Contractor Financials

Since 1st October Contractors have enjoyed greater control over how SERPs and S2P pension funds are invested . Here, Andrew Gains looks at whether SIPPs make sense and how you could benefit from the changes. The changes, announced in June of this year, for the first time allow investors to transfer their protected rights funds …

An IR35 case was lost last week as Dragonfly Consulting was served a bill for tax avoidance totalling over £99,000. As Director and Shareholder John Bessel prepares to empty his piggy bank, the rest of the Contractor community is fearing its impact on future IR35 cases… This case first came to light in January of …

After a turbulent week on the worlds financial markets we take stock….. Lehman Brothers fell foul of the sub prime mortgage market in the US and announced on Sunday that they were unable to recover their losses after Barclays and Bank of America failed to save them with a joint takeover. At the same time …

After months of Credit Crunch related doom and gloom in the mortgage market the clouds are finally parting with signs that a number of major providers are reducing interest rates and giving new cause for optimism to remortgagees and home buyers… Whether you are re mortgaging an existing property or looking to buy a new …

In light of recent tumultuous events in the financial markets we show how to safeguard your Company monies by spreading the risk. £35k of your savings in any one UK bank account are guaranteed but there is a little known failing in the scheme… With the banking crisis front page news each day we have …

Forget sunning yourself in the Caribbean this year, the best holiday deal right now is happening in the UK property market with a stamp duty break on all properties sold for under £175,000… Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced after months of speculation, that there will be a 12 month holiday from stamp …

When it comes to building and contents insurance the devil is in the detail on many ‘best buy’ comparison websites. If you’re currently buying or already have cover in place it can pay to carry out our simple home insurance checklist and make sure that your properly protected as Vanessa Hillary explains… As soon as …

With a Pension Release scheme Contractors can unlock a tax free cash lump sum from your pension, giving you the freedom to do those long awaited home improvements, build up a financial buffer in uncertain times or take that holiday of a lifetime. Andrew Gains explains that as long as you are over the age …

Following an extraordinary rate cut of 1.5% earlier this month, Gordon Brown met with world leaders on Friday to convince them that a collective effort is needed to bring the economy out of its current crisis. A meeting of the so called ‘G20′ was convened to agree on a worldwide action plan to get the …

Summer has arrived at last and now’s the ideal time to dust off the bike, get down the gym and get into shape. Likewise there’s never been a better time to get our finances in trim, a task which is all the more vital in case the credit crunch and cost of living increases begin …