Financial Advice Blog

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Wednesday 17th August 2011

What is Equity Release?

Equity release is a way of releasing tax free cash from your property. There are different types of equity release products available, and depending on your situation and needs depends on which is most suitable for you. Below is a brief explanation about each type of equity release:Interest Roll Up This is the most c...
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Monday 6th June 2011

At last! The perfect solution for first time buyers!

The opportunity for today’s young professionals to seriously think about buying their first home and get on that all important initial rung of the property market – a solid and sensible financial decision in the UK, seems a far and distant dream if today’s market is anything to go by... Unbelievably...
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Wednesday 6th April 2011

OPEN LETTER TO HECTOR SANTS FSA – Does the equality bill apply to the FSA?

Ageism is illegal in employment, training and education. The Equality Bill comes into force in 2012, making ageism unlawful in the provision of products and services where it has negative or harmful consequences. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) Retail Distribution Review (RDR) Level 4 Requirement threatens the l...
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Wednesday 16th March 2011

Why people rush to get a will

If you ask someone the top three statistics they remember, one of them will be likely to include only one in seven people have a will. The truth may be a lower figure now, due to the increasing number of places that people can easily get a will from. This can include solicitors, professional willwriters, banks, via the...
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Wednesday 26th January 2011

Don't move home without it!

Imagine this…. You have sold your property and agreed to buy another, you have spent £750 on a survey, £500 on a mortgage arrangement fee and £600 on solicitors disbursements, you then get a call to say ‘’sorry but I can’t find a property and I am not selling to you anymore&rs...
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Friday 19th November 2010

Crude IFA lobbying works!

We are fast approaching a debate that itself is the result of “crude IFA lobbying”, to quote Chris Cummings of AIFA. It is this very same “crude IFA lobbying” that is starting to rock the RDR boat! To continue the analogy: “Experts built the Titanic and amateurs built the Ark”. So le...
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Thursday 10th June 2010

FSA paid staff £22m in bonuses in 2009/10

Article published by IFAOnline The FSA paid staff almost £22m in bonuses in the year to 31 March 2010, figures show. According to the regulator's annual report 2009/10, published today, the total amount paid out in staff 'annual incentive rewards' in 2009/10 was £21,998,813, which equates to 13.8% of its to...
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Thursday 10th June 2010

FSA paid our 12K for a leaving party for Tiner - he of the 'tarnished' reputation (according to The Guardian)

FSA's ex-golden boy ends up with a tarnished reputation - Published by guardian.co.uk Praised on all sides, John Tiner left the regulator to earn serious money in the private sector. Now his record is being questioned and two firms he joined are under scrutiny, writes Heather Connon.John Tiner once had a reputation for...
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Thursday 10th June 2010

FSA annual report reveals £108,000 bonus for outgoing chief executive Hector Sants

Article published by CityWireOutgoing Financial Services Authority (FSA) boss Hector Sants has donated his £108,000 bonus to charity. The FSA annual report shows the regulator increased the salary of 8.6% of its 3,150 staff and chief executive Hector Sants saw his take home pay grow to £500,000 from £...
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Thursday 10th June 2010

FSA forks out £638,500 for hospitality at Canary Wharf

Article published by CitywireThe Financial Services Authority (FSA) spent £638,500 last year on hospitality for meetings held at its office, a a Freedom of Information request has revealed. The regulator, which has come under pressure for increasing its 2010 budget 10% to £454.7 million, spent the money on ...
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Thursday 10th June 2010

Great News! Some good guys to head up the Treasury Select Committee who seem to realise that the FSA is out of control! - See the 'must read. report

The Talking Point: "New Chairman for the Treasury Select Committee" Michael Fallon MP, and Andrew Tyrie MP are both good men and perhaps men that the FSA will not want to see heading the Treasury Select Committee. However, my vote is for Andrew Tyrie as he was the co author of the Leviathan at Large. For thos...
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Wednesday 2nd June 2010

Shocking - Circa 200 FSA staff earn more than the Prime Minister

http://www.cherryplc.co.uk/uploads/DOCS/Freedom_of_Information_Right_to_know_request_1285.pdf Circa 200 FSA employees earn more than the Prime Minister!PLUS Vince Cable's thoughts on FSA bonuses At a time when David Cameron is making public, details of high earnings of civil servants, may we please draw attention ...
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Wednesday 14th April 2010

Message from an adviser...

"The constant call for a higher standard rather accepts the regulatory myth that existing standards are low, which they are not. Less than 3% of FOS complaints testify to this truth. Our clients love us and hate the banks and yet it is the banks that are not regulated. It is the banks that have brought UK plc to i...
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Thursday 11th March 2010

"Let them eat cake"

"Let them eat cake" Production without sales (profit) equals scrap! The only groups that fail to understand this are those removed from the reality of profit and the need to make a return on outlay i.e. government departments, local authorities and regulators! "Let them eat cake" was supposedly said...
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Monday 25th January 2010

No Win No Fee

Justice For The Workers with Nowinnofee.co.uk Independent resource website for people looking to pursue compensation claims offers advice on accidents in the workplace 25 January 2010 – Nowinnofee.co.uk, the UK’s first independent resource website for people looking to pursue compensation claims, has releas...
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Tuesday 12th January 2010

Should I stick with my SVR mortgage - or should I move to a fixed-rate deal?

As the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) recently stated, remortgaging has dropped to decade-low levels - as many homeowners see 'little incentive' in remortgaging when their fixed-rate period comes to an end and they are automatically placed on the bank's SVR (Standard Variable Rate). But because no-one can accurately...
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Wednesday 29th July 2009

Fixated with rate?

Fixated with rate? I would like a pound for every time when asked to help a Client says:” I’m just looking for the best rate”. Lets imagine the ‘best’ (lowest) rate was actually 1.99%. The conversation might go something like this: “There is a two year fix starting at 1.99% but it do...
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Tuesday 9th June 2009

The Destruction Of Independent Advice

THE DESTRUCTION OF INDEPENDENT ADVICE  A message to the consumer In October 2004, mortgage advice became formally regulated by the FSA (Financial Services Authority), because the Treasury, headed by Gordon Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer, believed that this area of financial services needed government interve...
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Friday 5th June 2009

Are comparison sites really useful....

Are comparison sites really useful…? Switch on your TV at any time and within seconds an advert for a Comparison Site will appear somewhere. It’s not surprising because it’s big business. Last year Moneysupermarket.com arguably the best known turned over £179million. Competition in this market ...
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Monday 18th May 2009

Demonstration article

Demonstration article content. Albeit it that name and email details are requested in the form used to create articles.... it is only the article itself that is visible on the site. Please remember not to advertise / promote etc.
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