The Blincoe Blog

Investing isn’t about avoiding risk entirely. Instead, it’s about understanding the different types of risk, accepting them, and managing them wisely to achieve your financial goals.

In recent conversations with clients, one question keeps coming up: “Shouldn’t we just invest in the US stock market?”

If you’re concerned about inheritance tax (IHT), Business Relief (BR) investments can be a helpful option to reduce or even eliminate your tax liability.

We’ve just celebrated our first birthday. It’s been an incredible journey so far - emotional, rewarding and packed with valuable lessons.

There are three main types of protection policies:‍ Life insurance: This provides a financial safety net for your loved ones in the event of your death. It typically pays out a lump-sum to your beneficiaries, helping cover expenses like funeral cost

Last week, Rachel Reeves delivered the largest tax raising Budget since 1993, with around £40bn being raised in total. Most of the burden will fall on employers via an increase in employer national insurance contributions (and a reduction in the thre

Surely not another budget blog? Part one focussed on the facts. Today’s on the potential planning opportunities it creates – which products/strategies move up the agenda, and which move down. I focus on three areas – capital gains tax; inheritance ta

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered her first Budget and as predicted, the largest tax raising Budget since Norman Lamont in 1993, with around £40bn being raised in total. For most investors and savers, the measures were less bad than feared

Using charitable bequests as part of an inheritance tax ‘IHT’ planning strategy can be an effective way to benefit from reduced IHT rates, whilst also supporting causes that are close to your heart. Bequests can be structured in different ways, for

Before 1995, annuity purchase was, broadly speaking, the only way to draw on pension savings,The introduction of drawdown offered much more flexibility. Up until 2015, so-called ‘capped drawdown’ was the most common version of this, prescribing stric

Bare trusts are a simple and effective tool for grandparents who wish to make financial gifts to their minor grandchildren. And the ability to access the underlying monies prior to the child’s 18th birthday (unlike a Junior ISA say), make them a comp

We often encounter potential new clients who are managing their own investments (aka ‘DIY investors’), many of whom adopt a strategy of seeking companies that pay high dividends.The view is that such payouts offer some form of ‘guaranteed return’

This is a crucial tool in any financial planner’s toolkit. It helps identify whether your financial trajectory aligns with your vision of the future. Or put another way, are you on track to have ‘enough’ income and liquid capital to meet ongoing spen

We're still six weeks away from Rachel Reeves' Autumn Statement, scheduled for 30th October. And the new Chancellor has warned of difficult decisions to come with a £22bn fiscal hole left by the previous government.This has whipped up a media frenzy

Pension auto-enrolment was launched in 2012 and has been a huge success.It stipulates that all employees who meet certain requirements (re: age and earnings) must be enrolled into a workplace pension scheme, along with some minimum level of pension

Stock markets the world over sold off sharply during the first week or so, sparked by a disappointing US Jobs report (prompting speculation that the US economy was heading for a recession) and a rise in Japanese interest rates (resulting in a partial

Some people find the transition easy, but for many, it can be extremely daunting.Moving from a period of accumulation [saving], where the chart almost always slopes upwards (i.e. you’re building wealth) to one of decumulation [spending], where it goe

In this latest blog, I cover investment bonds – what are they, why might you consider one, and how do they work?Also, how they could be pushed up the agenda, were a new government to increase capital gains tax rates (as has been mooted in the press)

A rather morbid topic this week, but it’s a question thatcomes up quite regularly.If you die with money held in an ISA, either cash or stocks & shares, your spouse or civil partner can apply for an ‘Additional Permitted Subscription’ (APS), enabling

In this week’s blog, I look at the shape of the UK tax system; which taxes could be in her crosshairs; plus some of my thoughts and potential planning opportunities ahead of the Autumn Statement.At various points, I reference the excellent Dan Neidle

It involves taking out a life insurance policy for the whole of your life (i.e. a policy that doesn’t expire after a specific term). You pay a monthly premium and, in exchange, your beneficiaries will receive a tax-free lump sum when you die. That lu

What is the best way to invest for a (minor) child or grandchild?This is a question that comes up a lot, whether the ultimate goal is for a future house purchase, secondary education costs, to supercharge retirement savings, or some other need (perha

Premium Bonds are an extremely popular choice for UK savers. As of March 2024, a total £121 billion was held in the NS&I’s flagship product.How do they work?Premium Bonds were introduced in the late 1950s to encourage people to save after the war. Th

Compounding is the effect of earning interest on interest (or additional profits on previous investment profits).Consider the following example:In year one, you invest £3,000 in a simple interest-bearing account that pays 5%,By the end of the year

Individuals have neither the time nor the ability to do this. Instead, we strive to make decisions that are ‘good enough’ by simplifying the choices available. And this is where emotional biases can creep in. These relate to feelings, perceptions, or

A General Election has been called for the 4th July and the polls point to a seismic victory for the Labour Party.In the week following Rishi Sunak’s surprise election announcement, the press has been packed with predictions about what a future Labou

Many are aware of the 60% marginal income tax trap, whereby you incur an effective 60% tax on earnings between £100,000 and £125,140, due to the gradual tapering of your tax-free Personal Allowance.For a reminder of the mechanics around this, and how

HM Revenue & Customs data released last month revealed that a record £7.5bn in Inheritance Tax (IHT) was paid to the Treasury in the 2023/24 tax year, a 5.6% increase on the previous year (which was also a record).This comes as no surprise – rising a

Venture Capital Trusts or ‘VCTs’ offer exposure to small, mainly privately-listed, entrepreneurial businesses – the ‘companies of tomorrow’, typically specialising in areas such as AI, autonomous driving, e-commerce, industrial automation, Deep Tech,

As a Financial Planner, retirement is the big one. Many clients seek financial advice for the first time as they start to think about retirement - they want to know whether they’re on track to have ‘enough’ (income and capital) to maintain their desi

Imagine it’s the start of 2020 and a stranger tells you what’s going to happen over the next 3 years:A global pandemic, forcing the world into lockdown,A cost of living crisis, with double-digit inflation,The end of ‘free money’ (i.e. interest rates

I’m conscious I may be ‘jumping the gun’ here with a UK election still yet to be formally announced. Still, the question of whether UK stocks perform better under a Labour or Conservative government is starting to come up in client conversations

UK taxpayers are entitled to a tax-free Personal Allowance of £12,570. That is, the first £12,570 of taxable income, whether that be from salary, self-employed income, dividends, interest, etc., is completely tax-free.However, that Personal Allowance

Active investors aim to beat the market, passive investors simply track itActive investing is a more hands-on approach. It involves researching single companies or funds and choosing a handful of those that are expected to outperform the broader ‘mar

We build financial masterplans that enable clients to feel financially secure and live the lives they want to live. A Financial Plan is essentially a road map to get you from where you are now to where you want to be. It’s about making the best use