Moneyblog

Whilst planning no career change of my own beyond my regular, if fleeting trips to secondary schools to talk about money, I’ve been enjoying reading Lucy Kellaway’s FT updates on her first half term as a maths teacher. Kellaway is well known for her short shrift for maths illiteracy: ‘It is not cute. It is stupid, shameful and, if you have any position of responsibility at all, it is dangerous.’ Ouch! Similarly, I came across a mathematics teaching blog by Tony Cotton this week. Cotton complained about the stories we tell about maths ­– that it’s a hard subject, thereby somehow elevating those who do well to an almost unobtainable,

I’ve been a customer of Lloyds Bank for over 30 years, and as in any long-term relationship there have been ups and downs. Nevertheless I have always stuck with the black horse; partly because I can’t be bothered to go through the rigmarole of opening another account, but mostly because I’m usually in debt to Lloyds and can’t afford to buy myself out. However, I’ve now been given a major incentive to finally get a divorce – because since 2 November, my bank charges have shot up by 500 per cent without warning. Up to the end of October, as with most banks, Lloyds charged a monthly fee for being overdrawn

Finding a savings account that allows you to collect any interest at all, while still having access to your cash when you want it, can be tricky. There are some options out there, though. Here are the best Easy Access savings accounts on the market at the moment. Data supplied by moneyfacts.co.uk.

According to the accountants’ ledgers, DVDs are dying. Sales of those shiny discs, along with their shinier sibling the Blu-ray, amounted to £894 million last year, which is almost a fifth lower than in 2015 and less than half of what was achieved a decade ago. And last week we finally said goodbye to the postal DVD service Lovefilm, too. The explanation for this decline is the explanation for many modern declines: digital is taking over. Nowadays, downloads and streaming services make more money than the old physical formats. But accountants don’t know everything. From a different perspective, through the bloodshot eyes of a cinephile, DVDs are thriving — and

‘Impact investing’ — the idea of doing good and making money at the same time — is reaching a tipping point of acceptance. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals have provided a blueprint that is pushing impact investing into the financial mainstream. Consider a few of our planet’s economic challenges. According to the Business and Sustainable Development Commission (a group of 35 corporate chiefs and civil society leaders) violence and armed conflict cost the world the equivalent of 9 per cent of global GDP in 2014 alone. Lost biodiversity and eco-system damage cost another 3 per cent. Meanwhile, median wages in developed countries have been stagnant for 30 years and there’s

There are occasions when an apparently negative economic indicator is also in some sense positive. September’s 9 per cent drop in new car registrations compared with the same month last year was no bad thing if it means fewer people are loading themselves up with debt to buy cars — and won’t hurt British car factories that are part of a global supply chain. Likewise, falling London house prices may carry a negative message about international confidence in the UK, but will help London workers to buy homes. And a quarter-point interest rate rise may look like a sign of concern at the Bank of England and a worry for

A few weeks ago, Mike Fotis wrote of the depressing future of UK banking for those living in rural areas, or who are unable to use technology. Understandably – and for most customers, sensibly – many banks are focused on improving their online services and apps. The problem is that as they do this, bank branches are closing rapidly as they become increasingly redundant. For many of us this is simply an irritant, meaning that you have to travel that bit further if you actually want to visit a branch of your bank. But if you have problems with mobility – or if the next closest bank branch is a

If you’re thinking of investing in a buy-to-let property, take a look at this week’s Best Buys; two-year fixed rate mortgages for buy-to-let properties. Data supplied by moneyfacts.co.uk.

Scotland’s whisky industry is the UK’s single largest food and drink export, accounting for almost a fifth of Britain’s the sector’s exports. It’s also the number one internationally traded spirit in the world, and changes in the market can, therefore, cause something of a stir in the UK exports market. That’s why today’s statistics from the Scotch Whisky association are worth taking a look at. In the first half of 2017, Scotch whisky exports grew in value by 3.4% to £1.8billion – showing that despite the many new arrivals on the whisky market, Scotch continues to hold its own. Single Malts in particular have seen their popularity increase drastically. Over

This Sunday – 29th October – the clocks go back, giving us an hour longer in bed, but darker evenings. This might be a blessing for many of us (yes, I would rather get up at 6am than 5am, thanks very much), but the darker evenings can also be a blessing for burglars. I learnt this the hard way at this time of year two years ago – between Halloween and Guy Fawkes night – when my parents’ house was burgled while they were away for a couple of days. The combination of noisy fireworks – which drowned out the sound of burglar alarms – and trick or treaters (which

Another week, another blue-chip in the dock. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has brought fraud charges against London-based mining giant Rio Tinto and two former executives in relation to an ill-starred coal venture in Mozambique. Whatever its legalities, this was a colossal corporate cock-up. In 2010, Rio paid $3.7 billion for Riversdale, an Australian company that controlled large coal deposits in the Tete region of Mozambique. The plan was to send coal by barge 400 miles down the Zambezi river to the coast, for shipping to Chinese power stations. But the coal reserves proved disappointing, while the Mozambique government refused to permit the barge operation and a rail link

Three quarters of people back the banning of unpaid internships beyond a four-week period. This is according to a survey of 5,000 people by the Social Mobility Commission.  Later this week Lord Holmes of Richmond will be leading a bill in the House of Lords with the aim of requiring companies to pay interns the minimum wage after a month’s work. This follows the same recommendation that was made in January in a report by the All Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility. It will need Parliamentary backing to succeed – but this may be unlikely, given that Parliament blocked a ban on unpaid internships last November. I am the founder of

For most people, their current account is the bank account that they use the most. So it makes sense to make sure that your account offers the highest possible rates of interest. Here are the best ones on the market at the moment, from data provided by moneyfacts.co.uk.

The T-charge – short for Toxicity Charge – comes into force in central London today. It’s part of the London mayor, Sadiq Khan’s, plan to improve air quality in the capital, and it mainly applies to vehicles registered before 2006. Rather than banning ‘high polluting vehicles’, he hopes that the charges will discourage people from driving into central London. The Green Party’s Jenny Jones today urged the London mayor Sadiq Khan to make sure that the revenues from the T-charge are used to improve public transport, and encourage people to opt for the bus or tube instead of their cars. But in reality, that’s not going to happen. Why? Khan

One day in February each year, my three children come home from school in London, but go to sleep in Germany. We pile into our old Rover 75 Estate, take the tunnel to Calais, then drive through France, Belgium and the Netherlands before collapsing into bed in Aachen: five countries in an afternoon. The next day we cruise down the Autobahn to Munich or Salzburg, potter around the city and have an early night. The following morning we are on the ski slopes, hours before the plane gang arrive. For a ten-night ski holiday in February half-term, the most expensive ski week of the year, our total spend is less

The ‘Great Hurricane’, Maggie Thatcher, Michael Jackson and shoulder pads – it must be the 30th anniversary of Black Monday. What was ‘Black Monday’? On 19 October 1987, global stock markets experience heavy falls. In the space of 24 hours, the Dow Jones Industrial Index (DJIA) fell 22.6%, destroying the previous record one-day fall of 12.8% set during the Wall Street Crash of 28 October, 1929. Asia and Europe all suffered huge falls of up to 23%. The UK’s leading benchmark index closed down 10.84% at 2052.3 on the 19 October 1987, only to fall further by 12.22% at 1801.6 the following day. Some stock market commentators have since attributed ‘Black