personal finance
- The Telegraph
This video sums up everything that’s wrong with Britain’s housing market
At first glance, the Rightmove listing for The Laurels, a five-bedroom house in Hockliffe, just outside Leighton Buzzard, doesn’t look out of the ordinary. Pictures show a spacious living room with sofas and a beamed ceiling. A slightly eccentric mix of furnishings, but nothing to have Kevin McCloud turning up his nose. The asking price is £700,000. Not unreasonable for a good-sized family home on the outskirts of a commutable Bedfordshire market town, you might think.
- The Telegraph
‘My toddler was crushed by a 12-year-old at Center Parcs soft play’
My family and I decided to go to Center Parcs' Woburn Forest resort over New Year, paying around £2,000 for the weekend.
- The Telegraph
Six easy (and completely legal) ways to avoid inheritance tax
Inheritance tax is often known as Britain's most hated charge, but until recently it was only the very wealthy who had to pay it.
- The Telegraph
Pensioners now need £37,300 a year in retirement to live comfortably
Workers must now save an extra £90,000 if they want a comfortable retirement, analysis has revealed.
The TelegraphTaking a longer-term view, these two venture capital trusts remain worthwhile holdings
Rapidly rising living costs could prompt some income investors to seek ever-higher dividend yields. While their investment portfolio may have provided a satisfactory income over previous years, rampant inflation and a challenging economic outlook may mean there is now a disparity between their income and outgoings.
- The Telegraph
Probate service refuses to speak to families until they have waited four months, lawyers warn
Civil servants have been accused of refusing to speak to bereaved families about time-crucial probate applications for four months, as courts grapple with a backlog of cases.
- The Telegraph
How a Labour capital gains tax raid would make Britain a global outlier
Aligning capital gains taxes with income levies would make Britain an outlier on the world stage and take rates to their highest in decades, experts have warned.
- The Telegraph
The eleven savings accounts with the best interest rates for 2023
Rising interest rates are good news for savers, who until recently earned next to nothing on the money sitting in their bank accounts.
- The Telegraph
Homeowners to pay £300 more on mortgage bills
More than 1.4 million homeowners face yet another increase in their mortgage bills with the Bank of England raising the official interest rate to 4.25pc.
- The Telegraph
Fixed-rate mortgage or tracker? How to tackle rising interest rates
Mortgage borrowers will be spared from today’s interest rates rise by an escalating price war between lenders – if they know where to look.
- The Telegraph
First Help to Buy leaseholders receive payouts over cladding scandal
Help to Buy customers living in blocks with dangerous cladding have secured payouts of thousands of pounds after the company managing the scheme was found to have caused “unreasonable” delays.
- The Telegraph
This trust’s 50 per cent gain proves that a simple investing approach pays off in the long run
Successful investing does not need to be complicated. Indeed, buying companies with solid balance sheets and clear competitive advantages when they trade at fair prices has historically produced stunning returns over the long run. However, it is not uncommon for investors to muddle this most simple of processes. Notably, some investors attempt to time the market by trying to predict the optimum moment to buy and sell stocks. In Questor’s view, no investor can accurately and consistently forecast
- The Telegraph
How to reduce your mortgage payments (according to the experts)
After more than a decade of low interest rates, mortgage borrowers are facing hefty increases in repayments this year.
- The Telegraph
Keir Starmer's pension: how much tax he could save
Labour has been rocked by the revelation that its leader, Sir Keir Starmer, enjoys a unique and highly generous pension deal, which would allow him to avoid tax on his savings pot.
- The Telegraph
Demand banks pass on interest rate rises to savers, MPs tell City watchdog
The City watchdog is under pressure to ensure that banks pass on higher interest rates to savers. The Treasury Select Committee, an influential group of MPs, has written to the Financial Conduct Authority to demand action, after grilling the chief executives of Britain’s four biggest banks. Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group were forced to defend their easy-access savings rates at the beginning of February, which pay less than 1.3pc in annual interest. This is despite central
- The Telegraph
‘My mortgage has gone up £500 – and now I’m stuck with it for five years’
When Sarah Marshall and her husband bought their forever home in 2018 they thought nothing of the 1.5pc rate of their five-year fixed mortgage.
- The Telegraph
The three charts that convinced Jeremy Hunt not to raise the state pension age
The Government can save billions of pounds by increasing the state pension age by a year – from a public finance perspective, it is a seemingly easy win.
- The Telegraph
‘Civil service delays cost me £1m of my inheritance’
Families face having huge sums wiped off inheritances, as house sales fall through because of civil service delays.
- The Telegraph
‘The Government is trying to kill buy-to-let – but I won't stop buying properties’
Thanks to stricter regulations, diminished tax reliefs and rising borrowing costs, many buy-to-let investors are suffering.
- The Telegraph
How heat pumps have divided Britain
To heat pump, or not to heat pump? That is the question.
- The Telegraph
Savers left stranded by sudden jump in inflation
Savers face losing thousands to rising inflation, despite vast improvements in the best-paying accounts.
- The Telegraph
How buy-to-let investors can cut tax on their income in 2023
A huge rise in borrowing costs threatens to squeeze buy-to-let profits, at a time when many of the tax perks once enjoyed by landlords have evaporated.
- The Telegraph
With a strong balance sheet and plump dividend, this company feels like a welcome port in a storm
This column’s decision in January to sit on its hands and do as little as possible, in the view that it didn’t really know why share prices were rallying so hard and so fast, does not look quite so spineless, at least for now.
- The Telegraph
‘Hypocrite’ Starmer to avoid tax on pension
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of hypocrisy after it emerged that he has a unique pension deal from his time as Director of Public Prosecutions which allows him to avoid tax on his savings.
- The Telegraph
Have you got the cheapest Isa? The providers charging the most – and least – in 2023
One of the simplest ways to improve your investment returns is to reduce the amount you pay in fees. The trouble is, it can be difficult to work out exactly what you pay in charges – and whether you could get a better deal elsewhere.
- The Telegraph
Bitcoin hits nine-month high amid global banking fears
Bitcoin has soared to a nine-month high of £23,000, as fears of a banking crisis drove investors to the so-called "digital gold".