Newsletter for August 2018

It’s been a busy month for us updating all our financial services resources for the 18/19 tax year examinable from 1 September. We’re getting there! If you purchased a 17/18 PDF or MP3 resource, you will be entitled to the 18/19 version free of charge. We’ll be sending out emails this month regarding that, so do look out for them.

Other than that, it is of course the kids’ school holidays. So the team and I have been juggling resource updating with entertaining kids and taking them on holiday. Not easy! My family and I have just been to Chicago to visit my older (and much much wiser…!!??) sister, her husband and kids. We had a fantastic time, even if I was juggling work at the same time!

As I’m sure many of you can identify with, thankfully the new school year is just around the corner. All three of my kids will be starting a new school next term, so I feel like a newbie myself! Unfortunately, we’ve had to deal with some issues at their old schools this year, but having made the difficult decision to move them, we’re now looking forward to a whole new, positive experience. On top of that, my youngest starts school for the first time too. At last!

I hope you’re having a fantastic Summer.

Best Wishes,

Catriona and the Team
Brand Financial Training

If you are taking the CII R02 exam and are struggling with Chapter 4 (equally helpful for J10 and AF4), then here’s a shortcut for compounding you may or may not be aware of.

Shortcut 1

Georgia invests £10,000. The investment grows at 5% per annum. How much is it worth after 5 years?

This is a very common exam question in R02. You can, of course, use your scientific calculator – if you have one – but if like a lot of us you just have your old faithful manual one, here are four easy steps to working this through:

Step 1 = enter the interest rate as a decimal plus 1 – so 1.05.

Step 2 = press the multiplication key (once or twice depending on your calculator, you will need to experiment).

Step 3 = enter present value £10,000.

Step 4 = press the = button the number of times that matches the number of time periods.

The answer is £12,763.

Do you know how to learn? Of course, you do!! But do you know how to learn the sort of stuff you get in the classroom? Most people have never been taught and most people still haven’t happened upon a strategy that works. Here, we highlight some revision strategies that aren’t so helpful as you strive for exam success.

So, you wouldn’t be alone if you’ve been reading and rereading your textbook until you send your brain to sleep. Maybe instead you’ve been highlighting your textbook so enthusiastically that there’s barely any white page left, and you can no longer see the wood for the trees.

Perhaps you’re someone who like to type notes up beautifully into a word document, using a computer?

Hmm… Research demonstrates that this strategy puts your brain on autopilot. Comfortably numb, Pink Floyd would call it… Is there anybody in there?

Short answer – Nope!

Is this you?

Do you copy out every word of your textbook, more and more anxious about the time it’s taking?

Have you ever attempted to follow someone else’s advice, and found that it doesn’t seem to work for you?

At all?

Maybe you’ve looked for answers at the library or in a bookshop but have despaired when all the advice seems to be nothing more than well, literally, party tricks. “How to remember names at a cocktail party” for example, instead of how to absorb the sort of material you’re dealing with in your financial exams.

..."Your MP3 audio masterclasses were of great quality. I felt they reminded me of some things I had not thought about for some time and prompted some wider study. The content was accurate, relevant and up to date for the exam and the length of each class was very good. The approach was not patronising like so many learning MP3s. I would definitely recommend..."

Richard Baxter, Senior Financial Adviser, Gower Financial Services, Guernsey

Available for AF1, AF4, AF7, J02, R01, R02, R03 and R04

Every individual has his/her own learning style. Learning by listening provides an alternative to reading and re-reading the study text, and can help with absorbing and understanding materials. Our MP3 audio masterclasses come in digestible chunks allowing you to listen at home, in the car, at the gym or wherever else you may be.

For a list of each masterclass in your chosen exam, go to:

AF1 Personal tax and trust planning

AF4 Investment planning

AF7 Pension transfers

J02 Trusts

R01 Financial services, regulation & ethics

R02 Investment principles and risk

R03 Personal taxation

R04 Pensions and retirement planning

We are currently updating all of our CII financial services exam resources for the new examinable tax year 2018/19 that begins on 1 September.

Do bear in mind that until 31 August, tax year 2017/18 will be examined.

If you purchased a resource for examinable tax year 17/18, you will be entitled to the 18/19 version at no charge! Who else offers that???

We will email you soon to let you know when resources have been updated and made available, and how to claim your free updated versions if you have purchased 17/18 versions of our PDF or MP3 financial services resources.

Note that only the CII provide CII study texts. If you’re unsure as to whether the CII will be sending you the 18/19 version of your study text, do call the CII directly to check.

Articles and Help for All Your Exams

You’ll find that there’s something for everyone when you check out our blog:

• specific topics and how-to articles;
• reviews of recent CII exam papers;
• our Friday Five – a weekly quiz to give you a fun break from reading the study text;
• study techniques that help you to retain your revision and keep your brain working for you, when you need it;
• information on recent updates to the CII study texts.

Here are the blog posts you might have missed since our last newsletter:

Friday Five – 10 August - Click here.

The CII J02 April 2018 Exam in Review - Click here.

The CII AF7 April 2018 Exam in Review - Click here.

Friday Five – 3 August - Click here.

Our Post-Exam Review of the April 2018 CII AF5 Exam - Click here.

The CII AF4 April 2018 Exam in Review - Click here.

Friday Five – 27 July - Click here.

The CII R03 Exam is a tricky one - Click here.

Friday Five – 20 July - Click here.

The CII AF2 April 2018 Exam in Review - Click here.

Friday Five – 13 July - Click here.

The CII AF1 April 2018 Exam in Review - Click here.

There’s such a variety of information on offer to help you as you tackle your CII exams, that you won’t want to miss a single post. We’ve made it easy for you; just click the button below and enter your email details. Be ‘in the know’ with CII-exam-related tips and info – straight to your inbox!

..." My success just evolved from working hard at the business at hand each day. "...

"5 Questions in 5 Minutes Every Friday"

This is a bit of Friday Fun where we provide you with 5 questions (and answers) relevant to a mix of CII exams. The challenge is for you to answer the questions in 5 minutes.

Where do I find the Friday Five?

We post each week's Friday Five to our blog first thing every Friday. You can either visit our blog every Friday at https://brandft.co.uk/blog/ or you can simply go there now, and click on the subscribe button in the top right-hand corner of the blog and sign up to receive notifications of our Friday Five posts.

Note that we don't email the Friday Five out to everybody every Friday, so we recommend you sign up to our blog at https://brandft.co.uk/blog/ so that you receive an email notification when it is posted. It will only take you a minute to sign up.

A bit of Friday Fun, but with the added benefit of testing your exam knowledge!