Recent Articles

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Investing Articles

Retirees are paying frightening amounts of tax. Don’t join them

From April, the dividend tax allowance is a miserly £500. Tax-sheltered investment accounts have never been a smarter move.

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Investing Articles

When cheap markets meet favourable conditions, sentiment flips very quickly

London’s stock market is cheap — some sectors, even cheaper. Given a change in sentiment, the uprating could be substantial.

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Investing Articles

Why invest? Freedom, that’s why

Investing is often seen in terms of goals such as retirement. But there’s another significant opportunity on offer: financial independence,…

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Investing Articles

Will 2024’s nervous markets throw up decent bargains?

A quarter of the world’s population is going to the polls this year -- including elections in America, the UK,…

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Investing Articles

Three investing resolutions for 2024

Broken any New Year resolutions yet? Most people find them difficult to stick to. But why wait for New Year?…

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Investing Articles

For wealth-builders, a (thankfully) better year than it might have been

Personally painful for many, 2023 at least saw no financial dramas. Markets helpfully registered modest rises.

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Collective

Selling your duds isn’t ‘failing’

Most of us have a cultural aversion to quitting. But that can cloud rational decision-making. Sometimes, quitting a position can…

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Investing Articles

Thanks, Mr Hunt: three welcome ISA changes

As an investment wrapper, ISAs have a lot to offer. But chancellors love tweaking them, making them even more attractive.…

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Investing Articles

In adversity, lie opportunities

“Buy when there’s blood on the streets” is certainly one strategy — but opportunities are often more frequent.

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Investing Articles

Data-driven investing

You have an investment strategy of some sort. But is it succeeding — and how do you know? Even if…

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Investing Articles

Do plunging bond markets offer an opportunity?

The bond market is in free fall. Higher-than-usual yields, and possibly tax-free capital gains, are on offer for those prepared…

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Investing Articles

Finance for the faint-hearted: disentangling financial ratios

You don’t ‘get’ all those numbers? You’re not alone: plenty of other investors don’t ‘get’ them either. Don’t be put…

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Investing Articles

Diversify faster, with investment trusts

Tradable just like shares, investment trusts have long offered instant diversification and lower costs than funds. If trusts aren’t already…

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Investing Articles

The hidden downside to using investment platforms

Investment platforms have revolutionised investing, enabling millions to take the plunge. But in terms of enabling shareholder participation and monitoring,…

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Investing Articles

Shareholder perks: still out there, still worth having

Some companies offer shareholder benefits beyond the dividend. It varies from company to company, but such benefits can be well…

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Investing Articles

When to sell, and when not

The evidence suggests that many investors get selling wrong. Disciplined when buying, they’re more impulsive when selling. It can be…

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Investing Articles

The value of a different perspective

Relying only on viewpoints that mesh with your own can be dangerous. Better by far to seek out different perspectives:…

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Investing Articles

Fight your corner: investor taxation has gone too far

It’s not just dividend taxation that takes a bite out of investors’ returns — stamp duty does so, as well.

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Investing Articles

How well are your investments performing?

Are you beating the Footsie? • There’s now no shortage of portfolio-tracking tools, often available for free.

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Investing Articles

Bank of England to Britain: “Don’t ask us, we’re clueless”

The Bank of England’s rare talent for finding banana skins has struck again – twice. Accept that we’re poorer? No…

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Investing Articles

Royal Mail’s privatisation, 10 years on

It’s almost ten years since Royal Mail was privatised. The outcome has — so far — been a rare achievement:…

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Investing Articles

7 rules for investing success

It’s not that Buffett’s wrong — it’s that he’s not prescriptive enough... Seven rules guide investing success: follow them, and…

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Investing Articles

So is now the right time to invest?

Economic headwinds are easing. So should investors commit fresh funds to the stock market? Such calls are rarely straightforward. But…

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Investing Articles

3 investing resolutions for the new tax year

The UK ‘tax take’ is rocketing upwards — with investors being clobbered several ways. But things get even worse from…

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Collective

Can you really afford to retire seriously early?

Forget 66 or so: for the FIRE crowd, early retirement means retiring in your 40s or 50s. The problem: what…

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Investing Articles

Teetering banks spook investors

Are we headed for 2007, 2008, or something else? No one knows. Banks may look cheap, but are probably bargepole…

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Investing Articles

How to spot a share price bargain

Finding cheap shares involves sieving through an awful lot of data, on an awful lot of companies. Focus on the…

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Investing Articles

The Footsie hits an all-time high — but don’t celebrate

The FTSE 100 has hit an all-time high of 7,902. But appearances are deceptive. The sagging pound does a lot…

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Investing Articles

If you don’t understand it, don’t invest in it

Simple and straightforward financial accounts are often associated with simple and straightforward business models — and with simple and straightforward…

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Collective

3 easy-to-keep investment New Year Resolutions

These resolutions won’t make you slimmer, fitter, or faster — but they should improve your investment performance.

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Investing Articles

Do optimists generate superior returns?

Many investors are biased towards the negative. But, believe it or not, things are getting better.

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Investing Articles

A better place to hunt for bargains in the FTSE indices

Right now, the UK's two leading indices’ performances have markedly diverged. For real bargains, look in the FTSE 250.

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Investing Articles

Markets are nervous. Why wait for shares to get expensive?

While the economics newsflow is improving, markets — rightly — remain nervous. Should you worry? I’d argue not: sit it…

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Elevated view over city of London skyline
Investing Articles

Navigating choppy waters

We've seen this movie before. There will be undoubted bargains — but also, very likely, basket cases.

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Investing Articles

Gilt yields rocket to crazy levels

In the market turmoil, gilt yields have rocketed skywards. For my money, equities remain the better bet.

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Investing Articles

1.5 million pensioners are working. Convinced you want to join them?

The over-65s are heading back to the workforce — in droves. No one knows why, but the cost-of-living crisis is…

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Investing Articles

Why ignoring investment fads can boost your wealth

A year ago, investors couldn’t unload fossil fuel stocks fast enough. Now, they’re buying them back. The moral: beware investment…

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Investing Articles

Tempted to cut back on your pension investments? Don’t!

Evidence is emerging that people are cutting back on pension saving and investing. Doing so may be tempting, but the…

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Investing Articles

Go global for growth

The Bank of England’s latest forecasts make grim reading: hello, recession. Other countries look set to fare better. But are…

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Investing Articles

Are you sleepwalking your way to poverty?

At first glance, the capital required to fund a comfortable retirement can look out of reach. But run the figures,…

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