0800 246 5236 / 07949 812809
Welcome to the site. My name is Matthew Harris and I am a Chartered Financial Planner and independent financial adviser (IFA).
I live in Boston Spa, Yorkshire, and advise clients both locally and across the UK on pension planning, investing, mortgages, life insurance and many other areas of personal finance.
Both I and my company are regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Before becoming an IFA I worked as an investment manager for around twenty years, for companies such as Scottish Widows and Standard Life Asset Management. During that time I was responsible for investing up to £1.5bn of client money in the UK, Japanese and Emerging Market stockmarkets. I retired from that industry in 2014 in order to offer investment and financial advice directly to clients, using the experience gained during my career as a professional investor.
I hold advanced qualifications in investment management, pensions and financial advice from industry bodies such as the IIMR and Chartered Insurance Institute.
Why a joint credit card is usually a bad idea
There are two ways of getting a credit card:i) you can get a card in your own name or ii) you can be the "secondary cardholder" on someone else's credit card (typically your spouse) Many people c ...
Check for nasty surprises on your credit file
When a first time buyer approaches us, looking for mortgage advice, one of the first things we tell them to do is check their credit file. Most people are sure that there will be no nasty surprises on ...
The rise of retirement interest-only (RIO) mortgages
What is a RIO?Retirement-interest only mortgages (RIOs) are fairly new and are aimed at older borrowers who may struggle to get a standard residential mortgage. They allow you to borrow against your ...
Should you take out a repayment or interest-only mortgage when buying a buy to let property?
If you take out a buy to let mortgage you have the choice of opting for “repayment” (where you pay both the interest and some of the capital back each month) or “interest-only” (where you only ...