Worldwide Financial Planning

It’s worth knowing if you are making a gift to assist a house purchase, lenders can often insist that the amount gifted isn’t repayable and they ask that is confirmed by the parent in writing. This isn’t always the case.

Central bankers have naturally spent this week trying to calm expectations that the next move is a step down and most have been sticking to the higher-for-longer scenario. The tension between these two positions means markets remain uncertain and continue to be driven by each day’s news flow.

Don’t get discouraged when the values are not going up. If the markets aren’t rising, you shouldn’t really expect to make returns during that period. There are doldrums, and you must sit them out. You can’t pop into a money market fund in cash and hop back into the market when: ‘it’s ready’.

In the UK inflation is coming down slower than hoped for and in the US economic growth is stronger than expected. Both banks are waiting for the impact of previous rate hikes to take effect and are happy to sit on their hands for now.

With inflation eroding investments, it’s easy to become uneasy and to look for a quick snap fix to what a perceived problem is, and headlines are a lure.

US consumer spending helped to deliver surprisingly strong economic growth and the now familiar good news is bad news response followed. The logic goes that if consumer demand is this strong and wages are rising above inflation then the Federal Reserve will act more aggressively to tame inflation.