Taking out a mortgage could be one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll need to make in life, so it’s important to get it right.You could ‘go direct’ to find the right mortgage for your circumstances – as long as you’re prepared to spend time and effort scouring...

Being a First Time Buyer was daunting to start with, but once I got in touch with an Openwork Adviser, they settled all my nerves and made the process of buying a place to call home incredibly easy.The big decisionBefore I could look at houses and house prices, I...

A pension is a tax-efficient, long-term savings plan that you contribute to during your working life to provide an income when you stop work. You can benefit from tax relief on the contributions you pay in and your pension pot has the potential to grow. At the moment...

In the 2019/20 tax year, you can save up to £20,000 tax-free in an Individual Savings Account (ISA), and when it comes to your ISA investment, you have a number of options.Investors comfortable with the slightly higher risk Peer to Peer lending can also now invest in...

 Do you aspire to own a new-build home? Are you looking to move home, but lack sufficient funds to afford the repayments on a low-deposit mortgage? You may find it easier to join, or move up the property ladder, thanks to the government-backed Help to Buy scheme.There...

 COST OF RAISING A CHILD We all know raising a child can be expensive. Research has shown, the cost of raising a child to age 18 in the UK varies dependant on whether it’s a girl or boy, with boys coming in at £79,176 and girls a staggering £108,884. As a parent you...

 How much money do you think you’ll need to receive each year of your retirement? According to the investment manager Schroders, working people in the UK aged 55 and over believe this figure would equate to 66% of their current income, but the reality according to UK...

Do you want to provide valuable life cover and financial security for your employees and your family in a tax efficient manner? A Relevant Life Plan could be the answer. What is a Relevant Life Plan?A Relevant Life Plan is an individual ‘death in service’ life policy...

Have you thought about how your cash flow could be affected if something were to happen to a director, owner or key employee?How would your creditors react?It may be that one of your company directors stands as the guarantor for your company’s loans. If they were to...

  Thousands of people with interest-only mortgages expiring this year do not have a repayment plan - putting their homes at serious risk of repossession.  An estimated 81,400 mortgages will come to an end in 2019, totalling around £9.2bn in value, according to...

You’ve decided to take the plunge and get onto the property ladder, having swapped fun and frivolity for fastidious frugalness to save the deposit. But what can you do to boost your chances of getting your first mortgage?Check and correctThe three main credit...

Help to Save is a government savings account aimed at an estimated 3.5m people on low incomes. The scheme pays a bonus of 50p for every pound saved over four years, representing better value compared to the 1 - 2 per cent returns on savings bonds offered by high...