Introduction Last month was the month when it was almost impossible to keep up with the stories coming out of the White House. Normally as I make notes for this commentary through the month I end up – Not surprisingly – with far more notes about the UK than anywhere else. That was BT – Before Trump. Now there are so many stories coming from the US – some real and some fitting the new description of ‘fake news’ – that it’s hard to find the important stories among the background noise. What’s undeniable is that the economic initiatives from the new President and his team have been warmly welcomed on Wall Street. As we’ll see below, the Dow Jones index enjoyed a successful month – as did the va
January is a month that often feels twice as long in financial terms a fter the extravagances of Christmas and New Year, but just because we’ve reached February and your bank balance is finally looking a bit healthier doesn’t mean giving up all those thrifty habits you’ve adopted at the start of the year. It’s far better to capitalise on your good financial habits by adopting a few more and helping your money to go even further. Here are four simple but effective ways you might do just that: Try online grocery shopping – There are several benefits to this, not least saving yourself the time and expense of travelling to and from the supermarket. Your shopping bill is also likely to go down wi
Whilst you might expect an increase in the cash and investment ISA limit to be welcomed, at least one dissenting voice has come from Steve Webb, former Pensions Minister and current policy director at Royal London. Webb has warned that the rise in April from the current annual limit of £15,240 up to £20,000 could encourage poor long-term investment choices. The criticism is aimed at the cash element in particular. Webb has described cash ISAs as useful as a ‘rainy day fund’ but unsuitable as a way to help invested money grow. As such, he’s advised that a more appropriate investment limit for cash ISAs would be £5,000, just a quarter of the proposed new limit. A report from Royal London backs
