Author Archives: Amanda Cowie

Pensions in your twenties and thirties?!

young person pension planning

As a thirty something (and hurtling towards the big 40) I often find myself thinking about retirement and what it’s going to look like.  Not necessarily what I’ll be doing or the fact I’ll be finished work forever (yippee), I’m thinking about money, my pension, and will I have enough […]

Lifetime Allowance – Myths you need to know

Lifetime allowance

For those who haven’t heard of this before, the Lifetime Allowance (LTA) is the amount that a UK individual can hold in a registered pension arrangement(s).  Now the LTA is £1.055m and it is set to increase with CPI every year.

NHS Pensions – handy hints to plan your exit

NHS Pension

For most of the doctors I meet, their NHS Pension will underpin their retirement planning.  So, it’s probably a good idea to get clued up/take some advice if you have a specific date/lifestyle in mind! Here’s what you should be thinking about: We think it’s a good idea to determine […]

Financial Planning for North East Women

Financial planning for women

Come on ladies, it’s time to get a handle on long term finance! There have been a number of headlines recently about women not taking responsibility for their longer-term planning, many leaving it to their partner. Is this a problem? Perhaps not for some, but in my job I see […]

Financial planning for University – “Today playgroup, tomorrow university”

Financial Planning Student

Someone said this to me about 18 years ago when their daughter, a similar age to mine, had just started playgroup.  This mother, so upset about losing the company of her toddler, not long after started to home-school – successfully, huge admiration.  At the same point, I practically jogged to […]

Amanda’s Great North Run Training Update

Great North Run

I agreed at the start of the year that I would join the rest of the team at Robson Laidler in running for our charity of the year – Freeman Heart and Lung Transplant Association.  I’ve done a couple of half marathon’s before, the GNR in 2010 and the Sunderland […]

Later Life Care – a financial time bomb?

Later Life Care - a financial time bomb?

Local authorities are cash strapped – fact.  The Dilnot Report capping the cost of Later Life Care fees keeps being delayed.  Something has to be done to address this. The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) has published ‘Care in later life: incentives to use assets to pay for care’ sponsored by […]

Pensions – “Are you saving enough?”

Coins

Great programme which clearly shows that, for various reasons, the bulk of the population are putting planning ahead on the back burner. We would just highlight the need to have a plan in place, even just a basic one and not to put this off. A good watch regardless: ITV […]

Tens of thousands entering retirement each year without taking advice

Retirement advice

New analysis from the Association of British Insurers (“ABI”) shows very low levels of retirement readiness. This isn’t really surprising to us but continues to be a bit worrying! Of the 62,000 people accessing some of their pension via drawdown for the first time during a 6 month period, 34% […]

Tax year end planning 2019 – Investments: take profits using Capital Gains Tax annual allowances

Clock GIF

  With tax year end just around the corner, it’s time to check you are making the most of your tax reliefs and allowances to save for a brighter future. You may want to consider: Investments: take profits using CGT annual allowances If you are looking to supplement your income […]