Budget 2015: Personal finance groups including Hargreaves Lansdown, St James’ Place and Rathbone’s share price boosted by “saving revolution” Budget March 18, 2015 Personal finance groups were treated to a share price boost this afternoon, after George Osborne unveiled “a saving revolution”. Bristol-based IFA Hargreaves Lansdown led the pack, up 4.8 per cent at pixel time. St James' Place also jumped on the announcements, up 3.5 per cent. Rathbone Brothers's share price was up two per cent, while [...]
Budget 2015: How does the first time buyer Help-to-Buy Isa work? Here’s everything you need to know March 18, 2015 Poor saving returns, slow wage growth, and high house prices make getting on to the property ladder tricky. But there's finally some good news for prospective first time buyers, in the form of a "Help to Buy Isa" (Help-to-Buy-sa?), announced by the chancellor today. But how does it work? For every £200 an individual squirrels [...]
Peer-to-peer needs its own Lending Isa: Anything else would fail consumers March 12, 2015 Politicians usually make decisions knowing that they can’t please all of the people all of the time. The Peer-to-Peer Finance Association’s recent survey of over 4,500 peer-to-peer (P2P) lending customers comes close to disproving that. Over 95 per cent of respondents support the chancellor’s commitment to include P2P lending within the Isa wrapper. It’s a [...]
The Bonus Isa: Why we should make tax-efficient saving even more flexible January 20, 2015 Our ability to save varies considerably within a lifetime. When we can put money aside, the government plays a role in encouraging and influencing how we do it. The last five years have seen some notable increases in the generosity and flexibility of tax-efficient savings vehicles, but this can go much further. That is why [...]
Building a nest egg: The best ways to invest for your child January 20, 2015 Don’t be afraid to take risks on your children’s behalf. With the Institute for Fiscal Studies forecasting that, in 18 years’ time, fewer than half of us will be able to own a home, saving for your children may well feel more important than ever. Calculations from Nutmeg show that, in order to amass a [...]
Staying tax savvy: What you can do before the year ends January 6, 2015 A focus on capital gains tax may well mean a better deal. With the new year having firmly arrived, and the end of the tax year just three months away, now is an ideal time to blow the cobwebs away and ensure your money is working as hard as possible – by getting your [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: Isa reforms bring welcome tax relief for savers December 3, 2014 Britain’s thrifty received a welcome boost yesterday after new a number of reforms were applied to the country’s Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) and pensions policies. In the Autumn statement, George Osborne announced that from 2015 the ISA allowance will rise to £15,240, and the changes to the starting rate of savings tax will mean that [...]
Twice as Nisa: Why new rules mean everyone can be a small business investor October 20, 2014 The Chancellor announced in his Budget this year that the government was going to make it possible to hold loans to small private companies in the new Isa (Nisa). A consultation period is ongoing – with a detailed Treasury paper just released – and it is hoped it will soon be possible for investors to [...]
Barclays’ Isa changes to hit savers August 6, 2014 Barclays is set to move around 2.3m savers on to a new type of Isa which for two thirds of them will mean worse interest rates. The bank has already closed 11 of its cash Isas to new customers and will now be withdrawing them from existing customers too. The new Isas will pay less than [...]
Forget pensions: We need radical Isa reform to really tackle the UK savings crisis August 4, 2014 The UK’s pensions crisis is no longer looming. It’s here. We are dangerously over-heating, and millions of British households, who are simply not saving enough for later life, face a bleak financial future – unless there is swift, radical action. UK adults need and deserve a solid framework that will help them save and plan [...]