El Salvador plans to make Bitcoin its official currency

Dec 1, 2021 | Currencies

An independent (financial adviser’s) view

I avoid recommending stuff which even I don’t understand. That’s where I am with Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies. The cost of mining them, for example: aren’t they just computer algorithms? Could I coherently explain a computer algorithm? Yes, many, including one or two clients, have made actual money out of their DIY Bitcoining. But many more, who understand less than me, have had a go and lost fortunes to scams. How many of the population of El Salvador will know what’s going on if Bitcoin becomes their official currency? Not many; but if it happens, somebody, somewhere, probably in lots of places, will make lots of dodgy dollars, I’d guess.

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“Record year for annuity sales driven by advisers”

“Record year for annuity sales driven by advisers”

I was asked this week whether annuities are now ‘a good investment’. They’ve been recommended very rarely in recent years, since ‘pension freedoms’ allowed pretty much unlimited drawdown on pension funds and anything left to be passed on to beneficiaries free of Inheritance Tax.