Tag Archives: Tax

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March Focus – We’re on your side! … and putting time on your side too!

We at Barry Fleming and Partners have been advising clients on their financial planning needs for over 45 years. During that time we have experienced the many vicissitudes in the markets, in taxation, and in global politics. Our planning is based on advising clients on balanced portfolios that meet their individual income and capital requirements…
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February Focus – Beware the Ides of March … Well, the 23rd March, anyway!

We all know that the Ides of March fall on the 15th March – Julius Caesar was murdered on that day in 44 B.C. when Roman senators raided the Curia in Rome, a raid immortalised by Shakespeare. Then there was the French 48-hour raid into England on the Ides of March in 1360, pillaging and…
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January Focus – Janus was two-faced, wasn’t he? Well, he had two faces – and a good thing too!

The Romans dedicated January to their god Janus – god of Endings, Transitions, and new Beginnings. He is depicted with two faces since he looks back to learn from the past and the year that has just ended (Endings) and, having taken stock of changes and new considerations that have arisen (Transitions), he looks forward…
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December Focus – Success is in preserving order amid change … and in preserving change amid order!

Covid-19 has changed the way most financial planners, we included, are able to deliver advice – at least for the time being. At the drop of a hat, the industry has had to embrace years’ worth of technological innovation so that we could continue to provide our services to you during a tumultuous time. The…
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November Focus – It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark! … the message is ‘Plan ahead!’

You and I know that life is not all plain sailing but, as far as financial planning is concerned, if you plan ahead you can maximise your resources for your future income and capital needs and for those of your family – and reduce the risks while on life’s journey. We call it Lifetime Financial…
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October Focus – Your cash reserves! … Can you bank on them?

Over the last 18 months or so, Covid-19 itself and the ensuing lockdown and travel restrictions have limited our annual holidays especially those abroad, and those slap-up meals, or pub lunches. As a result, households have spent less and have salted away extra cash into their savings. The Bank of England says that £162 billion…
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September Focus – Is it to be a Colander or a Calendar? … Avoid the former! ‘Focus’ on the latter!

“Planning” is the process of deciding in detail how to do something before you actually start to do it – it’s sensible and it fits a calendar! It’s what we do! Failing to plan where financial planning is possible, is the process of witnessing opportunities disappear through the perforations of our financial life – it…
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August Focus – It’s difficult to make predictions – especially about the future! … but a goal without a plan is just a wish!

My career in financial services commenced 50 years ago, and I started our firm 46 years ago. During that time we have worked through, and advised clients throughout, the many vicissitudes that life presented – the 1973 oil crisis; the secondary banking crisis that followed; the stock market crash when our stock market fell 73%….
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July Focus – Read the news recently about pensions and got the ‘pip’ ?!? No worries! Here are a few tips to help you avoid being pipped at the pensions post!

In the context of the recent news repeating the warning that there could be a raid on pensions (e.g. reductions in the Annual Allowance and/or Lifetime Allowance) in order to help recover the costs of Covid-19, our Focus this month is an important reminder for all those who are members of a pension scheme –…
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June Focus – That age-old question! … and how to go about answering it!

As I was drafting this month’s Focus, coincidentally I read in today’s edition of Daily Express Money about a ‘pension warning’ highlighting that their research indicated that couples will need an annual income of between £26,000 and £41,000, depending on lifestyles, for a ‘comfortable’ retirement. Many will want to target more. Whatever your target starting…
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