magazine archive
magazine archive
Money Matters
How to cut both funeral and burial costs
Thursday 27 Jun 2019It’s getting more expensive to die. The cost of having a burial in the most expensive part of the UK (unsurprisingly in London) has hit almost £12,000, while the average cost across the UK is just shy of £4,000. The figures from Royal London show that Kensal Green, in north-west London, is the most...
Wine, a warm house and holidays: planning for the retirement you want
Thursday 20 Jun 2019What do you think of when you picture retirement? Daytime television adverts usually depict an impossibly healthy couple sailing into the sunset, laughing manically at nothing in particular. At the other end of the spectrum, campaigners and the media often highlight the struggle older people face...
How investors will be affected by peer-to-peer lending clampdown
Thursday 13 Jun 2019The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a regulator, will make it harder for novice investors to put their money into peer-to-peer ( P2P ) products at the end of this year. In its latest statement on the peer-to-peer market, the FCA has brought in new rules and checks on investors to stop people...
How much can you make from downsizing?
Thursday 06 Jun 2019Lots of people who haven’t saved enough in their pension pots say they will rely on downsizing their home to release more money – but how realistic is this? People rely on rising house prices to help fund part of their retirement, and many people have included downsizing in retirement in their...
Why the 4% rule is dead and 1% could be better instead
Thursday 30 May 2019You’ve spent years building up your nest egg and now it’s time to retire, but the big question looms: how do I work out what income I can take from my pension pot? People will have spent their lifetime building up their pension and are nervous of splurging too much of it straight away, while others...
How to structure your income portfolio
Thursday 23 May 2019The prospect of companies cutting their dividends is looming large again. On 14 May Vodafone ( VOD ) cut its dividend, ending a two-decade long steak of increases, while there are further warnings that other sectors such as insurers are feeling the crunch and could take the axe to their payouts...
Finding the best return on cash with minimal risk
Thursday 16 May 2019Cash is king, so the saying goes. Many people want to have a decent cash pile to hand, for a future purchase or a rainy day fund. What’s more, some people will find they temporarily have a large chunk of cash they want to keep safe before spending it or investing it – those who’ve sold a house but...
Time to abandon funds on a road to nowhere
Thursday 09 May 2019Small funds that have high fees and haven’t seen new investors for years account for around a quarter of all funds sold in Europe, new research has found. So-called ‘orphan’ or ‘zombie’ funds are those that have failed to reach scale (or previously reached scale and then saw massive outflows) and...
Understand your level of risk appetite
Thursday 02 May 2019Investing is always a risk, whether your money is in a government-backed bond or emerging markets equities, but there a great many different levels of risk. Every investor will have a different appetite for and tolerance of risk and taking the time to assess what yours is can mean the difference...
Is it worth saving into a pension for a child?
Thursday 25 Apr 2019There are a number of ways that parents and grandparents can start saving for children and each has its pros and cons. In recent years, Junior ISAs have become the go-to savings account for young people, with almost 1m opened in the 2017/18 tax year. Junior ISAs let you save or invest up to £4,368...