Personal finance

6 November 2025

I am a miser when it comes to putting on the heating. My family has a long-standing tradition of telling each other to ‘layer up’ and leaving the oven open after cooking to make the most of the electricity spent.

But last winter, when my flat became known in my social circles as ‘the igloo’, I realised I may have gone too far. I kicked on my unit...

5 November 2025

The Budget is coming at the end of this month and we’ve had the clearest sign yet that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking to increase taxes. In an unexpected speech just 20 days before the Budget, Reeves paved the way for future tax rises, saying she wanted to give the context ahead of her speech on 26th November.

While she batted away questions...

5 November 2025

Marks & Spencer has laid bare the full impact of a gruelling cyber-attack on its earnings. Profits have nosedived as shoppers were unable to buy everything they wanted during a catastrophic summer for the retailer.

A £100 million insurance payout will help to soften the blow, yet there are bigger issues at hand which need to be resolved.

Its...

3 November 2025

Passive investing has surged in popularity over the past decade, as investors are attracted by the lower costs and, often, better performance.

The method makes sense for many people. It facilitates exposure to a large number of holdings and is a hands-off way to make your money work for you. However, because there are so many investments in a fund...

31 October 2025

Reports suggest that Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces a growing ‘black hole’ in public finances in the tens of billions, leading to mounting questions around which tax raising measures could be announced in her second Budget next month. With four weeks to go until the chancellor takes to the despatch box on 26 November, we've analysed some of the...

30 October 2025

The market is always changing, with developments around new products, innovation, and geopolitics to consider. But interestingly, the behaviours that lead to successful investing have looked very similar throughout the years.

These behaviours are just as important for someone that’s been investing for 30 years as they are for a first-time investor...

23 October 2025

The upcoming Budget has left many people feeling antsy about their finances, and fearful of impending taxes. As the day draws closer, investors are making decisions based on rumours in a process rivalling the Traitor's roundtable.

It’s an understandable phenomenon, even if we don’t have Alan Carr pulling the strings. No one wants to be blindsided...

17 October 2025

Investing can be an exciting process, and just as easily, a nerve-racking one.

Lately, the news has been rife with concerns about markets, causing some investors to feel antsy about their holdings. Unfortunately, volatility is just part of having money in the market. If you were guaranteed to make profits all the time, everyone would be doing it!

S...

16 October 2025

AI is becoming a staple in many of our routines, whether it's creating an itinerary for a weekend away or concocting a recipe from leftovers in the fridge. And now, according to a survey run by AJ Bell through Opinium, about a third of people have used AI to help make financial decisions or get financial information.

The stakes are a lot higher...

15 October 2025

The last years of your career aren’t something that’s usually associated with uncertainty. In many cases, you’ll have been at the company for years and bring a wealth of knowledge that has earned you status as a senior member of staff.

But often, a senior status comes with a fatter pay cheque. And in the event of a round of layoffs, this might push...

10 October 2025

The market for Treasury Bills – also called T-bills – has seen a resurgence as savers look for ways to earn a better return on their cash without taking on much extra risk. But there’s a clear gender gap in who’s buying them.

AJ Bell’s latest data shows that 78% of T-bill buyers are men, while only 22% are women. It’s a stark imbalance, and one...

8 October 2025

Gold has hit $4,000 an ounce for the first time, extending a series of record highs achieved in 2025. It first moved above $3,000 six months ago when US President Donald Trump announced his ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, and the US government shutdown has now helped drive the precious metal to new highs.

Even before the tariff turmoil, central bank...

2 October 2025

The first in a string of deadlines for self-assessment tax returns falls on 5 October and this and the key dates which follow it are important. Knowing which ones apply to you can help you avoid a big fine in the future.

Some filing self-assessments may have completed the process much earlier this year, but it can be an easy thing to put off until...

19 September 2025

The number of ISAs adults paid into has topped 15 million for the first time in 13 years. The latest data from HMRC shows that in 2023/24, the nation paid into 9.9 million Cash ISAs and more than 4 million Stocks and shares ISAs, as well as almost one million Lifetime ISAs.

Cash is king, as the nation funnelled almost £70 billion into their Cash...

18 September 2025

Debts can be a significant burden both financially and emotionally. It may leave individuals unsure if they should tackle outstanding amounts before investing or use some of their current investments to pay off debt.

In short, this will depend on the interest they are being charged on the debt, and how much they expect to make from your...

11 September 2025

As the new intake of undergraduates start their degree course, the clock is ticking on parents of children aged under 18 to decide how to cover the cost of sending them to university.

Research by AJ Bell* finds that nearly half (46%) of parents of under-18s are now saving towards university costs, and a further 21% have done so in the past but are...

5 September 2025

If you want to invest, you don’t have to be swimming in cash to get going. Instead, you can start by saving a little bit of your paycheque each month to put in the market, which can allow you to become more comfortable with investing while building yourself a solid foundation.

If you’re not used to setting aside some of your earnings each month...

4 September 2025

The government has announced its second Budget will take place on 26 November.

After a turbulent first year in power, it will be focused on stabilising an economy troubled by multiple setbacks and U-turns, putting the government under increasing pressure amid plummeting approval ratings.

The announcement fires the starting gun for the OBR (Office...

28 August 2025

In the last year, food and drink prices in the UK have risen by nearly 5%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Even the beloved meal deal hasn’t escaped the hikes, as Tesco raised the price from £3.60 to £3.85 for Clubcard holders in August.

There’s no easy way around the pain consumers have felt from these increases. But if...

26 August 2025

The idea of creating an income stream in which you get paid without working is nothing new. It’s actually the fundamental basis of any retirement plan. However, the concept has been repackaged as ‘passive income’ in recent years, as people of working age seek to make more of their assets and abilities to boost their income. It covers all sorts of...

26 August 2025

September marks the final phase in extending free funded childcare hours in England, which could save eligible working parents thousands of pounds a year. But the long standing £100,000 tax trap could mean this punishes higher earnings parents even further.

Parents might be able to re-arrange their finances to side-step the penalty by making modest...

22 August 2025

As pensions become subject to inheritance tax (IHT) from April 2027, many people will now find themselves breaching the inheritance tax allowance, while others face a larger bill than anticipated. However, there are a few options that could ease the pain when the new tax rules hit.

Inheritance tax is currently charged at a rate of 40% after any tax...

7 August 2025

The number of people paying tax on their savings income is set to quadruple in just four years, according to new data obtained by AJ Bell. A Freedom of Information request reveals that 2.64 million people are expected to be hit with tax on their savings in the 2025/26 tax year – up from just 647,000 in 2021/22. It means that one in 15 taxpayers are...

6 August 2025

Saving for your child is one of those well-meaning resolutions that often gets pushed to the bottom of the priority list. But setting up an investment account and making regular contributions doesn’t take much effort, and by the time they turn 18, your child could have a sizeable financial head start.

A lot of parents default to cash when saving...

5 August 2025

Rising home prices coupled with high mortgage rates have made buying a home increasingly out of reach for many in recent years. But a loosening of mortgage regulations, falling interest rates, and a drop in house prices could mean that a more achievable path to homeownership is opening.

According to July’s property market data from Rightmove, the...