If you are an employee or receive a private pension, you are likely to have been sent a new tax code by HMRC recently. This will operate for the coming tax year, 2012/13 and takes account of the increased allowances announced alongside last November’s Autumn Statement. Read the rest of this post
Archive for the ‘Our Business’ Category
Today’s climate: will it impact your retirement options? - 5th April 2012
The law of unintended consequences is one of those special laws that impact in totally unexpected areas. In this case the Government’s attempt to maintain growth in the economy by its programme of Quantitative Easing (QE) has had an unintended and unwanted impact on pensions.
Pensions have been much maligned in many places – unjustifiably in my opinion – as they continue to represent an effective tax-efficient long term savings option for many people. However, the impact of QE has been severe and unexpected. Read the rest of this post
Great day at the golf course - 2nd April 2012
We had a great golf event last Friday at the Collingtree Park Golf Course with a number of our clients and professional connections. It was a glorious day, with the sunshine staying with us for most of the afternoon.
Fortitude golf day - 30th March 2012
We are really excited about the Fortitude Financial Planning golf event being held later today!
A select number of our clients and guests will be joining us at the Collingtree Park Golf Course to enjoy a day of golf and dining. Read the rest of this post
Accredited Financial Planning Firms conference success - 28th March 2012
Back in October 2011, the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP) launched its register to identify leading financial planning firms that meet the highest of professional standards, namely the Accredited Financial Planning Firms™. We’re proud to announce that Fortitude Financial Planning was one of the very first to be accredited.
Last week we attended the inaugural annual conference held by the IFP exclusively for accredited firms. It was an excellent event and we thought we would share information about the accreditation, the conference and the new IFP “great minds think alike” campaign with you on our blog. Read the rest of this post
Who are our ideal clients? - 16th March 2012
The most successful businesses in any profession have a clear idea of the types of clients they work best with, along with a firm understanding of where they can add the most value.
Here at Fortitude we’ve recently undertaken research and analysis to determine our ‘ideal client avatar‘. We have a lot of clients who fit this profile, each with similar needs, values and characteristics. Given all of our recent work on this initiative, we thought we would share our ideal client profile with you on our blog. Read the rest of this post
What do our clients really want? - 10th February 2012
You might think that this is a pretty straightforward question and therefore easy to address. If we want to know what our clients really want, then all we need to do is ask them - simples!
The thing is that “simple” is not always easy.
Often we meet people who think that they know what they want from us, however as our relationship develops and trust builds, their requirements often evolve into something quite different. Read the rest of this post
Memorable experiences and people we love - 2nd February 2012
Bronnie Ware is a writer and songwriter from Australia who worked in palliative care for many years. She has recently released a full-length book titled The Top Five Regrets of the Dying – A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing.
The book is a memoir of her own life and how it was transformed through the regrets of the dying people she cared for. It is based on her original blog Regrets of the Dying, which I have copied below. Read the rest of this post
Strengthening professional relationships - 19th December 2011
We believe that all clients can benefit greatly from receiving joined-up advice from their professional advisers. That’s why we strategically partner with other professionals (solicitors and accountants) to deliver comprehensive advice, customised to the individual needs of our clients.
A process to make smart investment decisions - 7th December 2011
In the preface to the fourth edition of The Intelligent Investor, Warren Buffet states that to invest successfully over a life-time does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual insights or inside information.
What’s needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding the framework. Read the rest of this post