Millennial Money

My Salary Journey: Project Manager (Contractor)

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 14:10:00 +0000

Always ask, no is an acceptable answer.

If you believe you deserve a pay rise the chances are you will have to leave to get it.

Be confident and back yourself

Morning meeting with team

Prep for progress reviews with delivery teams

Replanning / risk review

Gym

Focus time - 2 hours spent working on tasks such as reporting or creating new artifacts

Afternoon calls with vendors

Work Admin - Email responses - Goal is to finish the day with inbox zero, with emails responded to, or read and deleted if there is no action required from me

Clearing debt I had outstanding (£800 overdraft & £1200 on my Career development loan) and my student loan.

I have different accounts for different things - spending and collecting points Amex, bills - Starling, saving and investing Freetrade and Moneybox - Separating money means I forget what I have squirrelled away.

Cycling

Learning to cook restaurant level food so I don’t eat out frivolously

I still love a bargain, and love nice clothes and shoes.

If I was earning my current rate (inflation adjusted) I wouldn’t be upset.

My Salary Journey: Chief Marketing Officer

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 11:48:00 +0000

Do you feel that you did anything differently to increase your salary?

Now I’m more stringent when I get reached out to for other job postings, I clearly state my expectations and if it can be met then we can have a conversation.

I started working from a young age.

Do you get paid any bonuses at work?

Normally if it's locked in for 2 years I don’t consider this to be of value - and I try and negotiate a higher pay grade rather than a variable performance bonus.

Do you feel comfortable asking for a payrise?

However, one piece of advice which has really helped me is ensuring you discuss your higher expectation of the range and negotiate a 3 month review meeting where you instigate it too (normally post probation).

Remember, Define your value, and when you have a counter offer on the table make sure to discuss it.

Do you feel loyal to your company?

I always believe when managing teams which I never expected to do so early on in my career, you must display loyalty to those you manage.

In short, no I am not loyal to the company as a money making machine, but rather to the people I manage and those who support me in my development.

How many times have you been promoted?

Did you have to go to university to get your job?

Yes, you can be a c-suite executive maybe without a degree, but if you make the most of your time at university you can become a more well-rounded and informed individual.

Did you have to do any extra qualifications for your job?

One learning not qualification I found really helped, was the framework of Radical Candour which I was introduced to a few years ago.

How many pay rises have you had?

What tips do you have for someone wanting to get your role?

Nevertheless, I used to reach out to CMOs on LinkedIn and many of them would just straight up say they had no time to mentor or ghost.

Never be surprised with the power that you can have through your online presence and branding.

You will be surprised by what and who is out there.

What does the day-to-day of your role look like?

Check my emails during my morning coffee, followed by industry news and twitter scrolls through other projects
Daily stand ups with my team as they are all remote in different locations
Admin check-in with my operations team
Block out 2 hours for deep research / brainstorming (practically procrastinate through browsing but end up with a good idea to run with)
Prayer break
Meeting with shareholders
Messaging and updating the other c-suite on the progress
A call with vendors and agencies

How would you describe your work/life balance?

Last year, I was away from the UK about 60% of the time, spending my time at a variety of conferences and also remote working holidays.

What is the best/worst thing about your job?

The flexibility means that I am ultimately responsible for my own tasks and deliverables.

The worst thing about my job is that whilst there are high rewards it also comes with great risk.

After a year at your first salary, what target salary did you think you'd be comfortable with?

How has this changed as you've earned more money?

Last year I spent 70% of my savings from my past two jobs, for a project to further my parents pension plans through an investment on their behalf.

One book which has changed my relationship to money, is Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace with Your Money by Ken Honda.

As your salary has increased, how have your spending habits changed?

I have been introduced to or more aware of wealthy people and observed some of their lifestyle and habits.

As your salary has increased, have your saving and/or investing habits changed?

Much of my money ends up being spent on experiences, travel and enjoying the finer things in life.

In 10 years time, where do you hope to be career wise?

How much do you hope to be earning in 5 years time?

God has been kind, and I am forever indebted to those that have enabled me to get to the place that I am in.

National poverty charity, Turn2us offers practical information and financial support to people facing financial insecurity.

With rising energy and food bills, the cost-of-living crisis is pushing even more people into financial hardship.

Firstly, what is Turn2us seeing with living costs soaring?
More than 100,000 people contact our Helpline every year looking for support.
As a charity that offers support to people facing financial insecurity, we want to continue to help people maximise their income and raise awareness of our services so that people struggling to afford life’s absolute basics know where to go for support.

Check if you are entitled to any benefits

A lot of people who are facing the daily stress and struggle of financial insecurity, don’t realise that they may be entitled to benefits - especially if they are in full time work.

To check what benefits, you might be entitled to, you can use the free and confidential In the last year, two and a half million people completed a benefits calculation via the Turn2us Benefits Calculator.

Help might be available through a charitable grant

Depending on your background, circumstances and needs, you might be eligible to apply for a charitable grant and other help.

In the last year alone, 1.

Explore schemes through your local council

Speak to your local council to see if you are eligible for council tax relief or a discount.

Councils have been given extra money to run discretionary funding schemes.

Manage your budget

It is always good to understand your income and outgoings.

The government-backed

What additional suggestions can Turn2us make?

When it comes to your utility bills there are a few options on how you could make savings.
If you’re struggling with household appliances and furniture, you might be eligible for some financial support. If you have school age children, check if you could be getting Turn2us is marking its 125^th year of tackling poverty and asks how many more of us must struggle to afford life’s absolute basics?

Millennial Money: Teacher

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 14:05:00 +0000

Occupation: Teacher currently on maternity leave
Age: 28
Location: Cardiff
Salary: £32,250. Any other income sources: My husband works

How would you describe your relationship with money?

Complicated.

What money habits did you pick up from your parents (good or bad)?
Have multiple bank accounts.

Do you have any debt?

Yes, currently £14000.

Are you paying this off and if so, how much each month?

Our debt costs us £400 per month.

Do you invest/save?
When we have saved the house deposit I then plan to invest.

If so, where and how much each month?

When I go back to work we should be able to save most of my husband’s income (he is working as a supply teacher but will hopefully get a job soon.

Do you feel that you can live “comfortably” on your current salary?

For me, no.

If no to the above, what amount do you think you would be comfortable on?

My salary is most certainly enough for one person but not two.

Best/worst money story?
I remember vividly when I started using credit.

The Cost of Living Crisis: What is it and what could you do about it?

Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:54:00 +0000

AD – this article was created as part of an on-going partnership with Wealthify.

With rising costs hitting us from various angles, you may be concerned about the cost of living crisis that we’re currently facing in the UK and the effect this might have on your finances.

Keep reading to find out why these increases are happening and if there is anything you could do to help make your money go further in 2022 and beyond.

What is the cost of living crisis?

The ‘cost of living crisis’ refers to the squeeze on our finances that a vast number of UK households are currently feeling.

This is due to the fact that if the interest rate you’re getting on your savings from your bank or building society falls below the rate of inflation, your money will lose value in real terms as it won’t be growing at the same rate as the price of basic goods and services.

But why is this happening?

On top of this, many are also being confronted with recent tax hikes and stagnated wages.

We’ll go into this in more detail below.

What are the factors increasing the cost of living?

Some of the main factors impacting the cost of living are as follows:

Record high inflation

UK inflation hit a 40-year high in 2022, with it reaching 9% in May – and the Bank of England has already forecast that this will likely reach 10% by Q4 2022.
‘Inflation’ measures the rate at which prices for goods and services (such as food and train fares) increase, which is a direct indicator of our purchasing power (aka, what you get for your money).
Andrew Bailey, the

Unprecedented energy prices

High energy prices have been a major factor in the cost of living crisis with the price cap already rising in 2021 and dozens of suppliers going bust.
The energy price cap, set in place to protect consumers, increased by In May 2022, the UK Government announced that they will be giving all UK households a £400 discount to help with their energy bills from October 2022, and they also have plans to impose a temporary windfall tax on energy companies.

Health and social care levy

The However, it’s worth bearing in mind that the threshold before you start paying NI contributions will increase to £12,570 in July, which means that the amount being taken out of your paycheck month is likely to decrease for many people.

How do people feel about their finances?

We recently ran a survey of 1,432 respondents via our

According to our survey, only 19% of respondents felt ‘very’ confident when it comes to their finances, while almost the same amount (18%) said that they didn’t feel confident at all.

The majority of those surveyed, however, did say that their confidence with money had improved since the pandemic began, which we think is great to see.

Although it’s safe to assume that our audience are actively interested in finance, so they may be more clued up about money matters than the average person, the results of our polls do tell us that there is still some work to be done when it comes to increasing people’s financial literacy.

When it came to their saving and investing habits, of those we surveyed, 68% said that they had more than £5,000 built up in savings.

However, despite this, 36% of respondents said that they don’t currently invest, with 46% admitting that they don’t feel confident at all when it comes to investing.

So, what could you do to tackle the increases in the cost of living?

As everyone’s disposable income is being squeezed more and more, now could be a good time to take stock of where your finances are to help you be as prepared as you can be for the possibility of further increases.

Your first priority could be to make sure that you have enough income to meet your basic needs (such as bills and food).

For example, having dinner out every week is great but we all know that it’s cheaper to eat at home – so if push comes to shove this would likely be an expense that gets dropped.

It's also recommended to have at least 3 months’ worth of expenses saved in an emergency fund if you can.

And if you do have money left over after building a strong emergency savings fund, then you may want to consider the next step to making your money go further – which is investing.

But if you feel like you haven’t got the time or expertise start, then you’re not alone - 46% of those who responded to our survey said they didn’t feel confident when it came to investing.

Wealthify is an investment service that makes it simple and affordable to invest, starting with as little as £1, and their team of experts will build your perfect Investment Plan and take care of all the decisions for you – such as what investments to buy and sell.

Their experts will build you a fully diversified investment portfolio based on your chosen risk level and stay on top of economic and market trends, news, and global political affairs that impact the markets, which allows them to make important decisions to help keep your Plan on track.

As with all investing, your money is at risk.

The tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.

Wealthify doesn’t offer financial advice.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

Investing when markets are down: how to deal with market uncertainty

Fri, 22 Apr 2022 13:54:00 +0000

Age: 26
Location: London
Salary: 100k (Base) + ~40k (Bonus)
Any other income sources: Not yet

We’ve long championed the idea that investing is for everyone, I’d argue that its becoming a qualified necessity rather than a luxury.
I’m delighted to be able to introduce Jack Scott, Founder of Investeo who has authored this article for us which will tell you everything you need to know about investment funds.
Niaz Azad, Co-founder of Millennial Money UK

If you’ve spent any time looking at investments, then it’s likely you’ll have come across investment funds.

Why do investment funds exist?
Unlike investing in individual companies (e.
“Investing in a fund means you’re buying a mix of investments in one convenient transaction.

Funds give investors four major benefits:

Purchasing a fund allows you to automatically diversify your investment and spread the risk across a basket full of investments.

Concept 1: Choosing a Fund strategy

Have you ever wondered if it was possible to easily invest in all the big tech companies like Facebook, Amazon, Google, Twitter and Netflix?
Below are some of the main filters you could choose when selecting funds:

Concept 2: Choosing a Fund management style (Active or Passive?
The next topic to cover when it comes to investment funds is the management style of the funds.

The higher costs of active funds have led to many experts who believe that passive funds provide the best value for most investors over the long term.

Concept 3: Choosing a Fund type (ETFs or more…)

The third concept is fund types.
We’ve sifted through all the jargon to make this simple.

There’s also a type of fund called an Investment Trust (also known as closed-end funds).

Concept 4: Choosing a Fund unit (Income or Accumulation?
The final concept covers fund units.
For example, if you’re retired then having a regular stream of dividends can replicate receiving a pay cheque.
In investment speak, a fund’s ‘unit’ determines how any income generated from the fund's underlying investments is treated.

The decision whether to buy income or accumulation units will depend on your goals.
Income units are often used by retirees to bolster their pension payments, but if you don’t need the cash now, accumulation units offer the benefit of compound growth.

Getting started

Once you’ve decided on a fund strategy, management style, type and unit, you’ll be in a good position to search for suitable funds.
The last step is to watch the small print.

The fees (i.

The past performance of the fund and track record of the fund manager

The fund investment strategy

The fund inception date

You’ll find a lot of this information in a fund’s ‘Key Investor Information Document’ and ‘Prospectus’, which every investment platform will make available.

A final word

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned investor, investment funds can, and should, play an important role in your investment journey.
Investeo’s mission is to empower young adults to feel good about their finances and their futures.
Follow Investeo on Instagram:

So, what is stock price volatility?
‘Volatility’ is a statistical measure that captures the size of moves seen by an investment, like a share or fund, over time.
Because it’s normal for the performance of financial markets to rise and fall, stock price (or ‘market’) volatility is present in all types of investments, including shares, commodities (such as gold and oil), and property.
The more volatility that comes with an investment, the larger potential returns an investor could make.

Could volatility be a good thing for investors?
Volatility could be seen as a great thing for people who invest regularly and do so for the long-term, as it may provide an opportunity to buy investments at a lower entry price in the event that markets are down.
However, clearly, volatility isn’t always a good thing for investors.

The potential benefits of investing for the long term

Before deciding to invest, you might want to consider how long you’re planning on investing for and whether you’re investing with long or short-term goals in mind.
Investing for longer periods could help you to ride out any dips in the market, which are to be expected from time to time as they are a normal part of the investing experience.
Basically, until you cash out your investments, the highs and lows are superficial.
In fact, one famous example is Black Monday, which occurred on October 19th in 1987.
Additionally, those that stayed invested during the market dip of 2020 (which was caused by Covid-19) also benefited from a recovery.
By investing for the long term, you could also supercharge your investments by benefiting from compounding returns.

How can you start investing?
As

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

The tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.

As with all investing, your money is at risk.

You should seek financial advice if you are unsure about investing.

Beginner's Guide To Investing

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 08:18:00 +0000

Being in the fortunate position of not having my income affected by Covd-19 has meant that I have been able to use lockdown as a “reset” for my finances.
Before investing, I made sure to have an emergency fund that I can easily access should I need it.
Here I have put together a Beginners Guide to Investing and share the investing platforms that I use.

Moneybox

When opening an ISA with Moneybox, you are given three options: cautious, balanced and adventurous – your choice will affect the allocation of the money you invest across different funds.
Once you have a Moneybox account set up, you can link your debit or credit cards to the app.
Another great feature is Moneybox+, which gives you investment rewards from their brand partners.
I’ve been a Moneybox user since 2017 and was drawn to it by theroundup feature.
I personally think that Moneybox is a great app for someone that has no experience in investing and/or finds it difficult to save.
One of the downsides to Moneybox is that deposits are set to take place every Monday, with that figure being set the previous Wednesday.

Nutmeg

I was recommended Nutmeg by a friend that has been a long term user (but frustratingly didn’t use his referral code) due to its low fees and fully managed portfolios.
The sign up process involves picking a risk appetite between 1 and 10, which will help to decide the makeup of your portfolio.
By opting in to the Socially Responsible investing option, I can see how my portfolio ranks in the Environmental, Social and Governance categories.
As well as showing info on the Social Responsibility score, the Nutmeg app has summaries of your portfolio performance and projected performance.
As with MoneyBox, Nutmeg is a great platform for beginners to investing, as the funds are fully managed, and you can open an ISA from just £1.

Hargreaves Lansdown

HL is one of the biggest UK-based stockbrokers and was around long before the time of Robo-advisors.
Whereas Moneybox and Nutmeg pick your funds for you, HL act as a broker, buying and selling funds and shares at your request.
Buying shares and ETFs using HL can be costly for the average investor, costing between £5.
As a newbie to investing, I used a combination of advice from friends and a read of

Freetrade & Trading 212

Due to the fees associated with dealing with individual shares, I created both a FreeTrade & Trading 212 account, as both of these platforms are fee free.

Both platforms have great, easy to use interfaces that we have come to expect from FinTechs and have a range of stocks, commodities and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to purchase.
Trading 212 have a referral scheme that will gift you a free share, worth up to £100, by using the following

When investing, your capital is at risk.

How To Build Your Credit Score

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 08:18:00 +0000

By Matthew Watson

Credit files cause a lot of confusion, probably because they are designed for and primarily used by banks and other lenders – rather than you and me.

What is a credit rating?
A credit rating is essentially an indication of how likely you are to be accepted for credit.
If I asked to borrow £1000 off you today to pay my rent, you would probably want to know a bit about me first: that might include how much I earn, whether I borrow money off people regularly and (probably most importantly) whether I have a history of screwing people over.
When looking at your file, lenders don’t actually see a uniform number or credit score but instead review lots of different information.

Why does it matter?
A good credit history takes time to build, so if you’re thinking about applying for any of the following in the next few years, improving your credit management should be a priority.
-        A mortgage – If you have ambitions of owning your own place you will need to apply for one – and a poor credit score will mean you are rejected by every lender on the block.
-        Credit cards – Looking to spread payments on a big purchase (like a car) over a period of months?
-        Phone contracts and car insurance – You will often be subject to a credit check when applying for these, as providers allow you to spread the upfront cost over a number of monthly payments (effectively they are giving you a loan).
Importantly, providers will also adjust the pricing of the products above depending on how risky you appear as a borrower – for example, a good credit score can mean a cheaper mortgage (as you’ll qualify for a lower interest rate).

How can I see my credit score?
The credit reference agencies hold your credit file but requesting a search directly can, in some cases, cost money or negatively impact your score.

How you can I improve my score?
Building your credit history is a long-term project, but it’s low effort and you can do a few things right now that will lead to month-on-month increases to your score.

Beginner

-        Get a credit card and pay it off in full every month.
-

Pro

-        Increase your available credit.
-        Update your address.
-        Contact lenders to dispute any errors on your file.

Dissecting Asset Classes: What are Equities

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 08:17:00 +0000

By Alex Wong

Investing can be daunting, especially for those that are new to the topic.
It is widely accepted that there are five different asset classes when it comes to investing;

Equities

Commodities

Bonds

Property

Cash

In this series I’ll take a look at each of these assets; explaining what they are and hopefully helping you to get your head around the differences.
The first financial product that we will discuss is equities; equities appear frequently on the websites of investment firms around the financial world, but what are they and how do they work?

What are Equities?
Equities, or more commonly known as ‘Shares’ and are used to indicate part ownership of a company.
The terms “stocks” and “shares” are often, and can be, used interchangeably.

Why do people buy shares?
When people purchase shares, they are usually looking to make gains through two different avenues:

1.
The main reason people purchase shares is that they believe that the price of that share will rise.
2.
Dividends are a portion of a company’s profit which is paid out to shareholders.
How does the share price change?
The price of a share or the ‘share price’ is driven by the supply and demand for the stock – more simply, if there are more buyers (demand) for a stock than sellers (supply), then the price will increase.
I own 1 Netflix share with share price at £1.
Share price increase

If there is high demand, there may be 3 people who want to buy my Netflix share, it is likely that one of the 3 people who want to buy my share would be willing to pay more than £1 in order to secure the purchase of the share.
Share price decrease

If there is low demand, there may be 3 shareholders who want to sell their Netflix share and only 1 person who wants to buy a Netflix share.
These are very simplified examples of how the price of a share changes but should give an indication of the mechanisms that drive share price.
How to Invest in Equities

The last few years have seen a number of free-to-use trading platforms appear, meaning that anyone can invest in their favourite companies through an app.
Trading 212 and Freetrade both allow users to purchase a wide range of stocks with no fees.
To receive a free share from Trading 212 when signing up, use this

When investing, your capital is at risk.

Racial Wealth Inequality in the UK

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 08:17:00 +0000

Black and minority ethnic people in Britain face extensive and persistent economic inequality.

Black African and Bangladeshi households have 10p for every £1 of White British wealth.

Context

The Race Relations Act of 1968 outlawed discrimination in housing and employment, finally making the ‘No Blacks, no dogs, no Irish’ signs illegal.
To put it plainly, you were allowed to be openly racist in the lifetime of most of our parents.
“A child who started school in 1971 would have known almost no BME neighbours unless they lived in a major city.
These same board members had parents who lived through a Britain where it was normal to have ‘No Blacks, no dogs, No Irsh’ signs.

“It’s not a perfect system but things are definitely better now?
According to the Runnymede report, “broadly speaking in the period 1993-2014 there have been very little narrowing of ethnic pay gaps and for some groups they have actually increased, particularly among men.
The report finds that economic inequality today with the employment gap is not much different to what it was in the 1980s.

“That’s still an old example, I don’t see where there’s a disadvantage today”

A 2018 report found that “people with African and Asian sounding surnames have to send twice as many CV’s to get an interview”.
This has been confirmed in a recent study showing BME Russell Group graduates have a higher risk of being unemployed.
This is not randomly patterned.

“Yeah okay I get your point, but there’s plenty of diversity in my workplace”

The presence of successful black people does not prove the absence of racial inequality.
The report continues, “in a competitive market where people make quick and close decisions affecting recruitment, assessments and progression on a daily basis, even a tiny racial preference can have significant consequences.

"But isn’t this a class issue?
Race and class are closely linked in this way.
This is why, among age adults, 19% of white people in Britain are living in poverty, while Black groups, including both Caribbean and African, have over double that figure at 39%.
BME individuals and communities experience a lack of financial capital, as they have been continuously been displaced from finance or loan capital, which many still struggle to access.

History Lesson

“The idea of race is usually dated to the seventeenth century, where Europeans began the transatlantic slave trade, transporting Africans to North and South America.
Racism was profitable, the impacts are still felt today.

Conclusion

“The persistent and widespread nature of racial inequalities derives from the deep and pervasive racial stereotypes that emerged to justify the economic domination first of people of African descent (via enslavement and then colonialism) and then of Asian descent (via colonialism).
The fact that in 2018 people with Asian or African sounding surnames have to send twice as many CV’s just to get an interview indicates how crudely but subliminally these stereotypes play out.
This reality is not randomly patterned.

How Does Money Make You Feel?

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 08:17:00 +0000

Money and wellness are intrinsically linked. ⁣
One of our favourite writers Laura Whateley explains candidly, that you should “Be kind to yourself about money. ⁣
Research has shown that this new age of social media has amplified these money struggles. ⁣
The sooner you become intentional with your finances, stare at your debts directly and decide to take action the better you will feel.
⁣
Most of all though, give yourself a break.

Hit & Hope Investment Club

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 08:16:00 +0000

By Stacey Coffin

A couple of years ago, looking for an excuse to get together regularly and quaff wine, I suggested to my friends that we start a book club.

The idea was simple: we'd get together about once a month, everyone would bung £25 in a kitty, and we’d choose something to invest in, hopefully learning a bit about the stock market and how the whole thing works along the way.

We quickly had about a dozen friends keen to get involved.

Our first meeting was very productive.

In those initial months, we discovered that while the idea is simple, there are still a lot of things to think through:

· How do we calculate what portion of the club each person owns?
· What if someone wants to leave the club - do we need to sell investments to cash them out?
· What if some investments can't be easily accessed, for example, equity crowdfunding?
· What are the tax considerations?

One of the most challenging issues we've had was just getting a bank account set up.

Overall the club has been a great way to pool our knowledge, share risk, discuss and debate, and learn together, all while keeping in touch with friends and making some new ones too!

Pensions Explained

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 08:16:00 +0000

By Mr.

What is a pension?
A pension is a long term savings fund, paid into over the course of a person’s working life, as a way to save up for retirement.

Aside from the accessibility criteria, your pension is fundamentally very similar to any other sort of savings account.

You can nominate a beneficiary to receive the money you’ve saved if you pass away before you retire (mine’s my partner), and like a bank account it’s possible to have one or many pension pots at the same time.

Where pensions do differ from regular savings accounts is that they are subject to annual and lifetime limits.

Pensions are also eligible for various forms of tax relief and bonus contributions, and the ‘retirement age’ can vary by pension type.

Types of Pension

The State Pension

Individual Pensions

There are three types of Individual Pension - Personal Pensions, Stakeholder Pensions and Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs).

You can pay into an Individual Pension at the same time as a Workplace pension, but Individual Pensions are also great options for people who are self-employed but also want a tax efficient way to save for retirement.

●      Personal Pensions enable you to make contributions to a pension pot set up with a pension provider, who’ll normally invest the money and manage it for you.

●      Stakeholder Pensions are like personal pensions except they have strict government rules on how they’re managed.

●      SIPPs are like Personal Pensions in that you set them up with a pension provider, but you have to fully manage the investments yourself.
How do I use my pension?
One thing we’ve not mentioned is that the age of access for a Workplace/ Individual Pension is slightly earlier than the State Pension age.

All in all, your retirement will most likely be funded by your Workplace and/or Individual Pension from age 55 depending on how early you choose to take it, and then supplemented by your State Pension once it kicks in.

Once you reach Pension Freedoms age, you’ve a few choices.

●      Buy an annuity - an annuity is a type of insurance policy that provides you a set income for the rest of your life

●      Drawdown on your pension - this is where you re-invest your pension to provide a regular taxable income.

●      Withdraw it as a lump sum - you can withdraw up to 25% of your pension pot as a tax free lump sum and use it however you like, however, any subsequent withdrawals will be subject to income tax

You can also choose to do a combination of the above.
Some final thoughts

●      Pensions can seem like a really distant, far off thing, but fundamentally, they’re very similar to any other savings account.
●      The money in your pension is being invested.
●      Take an active interest in your pension, check it regularly and have an understanding of what it’s being invested in.

Please check out more content by Mr MoneyJar and follow him on instagram here:

How much do I need?
Beginner: If you have a lot of outstanding personal debt which makes it difficult for you to save anything.
Once you have your starter emergency fund saved up, this lifeline is there to stop you taking on more bad debt, so put it aside and only use it for emergencies (we’ll get into this shortly).

Intermediate: Calculate how much your total fixed outgoings (your liabilities) are on a monthly basis.
Aim to save the equivalent of three to six months’ of your total living expenses, to provide a financial buffer against any unforeseen emergency/disaster.
If your total monthly liabilities cost £1200, then you should save £3600 for a 3-month buffer.
Remember, this money is just being put away for emergencies.

Advanced: If you are further along your savings journey and have already made some investments you are comfortable with, then you may want to add to your emergency fund.
If you are lucky enough to be in this position, we’d usually recommend that you have targeted some of your savings for other purposes before coming back to top up your emergency buffer.

What counts as an emergency?
Using your emergency fund really is a last resort, it’s our personal insurance policy against falling back into debt cycles and resorting to credit cards for the wrong reasons.
Use your own discretion for what these emergencies may be for you but here is some guidance on what we believe constitutes an emergency, and more importantly, what does not.
Car repairs, home repairs like a broken boiler, job loss, vet bills and family emergencies are all unfortunate instances where we should refer to our Emergency Fund to bail us out, and not turn to our credit cards.
Holidays, recurring annual expenses like car insurance and taxes, or even money to finance a side hustle are not good reasons to use your Emergency Fund.
We should, however, be saving for these expenses too, but separately from our Emergency Fund.

Where shall I put my Emergency Fund?
The Bank of England reduced its base rate to 0.
That being said, putting it into a separate account is much better than leaving it in your main current account because:

If your money is left in your main current account, you are more likely to spend it.

Conclusion

Establishing an Emergency Fund won’t directly create any long-term wealth, but it is arguably the most important savings pot to establish first and foremost.

A Guide to Ethical Banking

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 10:08:00 +0000

This article was written by Amy Nguyen, Founder of Sustainable & Social

At A Glance

As active citizens, the sustainability narrative is framed around purchasing with purpose.
But what happens to the money that we aren’t spending?
For those of us who work outside the banking and financial services sectors, it may come as a sharp surprise that many banks are pumping money into fossil fuel industries, fracking or companies associated with rainforest destruction.
Consider – when was the last time you switched bank?
Financial institutions constantly address themes of mitigating and managing risk.
This article weighs in on how your banking behaviour pays dividends to your conscience and will provide useful tools and a little nuance to enable you to circumvent the quagmire of ethical banking.

Financial Friend or Foe?
How do we distinguish from the good, the bad and the ugly?
Firstly, building societies are naturally more ethical than traditional banks as they are member owned and a mutually operated financial institution, meaning that they are owned and run for the benefit of their members.
There are a sprinkling of banks that take their role of business in society seriously.

Profits over Planet?
Household British high street banks are culprits of questionable operations in oil and gas, fracking, tobacco and weapons.
For context on global warming and the climate emergency – albeit not all UK high street banks – 33 financial institutions contribute to fossil fuels industries.
Advancements towards sustainable development within the finance industry are being welcomed by the likes of Larry Fink, CEO of Black Rock and Marc Carney, the departing Governor of the Bank of England.
A note on governance – the remit of sustainability credentials encompasses solid corporate governance structures too.

Final Thoughts - Do Your Research

Ultimately, taking the leap to switch banks depends on your priorities, levels of trust and the lengths at which you will go to align your ethical values to your banking habits.
Diving into the research and investigating a company’s financial frameworks as well as sustainability metrics and targets enables us to make informed, rationalised decisions.
For those intrigued by this topic, head to the trusty hub that isAnd finally, for the fully galvanised, Extinction Rebellion offers advice on how to act and make pledges, read more

UK Covid-19 Financial Support

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 09:58:00 +0000

The rise and spread of Covid-19 around the world has had an unprecedented impact on global economies as well as our day-to-day lives.

Workers

On 20th March, the UK Government announced the introduction of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
While this is a must-have intervention, and adds job security for many in these unpredictable times, the scheme does not offer anything to help those that were made redundant prior to 28th February.

Renters

As of 26th March, landlords must give all renters three months’ notice if they intend to end their tenancy; this was previously one month.
Renters are still liable for rent and are advised to speak with their landlords if they foresee difficulties in making rental payments.
For those that are not fortunate enough to have one of these kind-hearted landlords and have difficulties paying rent, a £500 million hardship fund has been made available to provide council tax relief to the most financially vulnerable.

Property Owners

On 19th March, the Bank of England announced a second interest rate cut within the space of 8 days, reducing it to its lowest level in history: 0.
On March 17th, the Government made an agreement with banks that they will offer those with financial difficulties the option to take a three-month mortgage ‘holiday’, meaning that customers will have a temporary break from making repayments.
As an example, if you have 22 years and 3 months left on your mortgage and were able to take a 3 month break, you would not pay anything for the next 3 months.
Mortgage holidays must be agreed with your lender first and any stop in payment that hasn’t been agreed will result in late payments, which would cause you to be in arrears and affect your credit score.

Self-Employed

The self-employed were the latest to receive new measures to support their financial security.
To be eligible for the scheme, an individual must have at least half of their income from self-employment and have this registered on their 2018-19 tax return.
Similar to the Job Retention Scheme, this grant for the Self-Employed has been a vital lifeline for many, but again the measures still leave some people without support; mainly those that have been operating for less than a year.

Conclusion

The Government’s financial response has undoubtedly been welcomed by many; criticisms on both the time it took to release these measures and whether they are widespread enough are still justified.
For more information on how you can get financial support, please see the below links:

Millennial Money

My Salary Journey: Project Manager (Contractor)

My Salary Journey: Chief Marketing Officer

Check if you are entitled to any benefits

Help might be available through a charitable grant

Explore schemes through your local council

Manage your budget

What additional suggestions can Turn2us make? When it comes to your utility bills there are a few options on how you could make savings.

Millennial Money: Teacher

How would you describe your relationship with money? Complicated.

What money habits did you pick up from your parents (good or bad)? Have multiple bank accounts.

Do you have any debt? Yes, currently £14000.

Are you paying this off and if so, how much each month? Our debt costs us £400 per month.

Do you invest/save? When we have saved the house deposit I then plan to invest.

If so, where and how much each month? When I go back to work we should be able to save most of my husband’s income (he is working as a supply teacher but will hopefully get a job soon.

Do you feel that you can live “comfortably” on your current salary? For me, no.

If no to the above, what amount do you think you would be comfortable on? My salary is most certainly enough for one person but not two.

Best/worst money story? I remember vividly when I started using credit.

The Cost of Living Crisis: What is it and what could you do about it?

What are the factors increasing the cost of living? Some of the main factors impacting the cost of living are as follows:

Record high inflation

Unprecedented energy prices

Health and social care levy

How do people feel about their finances?

Investing when markets are down: how to deal with market uncertainty

Concept 1: Choosing a Fund strategy

Concept 3: Choosing a Fund type (ETFs or more…)

Getting started

A final word

The potential benefits of investing for the long term

Beginner's Guide To Investing

Moneybox

Nutmeg

Hargreaves Lansdown

Freetrade & Trading 212

How To Build Your Credit Score

How can I see my credit score? The credit reference agencies hold your credit file but requesting a search directly can, in some cases, cost money or negatively impact your score.

How you can I improve my score? Building your credit history is a long-term project, but it’s low effort and you can do a few things right now that will lead to month-on-month increases to your score.

Beginner

Pro

Dissecting Asset Classes: What are Equities

What are Equities? Equities, or more commonly known as ‘Shares’ and are used to indicate part ownership of a company. The terms “stocks” and “shares” are often, and can be, used interchangeably.

Racial Wealth Inequality in the UK

Context

“That’s still an old example, I don’t see where there’s a disadvantage today”

“Yeah okay I get your point, but there’s plenty of diversity in my workplace”

History Lesson

Conclusion

How Does Money Make You Feel?

Hit & Hope Investment Club

Pensions Explained

Types of Pension

Individual Pensions

Where shall I put my Emergency Fund? The Bank of England reduced its base rate to 0. That being said, putting it into a separate account is much better than leaving it in your main current account because: If your money is left in your main current account, you are more likely to spend it.

Conclusion

A Guide to Ethical Banking

At A Glance

Final Thoughts - Do Your Research

UK Covid-19 Financial Support

Workers

Renters

Property Owners

Self-Employed

Conclusion

How would you describe your relationship with money?

Complicated.

What money habits did you pick up from your parents (good or bad)?
Have multiple bank accounts.

Do you have any debt?

Yes, currently £14000.

Are you paying this off and if so, how much each month?

Our debt costs us £400 per month.

Do you invest/save?
When we have saved the house deposit I then plan to invest.

If so, where and how much each month?

When I go back to work we should be able to save most of my husband’s income (he is working as a supply teacher but will hopefully get a job soon.

Do you feel that you can live “comfortably” on your current salary?

For me, no.

If no to the above, what amount do you think you would be comfortable on?

My salary is most certainly enough for one person but not two.

Best/worst money story?
I remember vividly when I started using credit.

What are the factors increasing the cost of living?

Some of the main factors impacting the cost of living are as follows:

How can I see my credit score?
The credit reference agencies hold your credit file but requesting a search directly can, in some cases, cost money or negatively impact your score.

How you can I improve my score?
Building your credit history is a long-term project, but it’s low effort and you can do a few things right now that will lead to month-on-month increases to your score.

What are Equities?
Equities, or more commonly known as ‘Shares’ and are used to indicate part ownership of a company.
The terms “stocks” and “shares” are often, and can be, used interchangeably.

Where shall I put my Emergency Fund?
The Bank of England reduced its base rate to 0.
That being said, putting it into a separate account is much better than leaving it in your main current account because:

If your money is left in your main current account, you are more likely to spend it.