Moneyblog

We should teach infants about the value of money

On the one hand, perhaps he should only be thinking about football, Minecraft, his Lego Millennium Falcon and whether he is actually capable of magic. On the other, I can’t let this window of opportunity go by. Being five-years-old is a prime time for learning about the world and how things work. It might seem a bit too young to be dulling his imagination with compound interest, but it’s a lesson he probably won’t get at school (unfortunately) and is one he would do well to get sooner rather than later. That’s why I’ve started giving my five-year-old son £2 pocket money every week for the completion of very minor

Is digital financial advice any good? Spectator Money investigates

Financial companies, large and small, are trying to grab a piece of the burgeoning digital advice market. Also known by the unattractive name ‘robo advice’, this uses computers to give low-cost financial advice online with little or no human intervention. It could help the huge numbers of people who need financial advice but do not currently receive it. But digital advice has been strongly criticised recently for having confusing structures and opaque fees. Some also say many digital services are just a cynical attempt by companies to secure money on which they can charge ongoing fees, but are not sophisticated enough to make sure users get the best solution for

New complaints data is a missed opportunity and will not help consumers

Yesterday the UK financial regulator released complaints data for the second half of 2016. While this happens every six months, yesterday was meant to be different. This data was meant to arm consumers with information to make more informed decisions, and ultimately empower people to make the financial world better. Sadly, it turned out to be a lost opportunity. So what did change? As a result of Policy Statement 19/15, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released more information than ever before. From 30 June 2016 all complaints handled by a regulated firm became reportable (previously it was just complaints dealt with by the close of the next working day). To enable

Scrapping the pension triple lock would be bad news for pensioners – and the Tories

The wrangling over key policy areas in the upcoming general election has begun in earnest. If you’re already tired of the political argy-bargy, don’t worry, there’s only, ahem, six weeks to go. Stay with me though, because there’s one topic in the personal finance arena that really, really matters. The triple lock state pension guarantee. With the Prime Minister understood to be considering replacing the triple lock with a less generous double lock, and the Labour Party on record saying it will keep the triple lock until 2025, this issue goes to the heart of the parties’ attitude to pensioners. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats said in their 2015 manifesto that it should

What’s happening in the world of personal finance? Spectator Money takes a closer look

On any given day, there’s a slew of personal finance stories. The most eye-catching are the ones that make it onto the BBC‘s radar, appear on Sky News, are printed in the pages of the national press, and pepper the best-read financial websites. Today we’re all hearing about energy firms’ opposition to a Conservative pledge to cap bills, worries over household debt, government borrowing, and potential fraud at a couple of top-flight football clubs. But what else is happening? Here’s a flavour of the financial agenda. Pension freedoms HMRC has issued its pension freedoms statistics for the first three months of 2017. The data shows that UK consumers withdrew £1.59 billion in the first quarter,

Failing to bank online could cost you dear

People who don’t bank online are more likely to face financial trouble than their more internet-savvy peers. That’s according to research by the University of Bristol for investment website Momentum UK which found that those who bank by phone are five times more likely than internet bankers to miss bill payments and nine times more likely to know how much money they have in their account. While just 3 per cent of people who use a computer to bank had been unable to pay a bill at the final reminder in the last year, for those using the telephone as their main way of  banking this figure rose to 15

It’s time qualifications for estate agents became mandatory

I’ll never forget the estate agent who tried to flog me my first flat. As I waited on the kerb in North London, he roared up in a Mercedes-Benz convertible, bling glittering from his hands and neck, a belt emblazoned with the word ‘STUD’ and a knuckle tattoo that can’t be shared in a respectable publication. I was new to house-buying but even this struck me as a bit odd. I soon came to learn that a spotty teenager with a souped-up car and a penchant for gold jewellery isn’t that unusual in the estate agent game. Since then, I have dealt with agents who know what they’re doing and conduct

Should we compare pay slips? The inequality of earnings

The most open of folk, who spill saucy secrets about themselves, clam up when asked how much they earn. Revealing your salary, especially to colleagues, is taboo. Conventional wisdom says that knowing fellow workers’ salaries sows discord. I know first-hand how explosive it can be to learn what people you work with get paid. I’d been promoted to a senior management role where I needed to know everyone’s pay. On my first morning my new boss entered my office with an armful of employee files and told me to read them. Closing my door, he said he would return to take me to lunch with a bottle of red wine,

Don’t be an idiot like me: stop the auto renewals and save money

I am an idiot. This is something my recent experience with Amazon has taught me. ‘How come we have Amazon Prime?’ my husband asked from time to time, ‘I get it free,’ I told him. ‘But I don’t want to find out how exactly, you know, in case they notice and start charging me.’ May I refer you back to my original statement. For the avoidance of doubt, one of the world’s biggest companies was not providing me with free benefits out of hidden generosity. As an Amazon Prime member, you are entitled to things like faster deliveries, inclusive movies and Kindle books for £79 a year or £7.99 a month. I used some

Hold the front page: energy providers are against plans to cap bills

I am inundated with press releases, emails and phone calls from PRs, all wanting to talk about their clients, the latest piece of ‘ground-breaking’ research or a news story so innovative that not to publish would have disastrous consequences. While some of these communications are useful and thought-provoking, a fair few are, to use the vernacular, total pants. In journalism, we have a number of phrases to describe these releases, from ‘no shit sherlock’ to ‘night follows day’. Decorum prevents me from mentioning the other, swearier, descriptions. It’s safe to say that Scottish Power’s response to Conservative plans to cap energy prices falls into the ‘night follows day’ news category. Wait,

Government rows back on plans to raise probate fees

‘In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.’ This famous quote, attributed to Benjamin Franklin, holds as true today as it did at the time of writing in 1789. Given that versions of this sentiment date back to the early 18th century, and continue to be in use in 2017, it seems that death and taxes are two of mankind’s main preoccupations. And so it came as no surprise that a government plan to hike probate fees paid by bereaved families met with fierce opposition. Under the proposed changes, probate fees had been due to rise from £155 or £215 to up to £20,000 for some

Is luck-based investing a fool’s gamble? Spectator Money investigates

I used to like aphorisms. Maybe a little too much. In the good old days, I sought them out on Google – their infinite wisdom reassuring validation for whatever romantic or existential mess I’d gotten myself into. Today, they hold the appeal of a ripe Époisses. Rendered hackneyed and empty by social media. Occasionally, amid the deluge of syrupy cack on my Instagram, I’ll spot a gem. If you want more luck, take more chances. You may play the Euromillions, own Premium Bonds or like me, indulge in the occasional turn of roulette. Unlike me, you probably didn’t disappear on your husband for three hours, before breakfast, inside a Monaco

The UK housing market is in ‘neutral gear’

Mortgage Freedom Day. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? Just imagine: no mortgage. I wonder what that feels like. According to Halifax, yesterday was UK Mortgage Freedom Day, the point in the calendar when new borrowers will have earned enough to pay off the annual cost of their mortgage. So not quite the mortgage-free day of joy, but good news nonetheless. Halifax based its calculation on the average annual mortgage repayment cost of £7,968 and the average net annual income of £26,810. However, there is a wide variation in Mortgage Freedom Days across the country. Homeowners in Scotland celebrate March 14, followed by Northern Ireland on March 15

Your rights if you’re one of the 50,000 passengers kicked off a plane each year

United Airlines will be cursing the day someone had the bright idea of building cameras into mobile phones. Video clips showing a semi-conscious 69-year-old man being dragged from an overbooked plane after he refused to disembark went viral last week, sending the airline’s reputation into a tailspin. For those who’ve been on a really long media-free flight for the past week, here’s what happened. Last Monday passengers boarded flight 3411 in Chicago bound for Louisville, Kentucky. But before it took off, United decided it needed to squeeze in four crew members who needed to be in Louisville for work the next day. It asked for four volunteers to be bumped

Is it time to take a close look at the prime London property market? Spectator Money investigates

‘It feels like 2010,’ was the verdict last week of one seasoned operator in the prime London property market. What they meant is that after a period of uncertainty and restraint, the smart money is beginning to take a longer, harder look at the top-end of the London market. In 2010, the market was coming to terms with impact from the global financial crisis. In recent years, pricing has been adjusting to higher taxation, a political by-product of the downturn designed to address wider affordability concerns. However the stamp duty increase of December 2014 for £1 million-plus properties, which had the single biggest dampening effect on demand, is nearly two

Easter: how to enjoy the holiday weekend without breaking the bank

Are you counting the hours until home time and a glorious four days without work? Join the club. Just think of it – the beautiful British bank holiday, a Spring mini-break, and the chocolate. Oh my lord, the chocolate. New research suggests that the average UK household spends more than £6,000 on chocolate in a lifetime – the equivalent of 1,500 large Cadbury Easter Eggs or more than 10,200 Crème Eggs. That’s according to financial planner Tilney’s Cost of Tomorrow report. People aged between 30 and 49, many of whom will be parents to young children, are the biggest spenders when it comes to chocolate (I can attest to this), blowing

NS&I’s 2.2 per cent bond is the best of a bad bunch

The government has made good on its Autumn Statement pledge to introduce a new ‘market-leading’ bond through National Savings & Investments (NS&I) – it’s just a shame the market is still in the doldrums. The Investment Guaranteed Growth Bond will pay 2.2 per cent to savers depositing between £100 and £3,000. Launching the NS&I bond on Tuesday, economic secretary to the Treasury Simon Kirby said: ‘With its market-leading rate of 2.2 per cent, the Investment Bond will provide a valuable boost for savers who have been affected by low interest rates.’ The Treasury also pointed out that the average three-year fixed-term product has a rate of 1.24 per cent so

Greedy landlords: nearly a third of deposit complaints won by tenants

Let’s face it, us Brits have a dirty habit. We’re obsessed with property. We own much more of it than our European cousins, and many of us have come to see owning a nice home as not just a sign of a successful life, but intrinsically linked to our self-worth. Thanks to TV shows like the BBC’s long running Homes Under The Hammer, we’ve also become convinced that owning property is a license to print money. It’s this belief that has filtered through every part of the property industry, and led to some pretty predatory behaviour. In February a Which? study found that home-sellers were losing an average of £20,000 because