magazine archive
magazine archive
Personal Finance
When is financial advice worth paying for?
Thursday 08 Dec 2022The financial watchdog has just launched a consultation on introducing a new core investment advice service to the market. The basic idea is that reducing regulation around this form of simplified advice will result in lower fees, and so more consumers choosing to invest rather than being stuck in...
How to beat the big UK wealth tax crackdown
Thursday 01 Dec 2022Chancellor Jeremy Hunt launched a crackdown on wealth taxes in his Autumn Statement on 17 November. It means that from next year many people with investments outside an ISA or pension will face higher taxes, and from 2024 that tax hit will increase again. Here’s how to beat them. WHAT’S CHANGING...
Recession investing: how to steer a portfolio through a downturn
Thursday 24 Nov 2022The UK may already have entered a recession, with the economy slipping backwards by 0.2% in the third quarter of the year, according to the Office for National Statistics. The Bank of England is now forecasting a prolonged period of weak or negative economic growth stretching through 2023 and 2024...
Why now is the perfect time to sort out your will
Thursday 17 Nov 2022Around half of us in the UK don’t have a will, and I was one of them until this week. It’s no surprise that people put off making a will, it involves grim conversations about your death and awkward ones about which of your family members you like enough to leave some money to versus others. Not to...
Five ways to avoid inheritance tax
Thursday 10 Nov 2022Taxes don’t generally win popularity contests, but if there is one that gets heckles up, inheritance tax is probably it. Only around one in 25 deaths result in an inheritance tax liability, but at a tax rate of 40%, it can really eat into the money you leave to your heirs if you fall foul of it...
Is it time to ditch that fixed-rate savings account?
Thursday 03 Nov 2022Interest rates on savings accounts have soared in the past few months, since the Bank of England started hiking the base rate. In particular fixed-rate accounts, where your money is tied up for a period of time in return for higher interest rates, have risen dramatically. Data from Moneyfacts shows...
Just how safe is your pension amid the current turmoil?
Thursday 27 Oct 2022You’d be hard pressed not to pick up a paper without reading about turmoil in pensions at the moment, whether it’s the Bank of England having to bail out final salary schemes, or the state pension triple lock being under threat. The negative headlines have naturally caused people to question how...
Discover the true cost of extending your mortgage term
Thursday 20 Oct 2022Mortgage rates are rising, and many homeowners are scrabbling around for ways to make their mortgage payments more affordable. This means longer term mortgages are becoming more common, but buyers need to be aware of how much more this will cost them. WHAT’S THE LOGIC Most people take out a...
Why gilts might finally be back on investors' menus again
Thursday 13 Oct 2022The benchmark 10-year gilt yield stood at a breezy 1% at the beginning of the year, before the Ukraine crisis proved to be the catalyst for the current inflationary crisis, and a round of interest rate rises that has seen the Bank of England base rate rise from 0.25% to 2.25% in just nine months...
How will the latest tax changes affect me?
Thursday 06 Oct 2022The latest mini-Budget announced tax changes for the nation, but how much better off will you be from them? The first Budget from the new chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has caused controversy and seismic market movements, but away from that reaction much of the public are left wondering how much better...