Sylvia and Jim met at university and married within months of graduating. After their honeymoon, Sylvia was delighted to land a job in publishing, while Jim put his gift of the gab to good use in a sales role. A year after tying the knot, they bought a house. The couple were looking forward to spending the first Christmas in their own home and had a trip to Iceland planned to see in the new year.

However, on his way home from work on Christmas Eve, Jim was involved in a car accident and suffered life-changing injuries. The future suddenly l...

Rachel is a 35-year-old charity administrator. When she started her current job nearly six years ago, she was automatically enrolled into her workplace pension. Auto-enrolment for workplace pensions was introduced in the UK to encourage more people to save for retirement. It means employers have to enrol into a pension any workers who are:

• Not already in a pension
• Between the ages of 22 and the state pension age
• Earning more than £10,000 a year
• Working in the UK

Rachel was happy to be enrolled into her workplace pension when she joi...

Whether you want to go on holiday or just want to save some money for the future, budgeting is a good way to put aside some money for reaching this goal. Here you can find some tips to help you take control of your finances.

Why is budgeting so important?

You might think that it’s not worth to spend that much time with counting all your income and expenses. But if you use apps or spreadsheets to make it visible how much you earn and spend on average every month, it will pay off.

In case of the unexpected or just having a big expense, it’s...

There are 4.8 million self-employed people in the UK and only a third have any kind of pension arrangement. A shocking statistic when you consider that State support is shrinking and we’re all living longer.

Of course, saving for a pension when you’re self-employed is not as straightforward as it is for an employed person, who might automatically benefit from a workplace scheme and employer contributions. We’ve outlined some key points below for you to consider:

Don’t rely on the State Pension

Whether you’re employed or self-employed you’...

Carly and Steve made serious sacrifices to save a deposit for their first home. To cut costs, they moved from their two-bedroomed flat in the centre of Manchester to a studio flat in one of the less well-regarded suburbs. When the damp and the noisy neighbours got too much, they moved in with Steve’s mum and when her questions about when they were going to start a family got too much, they moved in with Carly’s big sister.

As well as moving home three times in the space of a year, Carly and Steve gave up takeaways, holidays and their gym me...

Matt was delighted when he landed his dream job as a football coach. He got to do what he loved every day. Life was good until, one day, he fell down the stairs and everything changed. Matt seriously hurt his back in the fall and now struggles to stand for any length of time. As a result, he needs regular physio and hasn’t been able to work since the accident. Managing the pain and being unable to do the job he loves is hard enough but his situation is made worse by the fact he is now constantly worrying about how he’s going to make ends mee...

There is no right time to begin investing but there are some decisions to make that could affect your returns. If you are 7 years old and saving your pocket money for a PS5, 17 saving the money from your first job for a car, 27 saving for your first house or 57 and finalising your retirement plans which include a dream holiday, we can provide personalised advice for you.

Angela was looking at ways she could reduce her inheritance tax. After spending some time researching, she realised she could make small gifts to as many people as she like...

Financial advice isn’t just for the super-rich with complex tax situations and offshore bank accounts. It can be invaluable for anyone with financial goals.

Whether you're saving for your future, buying your first home, remortgaging or want to protect your home and income – speaking to an expert can make all the difference.

Saving for your future

Robyn and Tim met in their late 20s and soon got married. They were keen to get on the property ladder so spoke to a financial adviser who helped them form a savings strategy.

They both opened a...

Tina is a fit and vibrant 59-year-old who expected retirement to offer a whole new lease of life. She was looking forward to using her increased leisure time to explore Europe while indulging her passion for climbing. However, after going through her finances, she’s now concerned she won’t be able to afford her monthly bills let alone pay for trips abroad.

Tina has always managed her day-to-day finances really well, but she never sat down and worked out how much she’d need for a comfortable retirement. A 2021 Which survey found that a retir...