Dowes Wealth

02/09/2026

Finding control when money feels overwhelming

Anxiety over financial matters can lead to inaction.

Prioritising tasks can help create a clear plan.

Share your worries with a trusted friend or family member and seek advice to help manage money worries.

Anxiety can make financial challenges feel much worse. Whether you become worried about the sustainability of your financial future, dealing with debt or struggling with cash flow problems, emotions around money can lead to inaction or avoidance.

In these situations, it’s normal to feel like you’re losing control. But there are ways to get things back on track and steer your finances in the right direction.

Understanding the problem
Anxiety can change the way we view problems. A setback can seem much worse than it really is when we let our emotions take over.

If you are worried about money, that usually means financial security matters to you – which is a positive. Worrying is often a sign that something isn’t right. But it doesn’t always mean there is an immediate problem. Taking time to understand the facts, and talking things through with someone, can help separate genuine concerns from anxious thoughts.

Often, if you have money worries, it can feel easier to ignore a bank statement or account balance. But avoiding or delaying dealing with a problem can make things worse. As with many of life’s challenges, most problems will have a solution.

Anxiety can also cause us to catastrophise. A setback can escalate in your mind until you feel that everything is going wrong. But while these thoughts are understandable, they’re typically driven more by fear than by facts.

To read more click on the link below:

Anxiety can make financial challenges feel much worse. Whether you become worried about the sustainability of your financial future, dealing with debt or struggling with cash flow problems, emotions around money can lead to inaction or avoidance.

28/08/2026

We hope you all have a lovely Bank Holiday Weekend! 😀

26/08/2026

What is Active investing?

Active investing involves fund managers making active decisions over what to invest in.

Dowes Wealth is an Appointed Representative of and represents only St. James's Place Wealth Management plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority).

SJP Approved: 16/7/2026

24/08/2026

Keeping it in the family: planning ahead for business succession

Prepare. Plan business succession as early as possible. This can help ensure the process is smooth when the time comes, maximising value and tax efficiency.
Understand the value. Succession planning starts with accurately calculating the value of your business.

Communicate. Take time to have regular, open and honest conversations with all family members about your plans and intentions.

Achieving a successful handover of your business to a family member typically comes down to three aspects: early planning (ideally five to 10 years in advance), having a full understanding of the value of the business, plus open communication with all involved parties to ensure fairness.

It’s not just about passing on ownership of your company. Succession planning is also about the future leadership and management of your business. And these things won’t necessarily lie in the same hands.

Developing the next directors and leaders for your business, if they are to stay within the family, could take several years.

Chris Everard, business growth adviser at business advisory company Elephant’s Child, says: “One of the greatest misconceptions in family business succession is that it’s simply about passing ownership from one generation to the next. In reality, it’s about preserving two things simultaneously – the future value of the business and the family's long-term wealth.”

Chris advises that the best first steps are to get an accurate valuation of what your family business is worth. Without an objective valuation, conversations around retirement, gifting, inheritance, tax planning and estate planning are based on assumptions.

Following this, it’s important to think about what success looks like for your specific family situation.

A broad range of different scenarios are possible, including a business owner’s children owning and running the business together, or the children owning the business but having it managed and run by just one family member, or someone else from outside the family, for example.

Once the succession plan is clear, the business owner can work backwards to ensure the preparation and work is done early to achieve the best outcome for the family business.

“It could involve investment in training up the next generation of the family to ensure they can effectively run and lead the business,” says Chris. “Another option might be that the owner focuses their time instead on growing the business with a view to selling it outside the family to maximise its value and pass on wealth that way.”

To read more click on the link below:

Achieving a successful handover of your business to a family member typically comes down to three aspects: early planning (ideally five to 10 years in advance), having a full understanding of the value of the business, plus open communication with all involved parties to ensure fairness.

21/08/2026

Ewan, Amy and the family took some well deserved time off this Summer, with a road trip to Spain and into France. Taking in the sights of beautiful coastal towns and the cities of Girona and Barcelona, and even managing to catch a game of Rugby League in Perpignan, home to Catalans Dragons who were playing Wakefield Trinity Wildcats!
Most surprisingly there wasn’t a bike in sight for the whole trip!

We hope you’re all having a lovely summer, and would love to hear about highlights of your trips?

19/08/2026

What Japan’s falling currency could mean for borrowing costs

Investors have long used low interest rates in Japan as a source of funding overseas.

Higher yen borrowing costs or abrupt moves in its exchange rate risks global instability across financial markets.

Co-ordinated action by Japan's central bank and the US Treasury have sought to reduce these risks.

Japan, one of the world's largest economies, is struggling with a falling currency. The yen has been weakening against the US dollar, reaching its lowest level in almost 40 years. It’s also fallen against other currencies, including the pound. While that may sound like a problem confined to the other side of the world, it has become significant enough for both Japan and the US to step in and try to stabilise the situation.

Global investors as well as central banks are paying attention. It is a case of “what happens in Japan may not stay in Japan...” A prolonged decline in the yen has the potential to affect global bond markets, as well as borrowing costs for mortgage rates in the UK.

To read more click on the link below:

Japan, one of the world's largest economies, is struggling with a falling currency. The yen has been weakening against the US dollar, reaching its lowest level in almost 40 years. It’s also fallen against other currencies, including the pound. While that may sound like a problem confined to the ot...

17/08/2026

Where there's a Will, there's a say

If you die without a valid Will, the rules of intestacy set out who inherits your estate.

For unmarried couples, a surviving partner would have no entitlement to their partner’s estate unless this wish had been explicitly documented in a valid Will.
For cohabiting couples, how you own your home matters. If owned as joint tenants, the whole property will automatically pass to the surviving partner on death.

The traditional nuclear family is less common than it once was, with family life today taking many different forms. Families are increasingly more blended than ever before, shaped by relationships, responsibilities and choices. This means having a say on what assets you want to leave to whom – through a Will – has never been as important, regardless of your relationship status.

According to the 2025 National Wills Report, 79% of UK adults are comfortable talking about death1. Yet when it comes to considering finances, only 36% of people have made a Will2.. This highlights the uncomfortable gap many of us fall into between discussing and doing.

There are many reasons for not making a Will. These range from ‘not getting round to it’ to thinking we’re too young to need one. There is also a common assumption that partners and children will automatically receive their fair share.

However, with family structures more blended than ever before, failing to prepare for who should benefit from your assets could mean your wishes are not realised.

To read more click on the link below:

According to the 2025 National Wills Report, 79% of UK adults are comfortable talking about death1. Yet when it comes to considering finances, only 36% of people have made a Will2.. This highlights the uncomfortable gap many of us fall into between discussing and doing.

14/08/2026

https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/financial-awareness-day/

Financial Awareness Day 2026 falls on Friday 14 August 2026. Discover the history, meaning, and ways to celebrate. Full guide.

10/08/2026

The price is right: how much could you sell your business for?

Calculating how much your business is worth is a key first step in getting the best possible price for it.

Businesses that are particularly innovative, show great future potential or can demonstrate solidly repeatable profits are the ones most likely to be able to boost their value. It also helps if you’re prepared to stay on for a year or two as part of the handover.

We can help you to understand how much you’ll need to earn from the sale to fund your future plans.

If you’re eyeing an exit from your business, you’re probably wondering what the best route is, and crucially, how much it might be worth.

Carefully calculating your firm’s potential value before speaking to buyers should help ensure you’re in the strongest negotiating position.

Here’s our advice on how to work out a sale value and the key impacting factors.

Choose your formula
The value of most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is calculated on a multiple of adjusted profit as measured by earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortisation, otherwise known as Ebitda (see below for an idea of what that multiple might be.)

Alternatively, you may base the value on your firm’s assets, such as plant, machinery and property. Companies generally only do this when their assets significantly outweigh their profitability – for example, if you’re in liquidation. But you could use it for a going concern if your business has many valuable physical assets but runs on tight margins.

You can also calculate what a business is worth based on revenue. This often applies to businesses such as technology start-ups, which tend to have extraordinary potential but no profits yet. Law and accountancy practices often use this formula too.

A potential buyer, when making an offer, should explain how they calculated it – but that won’t matter, of course, if you get the price you want.

To read more click on the link below:

If you’re eyeing an exit from your business, you’re probably wondering what the best route is, and crucially, how much it might be worth.

07/08/2026

https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/national-opportunity-day/

National Opportunity Day 2026 falls on Friday 7 August 2026. Discover the history, meaning, and ways to celebrate. Full guide.