25th March 2014
WHO SAYS BUDGETS ARE BORING
 
The reverberations from last week's budget have still not died away. Freedom and flexibility seemed to be the buzz words of the day and almost a week on we are still talking about it. George Osborne's message seemed to be a winning one, as it has seen the Tory party popularity rise with a three and four point increase in two key opinion polls.
In this month's newsletter we have a couple of articles focusing on the Budget, including one covering some of the new opportunities regarding pensions and ISAs.
There's also a warning regarding ISAs and how we need to maintain some investment discipline despite the flexibility now available.
While on the subject of ISAs - have you utilised your ISA allowance this year.? The clock is ticking towards the end of the tax year, so take action now!
We also have an excerpt from Warren Buffett's letter to his shareholders. Buffett, the legendary investor has been writing to his shareholders for the past 40 years and the thoughts included are considered mandatory reading for anyone serious about learning how to not only become a better investor, but also a better businessman, executive or leader. It's lengthy but well worth a read!
  
THE BUDGET 2014
Big news for Pensions and ISAs

Wow..wow...wow! What a Budget that was!
I've seen a few Budgets in my time and I always find them quite interesting - it goes with the job I suppose.
But WOW. I think that was the first budget for financial planners.
For years I've been banging the same drum - the one about the need to utilise ISAs and pensions in tandem for retirement planning.  A strategy seemingly now endorsed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
In his budget speech last week he unveiled wave after wave of changes that will benefit savers. Two of them particularly caught my eye...
NEW ISAs  
A warning to maintain discipline

In his recent Budget announcement the Chancellor of the Exchequer has remapped the ISA landscape. He's created a New ISA (NISA) by merging cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs. From 1st July 2014 it will be possible to switch from stocks and shares holdings in an ISA to cash holdings in an ISA.  Now this is a great move that adds plenty of flexibility but it might throw up an unintended consequence.
BUFFETT'S VIEW ON LONG-TERM VALUE
Useful advice for everyone
  
When you think of success in investments it won't take too long to get to Warren Buffett. The Sage of Omaha is widely considered to be peerless when it comes to picking stock winners and avoiding losers. So much so in fact that his annual letter to shareholders in his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate is treated as a major event by the financial media.

Whilst the world's journalists are after the instant opinions about the crisis-of-the-day that will undoubtedly sell by the bucket, Mr Buffett has a pretty novel way of parrying these questions about the Federal Reserve taper, the implications for emerging markets of the Russian military advance into the Ukraine or the impact that a Chinese economic slowdown would have on developed markets.

Read an excerpt from his letter here. 

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