Category Archives: Blog

North East business advice – what is a dividend?

Dividends

A dividend is a payment from a limited company to the shareholders. There are some rules about when and how much the company can pay.   Rule 1 – There must be sufficient reserves available to distribute. Put simply, the company has more assets than liabilities. If you have accounting […]

Advice for North East small businesses – should I go to a Limited Company?

Should I go to a Limited Company?

A lot of people ask if they should incorporate – (start to trade through a ‘limited company’ rather than a sole trade or partnership). I can’t stress enough the importance and value you will have from a proper consultation with a qualified accountant or tax specialist to make sure everything […]

Self employed millennials heading for a rocky retirement

Millennial retirement planning

Recent research from Fidelity suggest that those who are self employed between the ages of 23 and 38 (millennials) are not saving enough for retirement. Two in three young self-employed workers surveyed by the investment firm and pension provider said they had no pension savings whatsoever, with nearly three-quarters of […]

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 […]

Future proof your lifestyle

Future proof your lifestyle

It feels like there’s a lot of uncertainty about at the moment – whether it’s Brexit or our next PM or the state of the economy.  It may be concern about climate change, job security, lifestyle.  Although these things seem big and out of our control there are steps we […]

Finance options – purchasing assets or improving cash flow?

Finance options - purchasing assets or improving cash flow?

Many people, business owners or not, know of a couple of finance options for their next big purchase or to improve cash flow but most don’t understand the difference or know alternatives. Here I will focus on the main options people have heard of and some common alternatives that I […]

10 Questions with Robson Laidler Wealth Director Neil Cowie

Robson Laidler Wealth Director Neil Cowie

1. What was your first break in business? Getting a call to discuss the new financial planning advice business being set up by Robson Laidler in 2005.   2. What did you want to be growing up? Airline pilot – I’m still a bit of a plane spotter!   3. […]

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% […]

North East GPs – Do you feel financially secure?

GP financial security

According to a recent survey carried out by GPOnline, over half (55%) of GP partners believe that their practice is less financially secure than it had been a year ago. Just 6% of GP partners felt their practice was more financially secure, and 75% said that they had felt no […]