Millen Griffiths

read moreHere are some comments about our work:As busy Managing Director of an Electronics Engineering company, it is all too easy to leave personal finance and investment decisions until it is too late. In business I engage professionals in their field for the benefit of the company, but my own personal finances tend to get overlooked. Millen Griffiths have been enormously helpful and professional with investment advice from both a personal as well as business standpoint, and have helped me decide on the best strategies for investment.

read moreFrom childhood, most of us are told to put away money to save for the future - perhaps for something special; or maybe to be sure that when we really need something we have the funds to acquire it, without taking on debt. People's aims are broadly the same; to provide for future needs, and to protect ourselves against unexpected expenditure, events and inflation. When planning your finances, it is important to distinguish between savings and investments. Savings are generally funds that you set aside that can be accessed relatively quickly.

read moreA business may want to protect the key employees within their firm - perhaps the key salesperson, or the IT manager, without whom the business would not function properly. Keyperson / shareholder / partnership protection can provide a fixed sum should the individual be unable to work, or even die. The benefit will be designed to cover the firm's expenses in meeting any emergency costs, recruiting a replacement employee and protecting the future of the business. If a shareholder were to pass away, the firms remaining shareholders or directors may want to purchase the deceased's shares from their estate promptly to maintain control of their business.

read moreStandard Variable Rate (SVR) - The SVR is the lender's standard rate. With a variable rate mortgage you are normally able to switch lenders at any time without being penalised. If you take out a mortgage that has a fixed, tracker or discounted rate, once the set period of time ends the loan will usually revert to the lender's SVR. Fixed Rate - A fixed rate mortgage allows you to repay interest at a set rate, irrespective of any interest rate fluctuations. In other words, your monthly repayments will remain the same every month for a time period agreed between you and your lender.

read moreMortgages are one of the largest single transactions in most people's lives. Buying a property can be a stressful and time-consuming experience; nowadays the financing of a mortgage is a case of finding and selecting the most suitable mortgage, rather than simply accepting a lender's offer. Banks, building societies and smaller niche lenders compete for your business, all offering a variety of interest rate deals, associated fees and other enhancements to attract borrowers. The two main methods of repaying a mortgage are repayment (capital and interest) and interest only.

read morePensions are designed to enable you to save sufficient money during your working life to provide an income stream for you to live comfortably after you have retired. There are many different 'tools' used to save for retirement, the taxation and investment elements of pensions can appear baffling. We specialise in explaining, recommending and monitoring pensions for you. Below are the most common sources of pension income to provide for your retirement. The new State Pension is a regular payment from the government that you can claim if you have reached State Pension Age (SPA) on or after 6 April 2016.

read moreFinancial products are sometimes at their most useful when they are protecting our families, our incomes or our property. Whilst insuring ourselves against an undesirable event such as sickness or death, may not be a pleasant thing to think about, the benefit of being able to set financial issues aside at emotionally difficult times cannot be overlooked. There are various ways in which a family can protect itself, and because of the large range of products available, there is usually an appropriate policy for most circumstances, and most budgets.

read moreAuto enrolment is a government initiative to help people save for later life through a workplace pension. In the past, many employees may have missed out on valuable pension benefits, either because they didn't join their company's pension scheme or their employer didn't offer them a pension. This was changed by the introduction of auto enrolment which makes it compulsory for employers to enrol eligible employees into a pension scheme and to pay a minimum contribution into it. The government has set minimum levels of contributions that must be paid to the workplace pension scheme by you and/or your employer.