Helen Nugent

Spend your pension pot wisely

There was an almighty hoo-ha when George Osborne introduced pension freedoms. In the biggest change to pensions in a generation, anyone aged 55 and over is now allowed to take their entire pension pot as a lump sum, paying no tax on the first 25 per cent and the rest taxed as if it were

How to avoid a holiday from hell

As the UK basks in beautiful sunshine, it’s tempting to abandon all thoughts of a holiday abroad and opt for a staycation. But we all know the vagaries of British weather. It’ll probably be raining tomorrow. With this in mind, the financial information company Defaqto has taken a close look at potential nightmare holiday scenarios

Home ownership fall is driving wealth inequality

Consider this: 1 per cent of adults own 14 per cent of the nation’s assets. That’s some 488,000 people in ownership of about £11 trillion. At the other end of the financial scale, 15 per cent – 7.3 million people – either own no assets at all, or are in debt. It’s safe to say this

Fraud hotspots revealed by Which?

Norfolk is the dating fraud capital of England and Wales, Surrey is the hotspot for investment scams, and mid-Wales suffers cold calling computer cons. That’s according to new analysis by Which?. Using the Freedom of Information Act, Which? collated thousands of fraud reports from Action Fraud, the main reporting body for UK fraud. The data also reveals

Now it’s cheaper to use your mobile phone abroad

Praise be, there’s some good news on the financial front this morning. Roaming charges for the use of mobile phones while overseas have been abolished as from today. Under the new European Union law (the Roam Like Home legislation), British mobile phone users can now make phone calls, send text messages and use data in other EU

What the election result means for your finances

Well, I don’t think anyone expected that, least of all Theresa May. As the country picks over the result of the general election, financial experts are weighing up what it means for our money – and it’s not good news. Faith in the economy has been shaken, share prices for housebuilders and retailers have fallen, and

House prices are…staying pretty much the same

Depending on which way you look at it, today’s house price data from Halifax is either good or bad news. Taken one way it paints a gloomy picture, with house price growth continuing to slow. According to the lender, in the year to May house price inflation dropped to 3.3 per cent, down from 3.8

People paying the highest rate of tax now at record level

A record number of people are now paying the highest rate of tax thanks to wage inflation and the reduction in pensions tax relief. That’s according to figures from HM Revenue & Customs. While the proportion of people paying the 45 per cent additional rate is still small compared to the overall number of income

Food inflation means bigger bills for shoppers

Ah, butter. Salted, unsalted, English, French, garlic, spreadable, straight from the fridge – just thinking about the many forms of butter make me salivate. Then there’s what to pair it with – crumpets, teacakes, toast, jacket potatoes. The list goes on and on. So it comes as a blow to learn that butter is selling

Personal finance: where do the political parties stand?

It hardly seems possible – where does the time go? – but the general election takes place next week. Following the suspension of electioneering after the atrocity in Manchester, the political parties have returned to the campaign trail with all kinds of promises designed to lure the electorate to their respective sides. As far as personal