magazine archive


magazine archive

Money Matters

What does the March budget hold in store?

Thursday 25 Feb 2021

Tax or spend? That’s the question facing the chancellor Rishi Sunak in his spring budget on 3 March. Given the pandemic is still raging, and the nation remains in lockdown, it seems likely he will keep his foot on the accelerator of public spending for the time being. But that just means the tax...

Are annuities still relevant to investors and how much could you get?

Thursday 18 Feb 2021

In 2015, sweeping reforms gave people over 55 unlimited access to their pension schemes for the first time, and prompted Steve Webb, the pensions minister at the time, to suggest pensioners could blow their cash on Lamborghinis if they wanted. There hasn’t been a noticeable proliferation of...

Understanding your new ‘Investment Pathways’

Thursday 11 Feb 2021

Hundreds of thousands of people who choose to keep their retirement pot invested while taking an income through drawdown will from 1 February be offered ‘Investment Pathways’. The same is true of those who transfer a drawdown plan to a new drawdown provider. This change, instigated by the Financial...

The lost decade for Cash ISA savers

Thursday 04 Feb 2021

It has been a lost decade for Cash ISA savers, with the interest from the average account failing to beat inflation over the last 10 years. That means the money stashed away has actually lost its buying power. A saver who prudently used their full Cash ISA allowance every year since 2011 would have...

Your checklist for the end of the tax year

Thursday 28 Jan 2021

It is that time of the year when many of us will be logging onto the HMRC website and filling in our self-assessment tax returns to meet the 31 January deadline. It’s a pretty soul-destroying process. It requires quite a lot of work, and at the end of it, the reward for your efforts is usually a...

Boosting the return on your retirement savings

Thursday 21 Jan 2021

For many people, their private pension will grow to become their biggest asset, outside the home they live in, and yet the investments that drive the performance of these retirement plans often slip by under the radar. Part of the problem is that we all associate pensions with retirement, and...

What to do with lockdown cash

Thursday 14 Jan 2021

Another lengthy lockdown is upon us and that means few options to spend money on the little pleasures we took for granted before the pandemic. But when you put together all the money spent on meals out, coffee stops, evenings in the pub, or just getting a haircut, it actually adds up to a pretty...

DIY investors are cautiously confident for 2021

Wednesday 23 Dec 2020

Few people will shed a tear to see the back of 2020, but as the year draws to a close, it seems that investors are looking forward to 2021 with cautious optimism. AJ Bell has surveyed around two thousand DIY investors to assess their thoughts on the prospects for markets in the coming year. The...

The big changes for personal finance in 2021

Thursday 17 Dec 2020

The year 2021 sounds like something you might find in the title of a 1960s sci-fi movie, set a long time in the future, when people are curiously transfixed by handheld computers, and wear strange masks. Well, it’s almost upon us, so it’s a good time to think about what next year holds in store for...

How to give investments without losing to the taxman

Thursday 10 Dec 2020

As we approach the festive period, and Santa’s movements may be affected by coronavirus restrictions, the more financially minded of you might be considering gifting shares to children or grandchildren, as well as, or instead of the latest must-have console game. This is a good way to give kids a...

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