Can you ever afford to stop working? These three charts will horrify you. Retirement is going to cost a fortune and you’ll foot the bill yourself. Check our guide to see if you’re saving enough March 30, 2016 "I’ve got all the money I’ll ever need – if I die by 4 o’clock.” It’s an old gag, a pretty lame one, but that will quite literally be the situation facing many Britons in 30 years’ time. A good number of today’s workers look destined to spend their final years in poverty. Read more: People [...]
Complaints to financial services firms dropped in second half of 2015 March 30, 2016 People were much happier with their financial products in the latter half of last year, or, at the very least, they were quieter about any problems they had. The number of complaints to financial services firms inched down in the last six months of 2015, mainly driven by a drop in grievances over savings accounts, figures [...]
Invest down under: Why Australia’s an overlooked investment opportunity – and it’s nothing to do with oil and mining March 30, 2016 Australia has the enviable honour of avoiding recession for nearly 25 years. It’s well known for having plentiful natural resources and a thriving oil and mining sector, and its proximity to China made it the chief supplier of commodities to the Asian giant during its manufacturing and construction boom. But the abundance of stuff to [...]
EU referendum could explain “exodus from investment funds”, says analyst as new figures show February outflows of £399m March 30, 2016 The EU referendum vote has been blamed for an "exodus from investment funds". New figures from the Investment Association show the industry saw net outflows of £399m from UK authorised investment funds last month. Laith Khalaf, a senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the figures came as a "surprise". He added: "One possible reason behind the poor numbers is [...]
Five of the best European stocks for your portfolio – Pandora jewellery, sportswear firm Adidas, mobile phone company Orange, oil firm Tenaris and publisher Wolters Kluwer all stand out March 30, 2016 Europe has been a popular choice for investors in recent years. This is largely because the region is home to thousands of well-established businesses, many of which are global leaders in their field, and because Europe’s policy makers are determined to keep the region out of another crisis. Although European economies are slow, they are [...]
Seven ways to sort out your finances and the best stocks to invest in March 30, 2016 Bank holiday season is upon us, and the end of the tax year is approaching too. With a few long weekends coming up, now is a good time to do some financial spring cleaning. Below are seven things you should do this springtime. 1. HIGHER EARNINGS: FOCUS ON MAXING OUT YOUR PENSION People earning over [...]
Isa guide 2016: The 45p rate taxpayer March 30, 2016 When the Isa was launched in 1999, alongside its impressive tax benefits, its virtue lay in its simplicity. And the Isa has remained a firm UK favourite ever since, with almost 14m people using the wrapper to shield their personal savings from tax. With the end of the tax year approaching, and given that, once [...]
UK’s Isa options are too risky for investors, according to research exposing “major mismatch” March 30, 2016 The UK's Isa portfolios are too risky for the appetites of investors, new research has found. Some 70 per cent of the nation's investment Isa portfolios are in sectors with top risk ratings, according to online investment platform Rplan.co.uk. And this has created a "major mismatch" between Isas and investors. Read more: Do you really understand [...]
Peer-to-peer lending: What will happen in a downturn? March 30, 2016 Speak to any fund manager about their interest in peer-to-peer lending, and they all say the same: “it really needs to go through a business cycle, then I’ll look at it properly”. During the financial crisis, only one P2P lender was in existence – Zopa. Since then, it has been joined by industry heavyweights Funding [...]
How to get a better deal on a new Isa March 30, 2016 Getting a better deal on a new Isa is pretty simple – you just need to shop around. However, new research has shown a whopping 43 per cent of people feel they should be doing more research before setting up a new Isa or savings account. Similarly, one in five admit to never shopping around for the [...]