As the equities market assimilates and aggregates every defensive trend, I want to take it back a bit, to where it all starts: examinations.

Taking exams such as the ACCA, can be stressful for a number of reasons. You may feel that your family’s expectations of you are excessively high, that you have not worked hard enough because you simply have not had the time to do so, or that you may fail your exam and miss out on securing a much-desired promotion at work. Your pre-exam nerves may be worse than usual if you are sitting exams for the very first time or are returning to education following taking time out. If you succumb to exam stress, it can not only harm your chances of performing well but can affect your physical and emotional health. Learning to de-stress using mind relaxation techniques is therefore essential.

Stress can make your breathing erratic and cause your heart to beat much faster than usual. If this happens, you will need to sit down somewhere quiet and comfortable and place your hand on your stomach to check the speed at which you are breathing. If you are breathing at a rate of one breath every few seconds, you will need to take a big, deep breath and begin counting steadily. Breathe in and out slowly and steadily, and carry on breathing in this way until it becomes a natural habit. If you are prone to feeling nauseous in the run up to your accountancy exams, deep breathing will help you to control your anxiousness, ease your nausea and prevent panic from setting in. (more...)

Many people have heard or even used pension plans. For those who do not know, pension plans are contract for fixed sum regularly paid to a person normally following retirement. Many people think that pension plans are for the old; however, this is not the case. Once the purchased pension reaches the maturity level when one retires, one can either transfer the gathered value into pension annuity or pension drawdown.

There are many pension schemes but some especially the small self-administered pension schemes, self-invested personal pensions and executive pensions allow the members aged between fifty and seventy five years of age to leave there pension invested and take out regular income rather than buying annuity. This is what is known as pension income drawdown or pension drawdown .

There are two main reasons why people may choose pension drawdown other than pension annuity. One, people prefer pension drawdown when the annuity rates are low. This is because the older a person is when purchasing annuity the more attractive the return rates offered. A person can also choose pension drawback if the invested funds remaining are doing well and are expected to continue doing well. Based on this fact, the funds with time will grow and provide vital resources for an enhanced annuity at the time of purchase. (more...)