If you are already a RobMac client or follow our financial commentaries, you’ll know that we always take the long-term view about investments or any form of financial planning for the future. And there is a good reason for this which is, although financial markets fluctuate, they do tend to climb over time. The graph … Continue reading “The Power of Compounding”
You may recall that back in March of this year that RobMac was helping to sponsor Thea O’Sullivan from Edinburgh who was raising funds to finance her planned trip to China where she was going to spend a year teaching and living alongside Chinese children in a remote village. We now have an update from … Continue reading “Update from Thea O’Sullivan from….Ghana”
On 1st August the Bank of England are dropping the affordability test for mortgage lending. Up until now mortgage lenders had to follow the affordability rules set out by the Bank of England. The first of these rules is a stress test to check the house buyers’ finances. Under this rule, house buyers must be … Continue reading “Homebuyers will be able to secure larger loans from today Monday 1st August”
Back in January 2019, Andrew Hannay, director of RobMac outlined some top tips for a healthier financial position for that year. He thought it would be interesting to re-visit those tips today given the current pressures on the standard of living, the backlog from COVID, the war in Ukraine and the general state of the … Continue reading “How do 10 tips for healthy finances in 2019 stack up in 2022?”
To protect against further interest rate rises, the majority of homeowners have gone for 5-year fixed rate mortgages in May according to the latest figures from conveyancing firm LMS. We have already seen interest rates rise from 0.1% in December 2021 to 1.25% in May 2022, and some experts are suggesting that this may rise … Continue reading “More 5-year fixed mortgages signed in May”
The middle of June saw the RobMac investment team attending the Citywire Investment Conference up in Perthshire. This gives us an opportunity to speak to other IFA’s and Wealth Managers and to meet and quiz a wide range of investment fund managers including Baillie Gifford, Fidelity, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Schroders and T. Rowe Price … Continue reading “The annual Citywire Investment Conference”
When I wrote this article last week looking at the pros and cons of cryptocurrencies, I had no idea of what was about to happen. Here’s a few headlines: A bitcoin was valued at $30,511 on Thursday 9th June. One week later, on Thursday 17 June it is worth $17,084. That is a drop … Continue reading “Cryptocurrency Crazy – Did I say they were volatile?”
As stock markets tumble across the world and investors get jittery, the lure of alternatives such as cryptocurrencies can have more of an appeal. Cryptocurrencies are currently in fashion. They’re new, shiny and with promises of fantastic returns in a short space of time. Well, why wouldn’t you? So, we thought we’d better investigate further … Continue reading “Cryptocurrency crazy – but should you invest?”
Banks are taking into consideration the increases in the cost of living as part of their lending criteria, making it even harder for first time buyers to get a mortgage. Increasing energy bills, the national insurance rise and a big increase in the cost of household goods are prompting banks to tighten their mortgage affordability … Continue reading “First time buyers squeeze by banks – but there are still offers out there”
Jeff Lewis takes a look at the challenges facing the economy as we start the new financial year. Global uncertainty It has been a difficult start to 2022 with a number of economic issues weighing heavily on investment markets before the geo political crisis with Ukraine. What can we take from what is happening … Continue reading “A difficult start to the economy for 2022”
