27 August 2026
How much should I invest?Most financial planners advise saving between 10% and 15% of your annual income. Read more about how much money you should invest as a beginner.
About the expert
Dan Coatsworth is AJ Bell's Head of Markets. Dan has been with the company since December 2012 and has more than 18 years' experience in the industry, following the markets and all things investing. He has a degree in Corporate Communications from Southampton Solent University.
Dan is involved in a lot of the content published by AJ Bell, which includes; providing market commentary, starring in our educational videos, writing for Shares Magazine and co-presenting our Money and Markets podcast, as well as hosting and presenting at events for customers – both in person and online.
Dan’s passion lies with educating customers all about investing and staying informed about market events. He previously worked for Teletext on the business and personal finance desks which taught him the importance of telling a story in as few words as possible. He has also appeared as a business commentator on Times Radio and LBC News and written investment-related articles for The Telegraph, Evening Standard, Mail on Sunday and The Week.
A fun fact Dan learned about investing early on was to not get caught up on the hype around certain stocks. He found this out himself when the first share he bought was a company trying to recover copper from a shipwreck at the bottom of the ocean… this sounded exciting but sadly didn’t make him any money! Outside of work, Dan enjoys swimming and going to live gigs.
Latest articles from Dan Coatsworth
27 August 2026
Daily market update: FTSE 100 dips, Nvidia, HalfordsEuphoria around Nvidia’s latest results failed to spread across the rest of the market as European equities were in the red on Thursday.
The FTSE 100 dipped 0.5% to 10,819 with technology the only sector in positive territory. Nvidia’s resounding optimism gave a boost to UK tech-related stocks including Computacenter, Polar Capital Technology Trust...
24 August 2026
Shein IPO: What investors should knowShein is expected to float on the Hong Kong stock market imminently with a potentially deflated valuation. Reports suggest it will be valued at a fraction of its glory days as the business contends with a series of headwinds. At its peak, Shein was thought to be worth $100 billion – now it might only be worth $25 billion.
Has Shein tried to IPO...
21 August 2026
Daily market update: FTSE 100 outperforms, Red Flag ReportMarkets have lost their foothold after several weeks when it appeared they were successfully climbing the wall of worry.
Weakened sentiment is emerging as the US-Iran impasse continues and concerns about government debt mount.
Dismissed colourfully as a ‘band-aid on a bullet hole’ in some quarters, the relief offered by the US Treasury’s...
20 August 2026
Daily market update: JD Sports, US debt hits $40 trillionBased on average salaries, it would take a US worker more than 615 million years to earn the equivalent of America’s $40 trillion national debt, which itself has doubled in a decade. That debt figure is merely the principal: the interest bill alone now runs to around $1 trillion a year.
This week’s intervention by the US Treasury to bring down...
19 August 2026
Booming UK takeovers: your shares have been bid for – what now?The UK equity market has been buzzing with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals this year, with around £76 billion worth of them taking place so far already.
This presents lots of shareholders with lots of opportunities and choices to make, both about how they may vote on any bid and what to do with the take-home proceeds.
Investors receiving money...
19 August 2026
Daily market update: Trainline, Virgin Atlantic, CarlsbergInvestors will be relieved that European stocks stabilised after bond market wobbles earlier this week.
Bond yields had jumped on fears of new inflationary pressures and what that could mean for interest rates, triggering a shift in investor risk appetite.
The latest UK inflation figures show the impact of the Middle East conflict on the cost of...
18 August 2026
Daily market update: BHP, BP, Shell, KainosThe latest oil price movements are both a pain and a gain for UK investors.
Brent crude edged higher, hitting $91.45 a barrel in early trading as tensions intensified in the Middle East. That’s bad for businesses and consumers, but good for the FTSE 100’s oil heavyweights BP and Shell who propped up the UK blue-chip index amid a broader European...
17 August 2026
Daily market update: Johnson Matthey, The Works, KelsoThe FTSE 100 ticked higher at the start of the new trading week amid robust gains across Asia.
Investors seem willing to park any concerns about the ongoing crisis in the Middle East as last week’s softer-than-anticipated inflation numbers saw fears of an imminent rate hike from the US Federal Reserve subside. Combined with strong earnings from the...
14 August 2026
Daily market update: Aviva, The Works, Sage, ExperianWhile European markets were in a holding pattern at the end of the week, their performance has generally been good so far this year, with investors having little reason to grumble.
The FTSE 100 pulled back slightly on Friday as weakness in miners, pharma, tobacco and banks acted as a headwind. Oil prices are showing no sign of easing back after the...
