About the expert

Hannah joined AJ Bell in 2025 as an investment writer. She was previously a journalist at Portfolio Adviser Magazine, reporting on multi-asset, fixed income and equity funds, as well as macroeconomic impacts and regulatory changes within the industry.

Hannah earned a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin before beginning her career in London. Before joining the finance industry, she covered state politics in Texas and worked as a sports reporter.

Latest articles from Hannah Williford

  • 7 January 2026

    These tools can help up your investing game this year

    Researching an investment often begins with being swamped with information. While there’s heaps of analysis and tools to help you find the best fit knowing how to use them, and where to find them, is a mission in and of itself.

    Here, we’re going to run through a few of the tools AJ Bell has available to investors and how to get them working for you...

    7 min read
    DIY tools
  • 6 January 2026

    How much money can dry January save you?

    As Brits woke up with a sore head on New Year's Day, some didn’t take much convincing to opt for a sober month.

    Dry January fits in the calendar nicely after a December spent at long lunches and festivities, establishing a clean slate for those forging ahead with New Year’s resolutions, or just a good excuse to skip the pub in favour of being...

    4 min read
    older men having a laugh and drink together
  • 12 December 2025

    Why bonds matter to all investors

    When people talk about investing, shares usually steal the spotlight. But behind the scenes, there’s a much bigger player quietly shaping everything from mortgage rates to pension deficits to taxes. That’s the bond market. Worth around £150 trillion globally, bonds form the bedrock of the world’s financial system. So what exactly are they, and why...

    5 min read
    Shares magazine
    Wall Street
  • 12 December 2025

    Can Indian stocks start firing again after pause for breath?

    Despite AI fears, geopolitical conflict, and ever-changing tariff policies, markets have (for the most part) ticked along reasonably well this year.

    Even after April’s dip, the S&P 500 has recovered, and the FTSE 100 has enjoyed a much more positive year than it has in some time. But one of the world’s top markets over the past decade, India, has...

    5 min read
    Shares magazine
    illustration of indian landmarks
  • 11 December 2025

    How one AJ Bell customer plans to save hard to retire in style

    To Saul, the perfect retirement is living in Greece, with a healthy amount of steak dinners.

    In some ways, it’s more achievable for him than most Brits: Saul is half-Greek, so it would be a bit of a homecoming. For now, he’s based in Yorkshire.

    While he won’t be running into passport issues for his retirement dreams, he will still have to come up...

    3 min read
    sunset in greek village
  • 3 December 2025

    What to do if you took your pension lump sum pre-Budget

    In the lead up to the Budget, many retirees opted to take a tax-free lump sum from their pension after a series of rumours that there would be cuts to the allowance.

    But tax-free lump sums were not changed in the Budget, leaving some in an awkward position of now having a chunk of cash sitting in their accounts, with no need to spend it right away...

    6 min read
    Retired couple looking at their pension paperwork
  • 26 November 2025

    How Budget changes might impact your money

    Among a raft of changes, chancellor Rachel Reeves announced reforms to salary sacrifice as well as increases to income tax on savings and dividends as she attempts to bridge the gap between spending and revenue in the UK’s finances.

    The protracted leadup to the Budget included rumours around gifting limits and a hike in employee income tax. However...

    7 min read
    houses-of-parliament.jpg
  • 24 November 2025

    Are my savings or investments protected if something goes wrong?

    Customers with bank accounts in the UK will soon enjoy greater protection if their provider goes bust.

    The Prudential Regulatory Authority, the UK Banking and Building societies regulator, has announced that compensation limits will rise from £85,000 to £120,000 under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme as of 1 December 2025 for deposit...

    8 min read
    lock and shield on a colourful background