Helping you keep your finances healthy!

Are you sure you’ve got enough to live on when you retire? No? Join the club, because you’re certainly not alone. But it seems we could be due a piece of good news on pensions in the not too distant future.
 
For it’s been reported that pensions minister Steve Webb and work and pensions minister Ian Duncan-Smith will soon unveil the idea of a universal pension of £140 a week, regardless of the level of savings an individual has put away. This looks set to be good news for all those who have been uncertain about whether it’s worth saving for a pension…

Are you overlooking ISAs as a way to amass a fortune?
 
Since 1987, you’ve been able to stash away a grand total of £179,000 in ISAs and their forerunners. In practice, it’s rare for anyone to have more than £100,000 stashed away.
 
But the UK actually has scores of “ISA millionaires”: savers and investors with £1,000,000 or more in the tax-sheltered accounts. Two investors are even said to have portfolios worth £12 million – probably more by the time you read this!
 
Here’s how to make use of the only tax-efficient savings and investment vehicle likely to be used by you, me and millionaires alike…

Saving money has to be a good thing – but it’s hard to keep the faith when interest rates are so low, thanks to the rock-bottom base rate.
 
So how can savers make sure their money is earning more than inflation? We take a look at some alternative ways to make your nest egg grow faster – from setting them against your mortgage, to lending out your money through Zopa.

So when you have a luxury to buy, do you: a) put it on the credit card, or b) save up for it?
 
Frances Coulson, vice-president of insolvency trade body R3, believes the answer should be firmly b). She says “saving, rather than borrowing, to pay for luxuries is the best way to avoid a life dogged by financial problems.”
 
Today, we take a look at ways of getting off the borrowing track and making saving a habit instead.

Planning a flutter on the Grand National? Millions do. There’s something about the nation’s biggest and most extraordinary steeplechase that tempts half the UK adult population to have a flutter. But when the final horse crosses the line, of course most will be left out of pocket. Bookmakers report an average Grand National bet of [...]

Record low interest rates have been great news for mortgage holders on tracker deals and lenders’ standard variable rates as monthly payments leave more cash in the kitty. But while some of us have been reaping the benefits of a low interest-rate economy, savers have been left feeling the pinch as lenders and providers battle [...]