James Heppe-Smith
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Your platform will have to show you what it charges: the FCA’s CP26/24 explained
Read more: Your platform will have to show you what it charges: the FCA’s CP26/24 explainedThe FCA has proposed changing how platforms, advisers and wealth managers tell you what you are paying. CP26/24 closes on 21 August 2026. It would drop the cumulative-costs illustration, require total costs in pounds and pence as well as percentages, keep investment trust costs out of the headline figure, and stop firms both charging a…
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British Savings Bonds at 5.17%: what NS&I’s five-year rate is telling you, and the tax bill waiting at the end
Read more: British Savings Bonds at 5.17%: what NS&I’s five-year rate is telling you, and the tax bill waiting at the endNS&I raised its fixed-term British Savings Bonds on 6 October 2026, after rises on 31 July and 18 August. The five-year now pays 5.17% on the Growth option. Rates are one thing; a rule most coverage skips is another: on the Growth option, five years of interest counts as taxable income in the single tax…
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Your lender has gone bust. What happens to your loan, and to the money you were owed?
Read more: Your lender has gone bust. What happens to your loan, and to the money you were owed?Blue Motor Finance, Eldens Finance and Logbook Lending all entered administration inside four weeks. If you borrowed from one of them, two very different things happen at once: your loan carries on almost unchanged, and any compensation you were owed may never arrive in full.
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State Pension age 68: why there are two dates, seven years apart
Read more: State Pension age 68: why there are two dates, seven years apartThe law says the State Pension age reaches 68 between 2044 and 2046. The Office for Budget Responsibility builds its projections on 2037 to 2039. Only one of those is legislation, and the difference is about seven years of your retirement.
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Electricity VAT Cut to 0% and a £2 Bus Fare Cap: What the New Cost of Living Package Saves You
Read more: Electricity VAT Cut to 0% and a £2 Bus Fare Cap: What the New Cost of Living Package Saves YouVAT on domestic electricity drops from 5% to 0% from 1 October 2026, and single bus fares outside London are capped at 2 pounds from January 2027. What the package actually saves a typical household, who is excluded, and what was not announced.
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Why US Mortgage Rates Don’t Follow the Fed (2026)
Read more: Why US Mortgage Rates Don’t Follow the Fed (2026)The US 30-year fixed mortgage rate eased to 7.18% in the week ending November 5, 2026, its third weekly fall, after two weeks at 7.40% in October, the highest since November 2023. The Federal Reserve raised rates in September and held on October 28, but that was not the driver: fixed mortgages track the 10-year…
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High-yield savings accounts explained: how to earn more on your emergency fund (2026)
Read more: High-yield savings accounts explained: how to earn more on your emergency fund (2026)A high-yield savings account can pay many times the national average rate on the cash you keep for emergencies, and it is still FDIC-insured. Here is how they work and what to look for.
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Mansion House 2026: What It Means for Savers, Borrowers and Small Businesses
Read more: Mansion House 2026: What It Means for Savers, Borrowers and Small BusinessesOn 14 July 2026 the Chancellor used the annual Mansion House speech to announce a £6.5bn expansion of small-business lending guarantees and a review of bank capital rules the Treasury says could unlock up to £150bn of extra lending, alongside a ring-fencing consultation and an AI plan for finance. Here is what was actually announced,…
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ETFs for UK beginners: what an ETF is and how to buy one in a Stocks and Shares ISA
Read more: ETFs for UK beginners: what an ETF is and how to buy one in a Stocks and Shares ISAAn ETF is one of the simplest, lowest-cost ways to start investing. Here is what an exchange-traded fund actually is, the jargon that matters, and how to buy one inside a Stocks and Shares ISA.
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Halifax Is Becoming Lloyds: What It Means for Your Money (2026)
Read more: Halifax Is Becoming Lloyds: What It Means for Your Money (2026)Lloyds Banking Group confirmed on 1 July 2026 that the Halifax brand will change to Lloyds over the coming months. For your money the practical answer is reassuring: nothing changes today, your sort code and account number stay the same, and your FSCS protection is unchanged. Here is what is happening, what it means for…
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