27 August 2019

Housing shortage creates downsizing problems

For those who didn’t manage to save enough to fund their retirement, or find their existing home is too big and expensive to run, downsizing can be the answer. You sell your home, move to a cheaper one and live off the money you’ve made. However, recent research1 has shown that there is a shortage of […]

27 August 2019

Millennials could save £10.5bn by making a few lifestyle swaps

With two-thirds of millennials admitting they don’t save enough, and saying they’re finding it difficult to get the cash together for a deposit on a property, Barclays has suggested a few ways in which they could boost their savings without giving up on socialising or treats. According to the findings of a survey carried out […]

27 August 2019

Huge rise in protection policy take-up

If you were unable to work due to accident, injury, sickness or redundancy, you would still need to support yourself and your family financially. Whilst you might have enough savings to tide you over for a short period off work, if it went on for longer, it could be a struggle to meet mortgage costs […]

14 August 2019

Savings – do you need a nudge?

Savings – do you need a nudge? According to data from the Office for National Statistics3, the UK is losing the savings habit. In the last couple of years, the savings ratio has been at about 4%, whereas in the 1990s it was closer to 15%. Statistics show that half of 20-somethings have no savings […]

12 August 2019

What homebuyers regret

Although most people are happy that they made their move, some buyers admit to having made the wrong choice. Regrets include being too far from friends and family, compromising on location, finding the neighbours a problem, choosing the wrong-sized property and discovering that their new home had hidden and expensive-to-fix problems when they moved in. […]

12 August 2019

Investment jargon made simple

Commonly used words and phrases in connection with investing can often seem confusing, but the good news is that we are well-versed in providing plain-English explanations of technical terms. Volatility You will probably have heard this term quite a lot recently. Volatility refers to the rate at which the price of an investment moves up […]

7 August 2019

How much of your home do you own?

  Although you may have purchased a property, how much of it do you actually own right now? It’s estimated that at point of purchase the average UK buyer in effect, owns the equivalent of the kitchen and a bathroom. Thinking of moving? If you’re contemplating your next house move, then you’ll need to work […]

5 August 2019

New pensioners aren’t splashing the cash

When the new pension rules came into force in April 2015, fears were expressed that pensioners might raid their pension pots to go on a spending spree. The former Pensions Minister Steve Webb, famously remarked at the time that pensioners could choose to spend their savings on buying a Lamborghini if they wished. However, the […]

5 August 2019

Should you remortgage?

Over the last few years, we’ve all got used to shopping around for the best prices available on major household bills such as energy supplies and it makes sense to adopt the same approach when it comes to your mortgage.   Reaching the end of your deal When your fixed-rate deal ends, your lender automatically […]