News

The Individual Savings Account (ISA) was launched on 6th April 1999 and it hasn’t looked back. Today it’s estimated that 42% of adults hold one, which is hardly surprising considering how simple and tax-efficient they are. When the ISA was launched, the annual allowance was £7,000 and it has risen steadily over the years. In […]

ARE ‘SLASHIES’ THE FUTURE OF WORK? A study by the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed1 reports that more than 320,000 self-employed people in the UK have two or more jobs. The term used to describe this is ‘slashie’, as in “I’m a writer/dog-walker/gardener”. AUTO-ENROLMENT BENEFITTING THOSE IN SMALLER FIRMS The government reports that […]

75% OF OVER-50s AREN’T SAVING FOR CARE New research3 shows that although 60% of those surveyed feared losing their savings and homes to pay for care fees, less than a quarter of adults aged over 50 are making any provision for later-life care. As people are living longer, it’s estimated that more than 143,000 older […]

New research4 has shown that one in 10 workers expects never to be able to afford to stop work and believe they will have to keep on well into their retirement years. This survey also reports that 58% of respondents think they’ll need to take on some form of work, in order to supplement their […]

With buildings insurance, part of your premium is based on what it would cost to rebuild your home from scratch if it were to be destroyed by perils like fire or flood. If your property is constructed largely from materials such as timber, concrete or straw, rather than the more traditional bricks and tiles or […]

This can be a difficult question to answer as there are many factors, economic and political, that can affect the UK housing market. As many people will be aware, the protracted negotiations over Brexit have recently taken their toll, particularly on the London property market, as uncertainties affecting the future prospects of European workers coming […]

Although it might be tempting to think that investing is just about getting the best possible return on one pot of money, goal-based investing, structuring your investment around your specific financial aims, has become a widely-used way of helping people plan their financial futures. Thinking things through One of the most significant benefits to a […]

A side hustle is any type of work undertaken in addition to a full-time job. It’s often freelance or piecework in nature and provides extra income. It’s not the same as a part-time job, which entails working for someone else who governs the terms of your employment and the hours you work. Side hustles often […]

If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s worth making overpayments on your mortgage, then new research1 could help you decide. The data shows the benefits of a monthly £10 overpayment with interest rates at their current low level and illustrates that even modest overpayments can make a difference to the day when borrowers become mortgage free. If […]

Data1 shows that six out of seven bereaved partners could be paying tax unnecessarily on ISA savings they inherit. Since April 2015, bereaved spouses or civil partners have been entitled to an extra ISA allowance. This is achieved by what’s called an Additional Permitted Subscription (APS). If the investor died before 6 April 2018, the APS […]