Our Financial Newsletter 2019/2020 – What’s next? …into the new decade.
2019 was quite a year.
In the final few months of the year the upheaval and pressure of the news cycle around the general election (not to mention the lack of clarity on Brexit) meant that no one couldn’t even begin to get into the holiday spirit until the dust had settled.
Our latest Winter 2019/2020 financial newsletter was published just before the General Election when all the party manifestos were finally available and the visions on offer were starkly contrasting.
What the markets made, and will make, of the result we will have to wait and see.
Meanwhile, in the Winter 2019/2020 newsletter we consider the topsy-turvy behaviour of UK shares versus government bonds. The last ten years has seen a reversal in previous trends, with dividend yield on UK shares currently delivering nearly five times the returns of 10-year government bonds. Similar upsets are being seen across other world markets, as lower interest rates seem to be becoming the new normal. Advice on selecting the right funds for your investments – be they ISAs, Pensions or OEICs – will be more important than ever.
Throughout 2019 the protest activities around climate change made headlines in the UK and abroad. If you’ve taken on board the agenda of making serious changes at both government and individual level to help meet the environmental challenge, you can also make a difference in terms of your investments. Choosing environmental, social and governance-based funds means you have control over the type of investments you may want to exclude and gives you the chance to focus your money on sustainable businesses in line with your principles.
Income protection may seem an unnecessary expense for a fit, successful employee, but with another wave of high street retailers and other companies failing, it could be prudent to make sure you have a back-up plan in place. It’s not just redundancy that could see you without a job, but unexpected ill-health or an accident could leave you unable to work. Schemes are available that will pay out a proportion of your salary and guarantee an income while you get back on your feet.
Finally, we cannot be in New Year Sales-mode without mentioning the shopping. Black Friday is well behind us, but the offers keep flooding in. While retailers think of ever more enticing ways to prize our money from our wallets, and with longer periods of interest free credit or ‘buy now, return soon, pay nothing’ deals, we offer some strategies to avoid the traps and keep a lid on overspending.
Our next update will come in March, before the start of the new tax year and hopefully with a clearer direction of travel.
May we wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year and, indeed, New Decade. We look forward to discussing further financial planning developments with you over the coming months and if you think you may be affected by any of the stories in Money Wise, do get in touch with us.
Please Note: The value of tax reliefs depends on your individual circumstances. Tax laws can change. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax or trust advice. The value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Investing in shares should be regarded as a long-term investment and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.
