2009 Articles
Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
18 December 2009
We wanted to send you one more message for the year - a year which has been tough for many. Will 2010 be brighter, more positive? Or will the gloom and discomfort continue? Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
What Was Funny About 2009
4 December 2009
Q: Why is advice so cheap?
A: Because supply always exceeds demand.
So no advice from us today then. We did think though, as we enter the last month of the year, to provide a quick, un-scientific round-up of some of the wilder and wackier events that helped define 2009.
A Suggestion For Fearful Times
13 November 2009
Unemployment is up, the pound is down. National debt is on a rocket trip to the stratosphere and our banks, having glimpsed what they believe is their own immortality, are more selfish and greedy than ever. The economy is in the mire, but somehow people are paying more for property!
Where's the demand coming from? With wages static or falling, and mortgages largely unavailable, are rising property prices the definitive evidence that the British public has finally gone irretrievably ga ga?
Does Money Grow on Trees?
6 November 2009
As environmental questions climb ever higher on the world's various agendas, we take a brief look at green investment this week. Is this a smart sector for your hard-earned cash? Is it possible to care for the planet and your bank balance at the same time?
We'll huff and we'll puff and we'll drive far away
30 October 2009
The centenary year of the Morgan seems a fitting time to take a look at classic car investment and its happy companion for a Sunday drive, the Cuban cigar. But can we make any money out of such enjoyable pursuits? Can classic cars and Cuban cigars actually make wise investment choices or do they just make us exceedingly happy?
The 2009 Gold Rush
22 October 2009
Why is it that everyone seems to have a golden twinkle in their eye at the moment? With the price of gold on the rise, and gold now on sale at Harrods, we begin to wonder - how does this new gold rush fit into the recession? Is now the time to go for gold?
California Dreamin'
15 October 2009
California! Land of opportunity and fabulous wealth. According to the US Department of Commerce, California was the world's eighth-largest economy again in 2008 (also 2007, 2006,...) with a GDP (gross domestic product) slightly more than $1.8 trillion.
In terms of size, the California economy ranked just behind Italy and ahead of Brazil and Russia. The next five largest economies were Spain ($1.6 trillion), Canada ($1.6 trillion), India ($1.2 trillion), Mexico ($1.1 trillion) and Australia ($1.0 trillion).
Understand now, before you're older
8 October 2009
Growing up did you ever ask something and receive the reply "you'll understand when you're older"? Looking back I'm not sure that I ever went away really satisfied with this sage advice; time has a different scale when you're little and anything further away than 'now' can seem too distant to wait for. Even in much of adult life the idea of retirement does not feature on the immediate horizon but this is one area where you really shouldn't wait till your older to understand. Retirement and pensions are interconnected in most peoples' thinking but while it's easy to count down the years to 'gold watch' day it is less easy for many to know exactly what income awaits their entry to the 'golden years'.
Bruised Bulldog, Soggy Sterling:
A Round Up of the
Recent British Economic Situation
1 October 2009
It's always interesting to take look at snapshots of the situation we're in, to enjoy headlines, and ponder figures and perspectives; but what the country needs is a good look at the long-term. So here at Giroma we've put together a few figures on the recent economic situation to satisfy our statistical hunger, (snippets to the human, like nuts to the squirrel), followed by an article which brings these figures a bit closer to home; with an eye to the future, an ear to the past, and a spotlight on property.
Is Property Still A Good Investment?
24 September 2009
It's said that Zhou En Lai, (20th century Chinese leader) was once asked by Henry Kissenger about the historical impact of the French Revolution (which had occured nearly 200 years earlier). He replied "it's too early to say..."!? A bit surprising, perhaps, to many western people with our shorter-term perspectives. Well to really see the power of property it's not a bad idea to take a leaf from Mr En Lai's book.
"The world at retirement
is in a radically transitional period"
18 September 2009
Next month, approximately 1.9 million women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1955 will be presented with a new state pension age, somewhere between 60 and 64 and 11 months. Women born later will receive their pension aged 65, at the earliest. And this is just one change in a line-up of many, which will create a very different pensions outlook for all of us.