- Watermark Financial Solutions Ltd.

George Osborne and the coalition Government have forced their austerity measures on the UK economy, but have they gone too far?
Many economists that I have spoken with or listened to in meetings over the past 2 years have advocated that the solution is not only to make cuts and raise taxes.  Used in isolation, these […]

Life for pensioners could be about to get easier
Proposals announced to unravel a raft of complicated tax laws could make life easier for the retired.
The Office of Tax Simplification (OT S) will turn its attention to pensioners in an attempt to unravel a raft of complicated tax laws relating to them.
The OT […]

It saddens me that most of this commentary will be devoted to the European Debt Crisis, but such is the magnitude of the situation caused by the failure of politicians to deal with it, I feel it is worthy of an explanation, so here goes……
Global Stock Markets
In 2010 global stock markets fell sharply when we […]

Counteracting the Pensioner’s Worst Enemy
Inflation is a pensioner’s worst enemy. Over time, it will reduce the value of your income unless you take measures to counteract it. With retirement often stretching to twenty to thirty years, your income should keep pace with inflation.
The State Pension and most final salary schemes will usually build in […]

Socially Responsible Investment Advice
If you are an investor concerned about global warming and other environmental issues, how can you save and invest ethically? Ethical investments cover a multitude of different strategies, with the terms ‘ethical investment’ and ‘socially responsible investment’ (SRI) often being used interchangeably to mean an approach to selecting financial investments whereby the […]

The Reintroduction of the Carry Forward Rules
From April 6, 2011 the annual allowance for pension contributions reduced from £255,000 to £50,000. While this restricts the levels of contributions you can make without attracting an Annual Allowance charge, on the plus side the Government has brought back the Carry Forward rules.
Increasing pension contributions
The principle of Carry […]

FTSE 100 futures hit a low of 4721 overnight but in line with eastern markets recovered strongly with the market opening at 5016. Some financial experts are calling this the bottom of the rout and although no-one can say this with certainty it is worthwhile looking at some important comparisons between the current market […]

Inflationary Pressures
Counteracting the pensioner’s worst enemy
Inflation is a pensioner’s worst enemy. Over time, it will reduce the value of your income unless you take measures to counteract it. With retirement often stretching to twenty to thirty years, your income should keep pace with inflation.
The State Pension and most final salary schemes will usually build […]

Steadier results through a combination of strategies
In the current investment climate, absolute return funds could offer the ordinary investor access to a range of more sophisticated investment techniques previously only available to the very wealthy.
These products, which have only become generally available in more recent years, aim to provide a positive return annually regardless of […]

How focused is your portfolio? Investing for growth, income or both
Do you want to grow your capital, increase your income or both? Your answer will determine the type of investments you select and, in addition, you need to be aware of the concept of ‘total return’. This is the measurement of performance - the actual […]