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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...
Should you overpay your mortgage now that interest rates are shooting up?
Thursday 29 Sep 2022Over the last 15 years, interest rates have been on a downward curve, and while house prices have ballooned, the cost of servicing mortgage debt has been mercifully low. That is now changing rapidly, as the Bank of England tightens monetary policy to deal with spiralling inflation. Many people will...
Higher interest rates are good for savers but watch out for tax
Thursday 22 Sep 2022Cash savers are celebrating as a rates war has broken out in the savings market, meaning they are getting a much better return on their money than they were a year ago. The Bank of England has raised the base rate from 0.1% in December 2021 to 1.75% in August and is expected to raise rates by...
Cash rates are improving: this is what you need to know
Thursday 15 Sep 2022Unless you have been living in a particularly well-fortified and soundproof bunker, you will have noticed that UK interest rates are rising quite rapidly, as the Bank of England does its level best to combat spiralling inflation. While that’s not good news for anyone with high levels of borrowing,...