Author name: Hope Varnes

For many years, interest rates on savings accounts were so low that paying tax on savings interest wasn’t something most people needed to worry about. But with savings rates having been higher in recent years, that’s changed. You might have money spread across several bank accounts, a fixed-rate savings bond and an easy-access account. Each […]

When a couple divorces, there are some financial assets that naturally get most of the attention. Who keeps the house? What happens to the savings? How will the mortgage be dealt with? But there’s another asset that can be just as important – and in some cases worth more than the family home: your pensions.

You’ve got a little extra money left over each month. It’s a nice position to be in – but it creates a surprisingly difficult question: Should you use it to pay off your mortgage faster, or invest it for the future? Overpaying the mortgage has an obvious appeal. Every extra pound reduces your debt and

Being made redundant can turn your finances upside down almost overnight. One month, you have a regular salary coming in and your financial plans feel relatively predictable. The next, you may have a redundancy payment sitting in your bank account and no certainty about when your next salary will arrive. It can be tempting to

Having money in the bank feels reassuring. You can see it. You can access it. You know exactly how much is there. And unlike investments, its value doesn’t appear to jump up and down every time you check your account. So, keeping a healthy amount of cash can be a very sensible part of financial

You’ve decided to take £20,000 from your pension. You’ve worked out what you want to use the money for, requested the withdrawal and waited for it to arrive. Then you check your bank account. It’s considerably less than you expected. For many people, their immediate reaction is: “Where has all that tax gone?” The answer