When my sister had a little girl, my aunt told her: ‘You’re vulnerable for the rest of your life.’ She meant, of course, that my sister’s overwhelming love for her daughter would mean a lifetime of worry – as well as all the incredible new experiences that motherhood would bring. She should have added financial vulnerability
‘Northern Powerhouse fires up house prices in Manchester’ shouts one headline. ‘Manchester is at the centre of Britain’s property boom’ declaims another. ‘Manchester top for house price growth’, a third declares. As a property-owning Mancunian who has no intention of moving, this is welcome news. According to Hometrack, prices in my home city increased by
This week’s Best Buys, provided by Moneyfacts, are Five-Year and Over Fixed Rate Residential Mortgages.
There’s an episode of the TV political drama The West Wing which focuses on the raising of the retirement age. After much to-ing and fro-ing it’s decided that the subject is too toxic to tackle and so it is dropped from the President’s agenda. If only art mirrored life. A new report suggests that the
Apathy. In a world where there are countless demands on our time, social media never sleeps and 24-hour news bombards us with stories of doom and gloom, it’s tempting to down tools, reach for the duvet and adopt the foetal position. But an apathetic attitude has consequences, whether it’s missing that crucial deadline or turning
There are many mysteries in life. Where did we come from? Why do I always forget to take my bag for life to the supermarket? Why does the word lisp have an ‘s’ in it? And, in the name of all that is holy, why does it take up to six days to clear a cheque?
The economists were right. For months now, they have been warning that the Brexit vote and the subsequent fall in the pound would drive up prices. Today’s figures from the Office for National Statistics confirm that consumer prices are rising at their fastest rate for more than three years. According to the ONS, the Consumer Prices
Milestone birthdays have a tendency to get the mind racing. When I turned 40, I had a bit of a wobble. I remembered my mum’s 40th and now here I was, the same age, and all I had to show for it was a middle-aged paunch and a geriatric cat. Or so I thought, anyway.
There are many things that beggar belief. The enduring popularity of Mrs Brown’s Boys for one. A continued appetite for the songs of James Blunt. And the appointment of George Osborne as editor of the London Evening Standard. That last one is particularly hard to fathom. But then so is some other news out this
This week’s Best Buys, provided by Moneyfacts, are Variable Rate Cash ISAs.
U-turn, flip-flop, whatever you want to call it, there’s no getting away from the fact that Philip Hammond’s policy reversal on National Insurance is hugely embarrassing both for him and the government. Just one week after the Chancellor reneged on a manifesto promise not to raise taxes, he bowed to pressure and announced that the
This week’s Best Buys, provided by Moneyfacts, are Unsecured Personal Loans.
It brings a whole new meaning to ‘working from home’. New research has revealed that homeowners in one in three UK local authorities ‘earn’ more from their properties than going to work. I don’t know whether to be thrilled or depressed by this news. Although given I live north of Manchester and (not surprisingly) more
If you’re a Manchester resident, you’ll be familiar with the all-singing, all-dancing, brand-spanking-new Co-op headquarters. In much the same way that London’s City Hall squats on the banks of the Thames, One Angel Square looms over Victoria Station, its solid glass bulk in stark contrast to the company’s iconic 1960s CIS Tower just over the
There’s a lot happening today. It’s International Women’s Day, Discover What Your Name Means Day, and we’re right in the middle of National Pie Week. Oh, and it’s the Spring Budget. Mindful of at least two of these events, Theresa May has revealed a new £5 million fund to help mothers return to work after
As a nation, we obsess. We obsess about the weather, taxes, the state of the roads, death and the cost of milk. I could go on. And there’s one other thing uppermost in our minds: house prices. I’ve lived in the same place for six years but I still can’t pass an estate agent without
As a Newcastle United fan, fretting whether my team will make it to the Champions League isn’t something I am burdened with on a regular basis. If it was, I might be tempted to pay for BT Sport. If that was the case, however, I’d be among the 10 million people who, from April 2, will
This week’s Best Buys, provided by Moneyfacts, are One-Year Fixed Rate Bonds.
It’s the bane of home-buyers’ lives – and now a major building society has said that stamp duty is due a major overhaul. The Yorkshire Building Society said that nearly three-quarters of first-time buyers pay the tax, compared with just over half in 2006. It wants stamp duty to be a tax on property sellers,
The Financial Conduct Authority has finally announced a deadline for people seeking compensation over mis-sold payment protection insurance. The City regulator has said that people will have to make their claims before 29 August 2019. In one of the industry’s biggest scandals, banks have set aside more than £40 billion to meet the payouts. Although millions
