A Season of Change
To say it’s been an interesting period in British politics is to put it extremely politely! The chaos of the last month or so has had a huge impact on businesses and individuals.
From ‘pro-growth tax slashing’, to an almost total U-turn on everything, we now seem to be facing Austerity 2.0.
On top of increasing costs for food, goods, and services, we are now seeing the cost of borrowing jumping to levels we haven’t seen for well over a decade. Many homeowners will never have known rates this high and might struggle to afford to keep their homes.
With another new Prime Minister and Chancellor the chaos has subsided but rates still remain high. In the last few days the Bank of England again raised rates to 3.0%, but the positive news is that they do not expect rates to go over 5.0% as previously thought and many mortgage lenders actually reduced their fixed rate deals.
If you, or someone you know, might be in a tough position due to recent events, then please do get in touch.
Markets Remain Subdued
In the UK, a recovery on the FTSE had begun even before the Mini-Budget reversal and Liz Truss’s resignation, and has continued quite strongly since then. It is important to remember that much of the FTSE has its income in Dollars and so a strong Dollar (which we currently have) greatly benefits FTSE companies.
We had hoped to see global markets recovering from the lows we have seen this year, but sadly this has not yet materialised. Some see the hope that poor economic news from the US could lead to a market recovery, as this might lead the Federal Reserve to back off from further rate rises.
From a statistical point of view we are well past the point where a recovery should have occurred, so perhaps investors just need a tiny spark to ignite their optimism.
Markets do always recover, so now could be a good time to invest, but when that recovery might come is the question and that is one we cannot know the answer to.
Cyber Security
Over the pandemic, cyber crime has risen to new heights and it’s important that we are all aware of the risks of sending our personal data via unsecured means (an email to a business is not secure by default), phishing attacks and scams.
We have recently received a number of emails sent from clients’ accounts that were not sent by the clients themselves, however, this was obvious to us and easily handled but some of these cyber attacks are a lot more sophisticated, so we must always be vigilant.
If you want to increase your understanding of the potential threats and what you should be doing then please visit the government website below:
Protecting ourselves, our loved ones and our businesses
At a time when expenditures are rising and the economic outlook is uncertain, you might not be putting your insurance needs first and foremost in your thinking, and this is totally understandable. However, the truth is that people in the UK are in general are woefully under-insured.
“The FCA’s Financial Lives 2020 survey revealed there is still a significant protection gap in the UK with 53% of people surveyed not having any protection products.”
So why not have us review your current situation, even if the review shows that you are well covered, perhaps costs can be reduced?
How many of us can say with confidence that not only our mortgage payments are covered, but that we also have adequate protection for our family if our income suddenly was lost, and for our businesses if we or a key team member was taken ill or worse?
It is also important to not forget that many types of cover are actually for our own benefit; income protection in case we break a leg or get seriously ill and are out of work for extended periods, and critical illness cover for the most serious health issues.
Mortgage Rates in Focus
Mortgage offers now largely last for six months, so if anyone has a mortgage fixed rate period that’s due to end within six months of the newsletter they should reach out to us now, as if rates fall, you can switch to a lower rate, but if they increase then you have at least secured a better deal than you might have.
Further Expansion
Last week, we moved into our much larger offices in Salisbury. Not only is this a much nicer environment to work in, with lots of natural light and little noise, it is also large enough to accommodate us as we grow and recruit a larger team to handle our clients increasingly complex needs.
We have just arranged for a highly experienced and qualified Paraplanner to join us and are in the process of recruiting a second member of our support team to manage our growing volume of work.
Feedback
Feedback is always important for a growing business like ours and we would welcome any thoughts on our service and indeed our communications.
Also, if you would like to leave us a review at;
https://www.vouchedfor.co.uk/ (where Gavin recently was awarded their Certificate of Excellence!)
or via Google that would be very welcome.