“Stock markets stabilise after earlier sell-off”

Dec 7, 2018 | Europe, Investments, Stockmarket

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An independent (financial adviser’s) view

Markets are down. Just one of those things or the onset of armageddon? In the year 2000 (cue song), when the first Great Tech Bubble burst and markets tumbled, I remember writing that it would blow over in a few months, don’t panic, hang on in there etc. Then 9/11 happened, then we invaded Iraq and it was four years before the graph turned up again. So if there’s a lesson from history – and, believe me, it won’t be long before those events hit the GCSE syllabus and you’ll suddenly feel very old – it’s to expect the unexpected. But still, don’t panic; and hang on in there. 

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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.