Buying your first home is an exciting, life-changing experience, but it can also be quite confusing and daunting too. That’s why I’ve decided to write this little guide to getting ready to make that giant first step. Getting on the property ladder is a great idea and interest rates are still very low so it’s …Read More

The kids are back to school or off to university and there’s that feeling in the air of making a fresh start – new term, back to work after the summer break. What better time to take a fresh look at your finances – particularly with Christmas under a hundred days away! This is something …Read More

Uncertainty over Brexit and the future of the economy means it is the right time to be locking your mortgage away for a long stretch. People on tracker mortgages, their lender’s variable rate or who are coming to the end of a fixed-rate deal are turning more and more to five-year fixed rate mortgages. According …Read More

A client asked me the other day “why is everyone always going on about credit reports?” It’s a good question, as you can’t switch on the TV these days without seeing an advert for a credit report company. We certainly seem to be seeing a lot of ‘Data Dan and his Data Self’ at the …Read More

I don’t know about you, but when it comes to taking risks, I’m very much a Green Cross Code sort of man – stop, look and listen. Then I’ll probably look right, look left and look right again before I cross… Having said that, I’m not averse to choosing a 100/1 shot for a big …Read More

Now that the dust is settling on last week’s announcement of an increase in the Bank of England base rate, it’s time to assess what it really means for people with a mortgage. For many, it could mean looking for a better deal to save yourself some money. The Bank of England increased the base …Read More

A client came to me recently in a panic. They had an interest-only mortgage attached to an endowment investment policy and were just realising that when it paid out, the policy wasn’t going to come anywhere near paying off the loan. Sadly their circumstances were by no means unique. Way back in the 1980s, endowment …Read More

Summer time and the living is easy… This is the time of year when everyone likes to get out and about and enjoy some rare sunshine. It’s also a time when, sadly, our expensive gadgets can get stolen, lost or damaged as we take them with us to use in the sun. Young people in …Read More

If there’s one thing that scares me – and it should scare you too – it is being under-insured. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t spend every waking hour worrying whether the cover on my house and contents insurance policy is still correct on a daily basis. But as someone who provides cover for …Read More

I always like to share a little bit of positive news and this time there seems to be some encouragement for first-time buyers. Typically, new property buyers struggle to get a big deposit and so are at the mercy of interest rates on larger loans – 90%, 95% and so on. However, this week it …Read More