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Pension providers criticised by the Financial Conduct Authority

Andrew Hagger | December 14, 2014

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has hit out at the pensions industry, claiming that some providers have questionable sales practices whilst others failing to tell customers about the better value deals. The regulator says that as a result, less than half of people end up with the deal that’s best for them, and points to evidence of […]

New pensioner savings bonds paying up to 4% to launch in January

Andrew Hagger | December 14, 2014

People aged 65 and over will be able to save up to £20,000 at market-beating interest rates from January 2015 under plans for pensioner bonds confirmed by George Osborne. National Savings and Investments (NS&I) will issue the one-year bonds paying annual interest of 2.8 per cent and three-year bonds which will be paying four per […]

20% of credit card customers only paying the minimum each month

Andrew Hagger | December 11, 2014

Latest research from The Debt Advisory Centre suggests that one in five credit card customers only paid the minimum payment from their monthly card statement in October and that one in twenty failed to pay anything. The Debt Advisory Centre said that the figures were worrying as its research was carried out before the costly […]

Consumers wasted £900m on unwanted presents last Christmas

Andrew Hagger | December 10, 2014

According to new findings by RateSetter UK consumers wasted a staggering £900m on unwanted Christmas gifts last year. Research from the fastest growing P2P lender revealed that almost half of people receive at least one unwanted gift every year. Four out of ten per cent of people have given an unwanted present to charity whilst […]

Rise in the number of Grandparents providing free childcare

Andrew Hagger | December 4, 2014

The number of grandparents providing childcare has soared by nearly 50 per cent since 2009. The figures are included in a report from RIAS which claims that more than 9 million regularly look after their grandchildren in some capacity. Two thirds of grandparents now take care of their grandchildren for an average of 9 hours a […]

One in four over-55s expect to never fully retire

Andrew Hagger | December 4, 2014

According to new research from Key Retirement Solutions, over a quarter of UK workers aged 55 or over feel they will never be in a position to give up working completely for fear of not having sufficient money to live on. In a survey of more than 3,000 UK adults, one in four of those […]

Government increases personal allowance for tax free earnings

Andrew Hagger | December 4, 2014

The Chancellor announced in his Autumn Statement that the amount of money you are allowed to earn without paying tax is to be increased to £10,600 in April, £600 more than the current level. George Osborne said that he hoped to be in a position to increase the limit further, aiming for a figure of […]

Chancellor reveals new Stamp Duty charging structure

Andrew Hagger | December 4, 2014

The government has announced that it is to do away with the much criticized ‘single slab’ approach to stamp duty on residential property purchases. In his Autumn Statement message George Osborne announced that he would be introducing a new tiered charge from 4th December and claimed that “As a result stamp duty will be cut […]

51% of people unaware of partner’s debts

Andrew Hagger | November 26, 2014

A new survey claims that over half of people in a relationship don’t know about their partner’s loans, overdrafts or credit card borrowing. In the worst cases, Experian says that some 6% admit to splitting up because of arguments about finances. The findings also reveal that relationship breakdowns caused by financial worries are most common […]

How will you finance your 2014 Christmas spend?

Andrew Hagger | November 26, 2014

With less than four weeks until Christmas, if you’re thinking of taking out a new credit card to help ease the festive financial burden, you’ll need to get your skates on. We’re not advocating that you should go on a shopping binge and then worry about paying for it later, but if as for many […]