The Latest News and Views from Ascent Wealth Management

Welcome to the latest edition of News and Views.

We have an interesting edition for you to hopefully kick- start your holiday reading.  Firstly, ThreeSixty Research provide a detailed analysis of current economic conditions in their November update.  World trade and slow growth remain consistent themes across the world, with resolution not being any closer.  Despite this, investments are having a pleasing finish to the year with most world markets posting solid gains for the calendar year, after a mainly inauspicious start.

One feature that persists is the low interest rate environment.  There are few options out there that provide close to risk free returns, and these are priced in line bank interest in the main.  Our next article provides some guidance on what to do with excess cash in this environment.  For those with debt, there are a number of debt reduction strategies that are explained as maybe being a better option than depositing funds in savings and term accounts.

It seems that at this time of year, there are always people out there who would seek to separate you from your hard earned cash.  While not exactly befitting of the season, it pays to be alert to the scams out there.  The biggest tool in the scammers asrsenal is personal information, your information.  There are many and varied ways that they attempt to obtain this information; one of the common threats is the offering of credit with a need to complete an application.  The message is to be very wary of lenders and others who are asking for you to provide details of your finances.  There will be signs to look for to establish legitimacy- you can't be too careful.

Lastly, following on from last month's article on holiday destinations, we follow on with more information on a number of our truly beautiful natural attractions.  We live in a beautiful country with plenty to see.  Unfortunately, it certainly is a very sunburnt country right at the moment !

December is upon us and for most, the plans are well advanced for Christmas celebrations.  Katrina and I will finish for the break on Christmas eve on Tuesday 24th December at midday, and the office will re-open on Monday 13th January.  During the break, I can be contacted on email, and intermittently by phone if needed.

We wish for you a Happy and Safe Christmas, and look forward to working with you in 2020 !

Steve and Katrina