Sarah Coles is AJ Bell’s Head of Personal Finance. She’s passionate about helping people get to grips with their money, so they have more freedom to do the things that really matter to them in life.
Sarah regularly provides insight and analysis for the press, writes columns and articles and appears on TV and radio. She covers everything from savings and investments to pensions and tax.
Sarah is an award winning former financial journalist, spending almost 20 years working for publications from Bloomberg to Moneywise and AOL Money.
Sarah has worked as a financial spokesperson for the past nine years, and most recently won Headline Money’s Expert of the Year award.
12 June 2026
Are your emergency savings keeping up with household spending?Life is getting more expensive. Inflation may have slowed from the horrendous highs of the post-pandemic period, but we’re still feeling the squeeze. The cost of keeping a roof over our heads rose significantly, with rent and mortgages both up 14%, as rents climbed and homeowners continued to move off cheaper fixed rate mortgages.
The pain of...
9 June 2026
The FIRE alternative early retirement planThe FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement promotes extreme planning for early retirement in your 30, 40s or 50s, achieved via severe cost-cutting, adopting a frugal lifestyle, and saving up to 70% of what you earn. The aim is to build up a pot worth 25 times your annual expenses, and then withdraw it at 4% a year, so it lasts for...
3 June 2026
Five money problems that are nice to have (and how to solve them)Sharing some problems will always inspire a symphony of the world’s smallest violins. With so many people struggling with job losses or rising prices, it’s hardly surprising that you might not be keen to share your worries that you’re earning too much money or have too much in savings.
However, just because something is a nice problem to have, it...
19 May 2026
Are you wealthier than 90% of Brits?AJ Bell analysis of HMRC data shows that to be among the top 20% highest earning taxpayers, you need to make £49,900, and to be in the top 10% you need to make £67,400. There will be people on these kinds of incomes who don’t consider themselves wealthy, but it doesn’t matter what you think: it’s what the government thinks that counts when it comes...
13 May 2026
Six steps to protect your money during financial and political turbulenceThe drama engulfing Westminster this week is just the latest in a long line of crises that have been unfolding rapidly and unpredictably across the world for months. At times of volatility and uncertainty, it can be difficult to know what to do. Fortunately, there are six steps you can take in any period of upheaval to protect your finances.
1. Don...
6 May 2026
Different generations' financial goals and how to achieve themNew research by AJ Bell explores the top financial goals at each stage in life and found that for Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X, the top three financial goals are retirement savings, money for travel and building an emergency fund.
Among those aged 61 and under, the older you are, the more likely you are to prioritise retirement savings (31% for Gen...
28 April 2026
Falling ill before state pension age: what are your options?There are no guarantees any of us will make it to state pension age in robust health, and in nine out of 10 areas of the UK, the average person doesn’t. It raises the question of what you’d do if you needed to fill the gap.
The problem is likely to get worse. Healthy life expectancy has fallen by two years in a decade, so if the trend continues...
24 April 2026
What inflation means for your pocketThe consumer price index was up by 3.3% year-on-year in March, compared to 3% in February, as the UK begins to see the effects of the US-Iran war in prices.
At this stage, inflation is fairly lumpy, with the pain felt most keenly at the pumps and for those using oil to heat their homes. However, over the coming months we can expect it to spread to...
24 April 2026
Discover 10 smart ways to limit your tax billThe amount you pay in tax on your earnings, savings and investments over the past year has increased significantly, absorbing a hefty portion of your wealth. With dividend tax rising this month, and key thresholds still frozen for years, it’s worth considering how to keep the taxman from tucking into even more in the years to come.
Income taxThe...
17 April 2026
What you can do as numbers paying dividend tax doubleDividend tax increases have had a significant impact on investors over the past few years, with pensioners and average earners hit particularly hard. In the coming year this is likely to intensify thanks to the latest dividend tax hike.
A Freedom of Information request from AJ Bell revealed the number of people expected to pay dividend tax in the...
