Third of retirees financially supporting family
A third of potential retirees continue to financially support their families, with regular handouts amounting to more than £3,700 a year1. Those planning to retire expect an average income of £20,663, but anticipate around a fifth of this (£3,700) will be used to support the finances of younger family members. This equates to £311 a […]
The best time to sell your home
We’re all relieved that spring is here – it’s been a long, difficult winter. But for sellers, there’s some good news: spring to early summer has historically been the best time of year to put your house on the market1. Where flowers bloom, so does hope Spring is traditionally an optimistic time of year, buoying […]
The world’s happiest retirees
A study1 suggests Helsinki is the happiest place to live out retirement. The analysis also found that people typically need a pension pot worth around £225,000 to retire comfortably in one of the world’s happiest cities. Retirement heaven In order to rank cities from across the globe, a ‘happiness index’ was calculated, based on findings […]
Scottish Budget Update
On 28 January 2021, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Kate Forbes, set out the government’s proposed spending and tax plans for 2021/22. Speaking almost a year after Scotland’s first COVID-19 case was identified, she told MSPs that the “pandemic has shaken our society and economy to the core.” Ms Forbes stated that the Budget would […]
New investors spring into action
With interest rates plummeting to record lows, savers are discovering that cash is not always king. This is encouraging a new band of investors to dip their toes in the investment market. While some families have suffered financially during the pandemic, many have saved significant sums due to a reduction in spending on non-essential items. […]
Positive signs for the property market
There’s no doubt that 2020 was a difficult year and 2021 is likely to have its own set of challenges. However, with the vaccine programme giving us hope and the property market booming, there are signs of better times to come. Recent data1 shows that overall mortgage availability rose by 42% between October 2020 and […]
Vaccines put a spring in investors’ step
The arrival of spring is generally a time of great optimism and this year more than ever we are all certainly in need of a fresh bout of positivity. Thankfully for investors, there do seem to be increasingly hopeful signs on the horizon, with a growing belief we are now at least starting on the […]
What did the 2021 Budget have to say about housing?
Rishi Sunak stood up on Wednesday 3 March to give his highly anticipated Budget speech to the House of Commons. While other coronavirus support measures were first on the agenda, the Chancellor’s speech also revealed some important housing measures. Extension of Stamp Duty holiday The Chancellor announced a three-month extension of the temporary £500,000 nil […]
A little more than a year after coronavirus hit our shores…
COVID support understandably featured front and centre of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s second Budget on 3 March, in what is an extraordinary and challenging time for the UK and global economies. The Chancellor’s pledge to “continue doing whatever it takes” set the tone for proceedings, with the statement centring around a three-point plan offering support for […]
Hopes of a “swifter and more sustained economic recovery”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, delivered his second Budget on 3 March, which centred on a three-part plan to continue supporting people and businesses through the pandemic, to fix public finances once recovery is underway and to lay the foundations for the future economy. The Chancellor opened his statement by revealing the latest predictions […]