham may be responsible for almost £2million in compensation following complaints from its client’s.  Kingsway Wealth Management appear to have transferred client’s pension funds into what is known as Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPP’s) with the underlying investments being un-regulated according to Money Marketing!! According to a search of the Financial…

Today the Bank of England voted on what to do with interest rates (as they do 8 times per year).  Anyone with a mortgage will know that interest rates have been at record lows since the financial crash in 2008 and currently stand at 0.5%.  Although the rate has been lower in the recent past…

Like 1 in 5 adults, our apprentice, Kieran is not able to swim!  So, at Financial Fortress we have decided this is not a good thing so we have arranged and paid for Kieran to start the first of 14 swimming lessons this Thursday in work time! Kieran is obviously quite nervous but I am…

A recent report from pensions big-hitters Hymens Robertson and Vanguard investments shows a savers wealth could be a whopping 5% worse off over 30 years if they don’t consider a “tax optimised wrapper”! What is a wrapper I hear you all scream?  Readers of our blogs will have heard of an “ISA” and certainly a…

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…

There are currently around 15,000 centenarians in the UK (people aged over 100), however another stat provided by the UK Government is that 10 million of us Brits alive today are expected to make it to our 100th birthday!  Amazing news for most but other figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) also…

Research from Retirement Advantage shows fourteen percent (14%) of non-retired people aged 50 or over have been approached by potential pension scammers in the past 3 months!! The Government has recently announced a ban on pension related cold-calling with legislation to be proposed by the Pensions Secretary (Esther McVey) by the end of June 2018. …

Given the many recent changes to the state pension, with ages already now equalised for men and women to age 65 and increasing further to 67 being phased in over the next 10 years it is no surprise that clients keep asking us if the Government will abolish it? “We do doubt it” is our…

Equity release lending reached record highs of £870million in the first quarter of 2018 having doubled in the past 2 years according to the Equity Release Council.  £10million per day was withdrawn from “housing wealth” in the same period! As our population is ageing and our retirees are in better health (so can enjoy themselves…

Divorcees suffer nearly £4,000 per year cut in pension income!  A recent survey from pension provider, Prudential shows the average expected annual pension income of a divorcee retiring in 2018 was on average £17,600 per year compared to a typical £21,400 for those who have not experienced a break-up! Here’s a real shocker… The Joseph…

Recent research from Retirement Advantage claims that up to £780 million was lost by clients in a single year simply because the retirees collectively did not shop around at the point of retirement with their pensions. Staying with your pension provider after retirement will rarely be in anyone’s interest given the-  endless ways pension companies…

The team would like to congratulate our young apprentice, Kieran on passing his first exam yesterday in Regulation and ethics.  WELL DONE KIERAN and only 7 more to go!!

Now Pensions, probably one of the largest auto-enrolment workplace pension providers was recently fined a total of £70,000 by the Pensions Regulator due to administrative issues, problems with collecting contributions and not communicating properly with its members! The watchdog fined the companies Trustee’s £50,000 for “failing to ensure that all employee and employer contributions were…

Life insurance is a key element to financial security, but why does it feel like it is still a product that is sold rather than actively sought?  Sadly, we have experience of our clients passing away or getting seriously ill which results in huge financial pressure and hardship to the survivor and family whereas those…

45.1% of self-employed people aged between 35 and 54 have no pension wealth what so ever!  Whereas, this figure is just 16.4% for the employed according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).  The ONS also shows the number of self-employed has risen to 4.8 million people between 2001 and 2017 to become over 15%…

Press release: Independent Financial Advisers, Financial Fortress Ltd based in Guilden Sutton is committed to investing in young talent and has recruited their new apprentice, Kieran Broster to join their friendly team.  Wayne Musker, Director of Financial Fortress says, “we are delighted to welcome Kieran into our friendly team and very much look forward to…

BT is the latest company in an increasingly long list that is closing its final salary pensions to future accrual.  Following consultations with the Communication and Workers Union and Prospect, BT now intends to close active membership of Sections B & C from 31st May 2018 – Yes that is just 2 months from now!!…