Mouthy Money

Review your pension today to get ahead with your retirement planning

The chances are you’ve heard of SIPPs – Self Invested Personal Pensions – and maybe you have a good idea how they work. However, lots of people have either never heard of a SIPP or have been put off opening one because they feel they are too complicated or too time consuming to manage.

08 January 2021 - In the wake of political violence in the US Capitol building in Washington DC we saw the FTSE 100 tread water on Thursday (7 January).

Review your pension today to get ahead with your retirement planning

18 December 2020 - The FTSE 100 was held back by a stronger pound on Thursday (17 December) as hopes of a Brexit deal grew.

The chances are you’ve heard of SIPPs – Self Invested Personal Pensions – and maybe you have a good idea how they work. However, lots of people have either never heard of a SIPP or have been put off opening one because they feel they are too complicated or too time consuming to manage.

11 December 2020 - The FTSE 100 closed higher on Thursday (10 December) after the UK and EU agreed to extend Brexit talks until Sunday.

04 December 2020 - Both FTSE 100 and 250 finished Thursday up as renewed hopes of a Brexit deal sent the pound soaring against the US dollar – reaching a high of $1.349 late on.

27 November 2020 - Both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 continue to tread water as gloomy economic forecasts are published and doubts cast over the Oxford University vaccine.

20 November 2020 - European shares slumped on Thursday (19 November) after the International Monetary Fund warned that the global economic recovery was showing signs of losing momentum.

How much do you have in your pension? Do you even know where all your pensions are? And most importantly of all, are you certain you’ll have enough to live on when you retire?

13 November 2020 - After a week-long rally the FTSE 100 index of stocks drifted on Thursday, down some 0.7% at 6338.94.

06 November 2020 - Fresh economic stimulus from the Bank of England (see Economic Update below) helped UK shares end the day in positive territory on Thursday (5 November).

30 October 2020 - Growing fears over rising coronavirus infections caused the FTSE 100 to lose ground for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday (29 October). London’s blue-chip index edged 0.02% lower to 5,581.75.

23 October 2020 - UK stocks inched higher on Thursday (22 October) after Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a multi-billion pound support package for coronavirus-hit firms.

16 October 2020 - A spate of new lockdown restrictions in Europe spooked investors on Thursday (15 October).

09 October 2020 - Investors were encouraged by reports that the US was preparing a fresh stimulus package to ward off the economic damage caused by coronavirus on Thursday (8 October).

The question “what age can I retire” is probably one of the biggest you’ll ever ask yourself. It is arguably the most fundamental question of any long-term savings plan, as retirement is normally the ultimate goal toward which most of us save.

The question “what age can I retire” is probably one of the biggest you’ll ever ask yourself. It is arguably the most fundamental question of any long-term savings plan, as retirement is normally the ultimate goal toward which most of us save.

02 October 2020 - Reports of progress in the Brexit negotiations between the UK and European Union supported share prices on Thursday (1 October). The FTSE 100 closed 0.23% higher at 5879.45.

25 September 2020 - Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s plan to save millions of jobs (more below) from the coronavirus fallout failed to haul UK stocks out of the red on Thursday (24 September). The FTSE 100 ended the day down 1.3% at 5,822.78.

18 September 2020 - The UK’s leading stock market index ended Thursday (17 September) in the red as the Bank of England held interest rates and warned on an “unusually uncertain” outlook for the economy.

11 September 2020 - The FTSE 100 ended the day down by the tiniest of margins on Thursday (10 September) as tensions erupted in the Brexit trade deal talks (see below for more).

04 September 2020 - A sell-off on Wall Street dragged European indices deep into negative territory on Thursday afternoon (3 September).

28 August 2020 - The FTSE 100 dipped 0.75% lower to 5,999.99 on Thursday (27 August) in what was a disappointing day for European markets.

Corporate actions can be defined as any process initiated by a company for which it either has to inform investors or seek some form of approval. They can be either mandatory, where an investor has no say, or voluntary, where the shareholder has a voice in the matter.

Ethical and environmental considerations in our daily lives have been thrown into sharp relief by the coronavirus crisis

21 August 2020 - The US Federal Reserve’s gloomy prediction of a slow economic recovery from coronavirus weighed heavily on global stocks on Thursday (20 August).

14 August 2020 - he FTSE 100 dropped 1.5% to 6,185.62 on Thursday (13 August) as investor profit taking put an end to the blue-chip index’s recent rally.

07 August 2020 - The FTSE 100 plunged by 1.27% to 6,026.94 on Thursday (6 August) after the Bank of England (BoE) held interest rates and warned the economic recovery from coronavirus might take another 18 months.

ISAs are a fantastic vehicle for long-term savings thanks to generous tax-saving features.

ISAs are a fantastic vehicle for long-term savings thanks to generous tax-saving features. When saving into an ISA you don’t pay any tax on the money in your account, or any income tax on the interest you earn. However, there are a few rules you should be aware of when using them.

31 July 2020 - Global stocks plunged on Thursday (30 July) following news that the US and German economies shrank 9.5% and 10.1%, respectively, on a quarterly basis between April and June.

ISAs are a fantastic vehicle for long-term savings thanks to generous tax-saving features. When saving into an ISA you don’t pay any tax on the money in your account, or any income tax on the interest you earn. However, there are a few rules you should be aware of when using them.

24 July 2020 - The FTSE 100 clung onto its earlier gains on Thursday (23 July) despite escalating tension between the US and China, the world’s only superpowers.

17 July 2020 - London stocks slipped on Thursday (16 July) following bleak data revealing how 649,000 UK workers had lost their jobs during the coronavirus.

10 July 2020 - The FTSE 100 plunged sharply on Thursday (9 July) following news that the number of global coronavirus cases had broken through 12 million and were still rising.

Funds are an excellent starting point for investors as they can remove the need to research dozens of potential investments.

03 July 2020 - The FTSE 100 raced higher on Thursday (2 July) following reports of a potential new vaccine for the coronavirus.

26 June 2020 - The FTSE 100 recovered from early lows on Thursday (25 June) as investors seemed to shrug off a sharp increase in Coronavirus infections in the US.

As the coronavirus crisis begins to recede and the country tries to return to some kind of normality, the very likely prospect of a widespread economic recession now looms.

19 June 2020 - The FTSE 100 ended Thursday (18 June) down despite fresh stimulus from the Bank of England, which increased its bond-buying programme by £100 billion.

12 June 2020 - The FTSE 100 plunged 3.99% to 6,076.70 on Thursday (11 June) on the back of investor fears of slower-than-hoped-for economic recovery data emanating from the US Federal Reserve.

05 June 2020 - The FTSE 100 dipped 0.64% to 6,341.44 on Thursday (4 June) as investors took their feet off the gas following three days of consecutive gains for the UK’s blue-chip index.

29 May 2020 - The FTSE 100 finished Thursday (28 May) strongly as major European countries signalled further easing to their lockdown measures.

22 May 2020 - The FTSE 100 ended Thursday (21 May) in the red following fresh data showing a severe drop in business activity in May

15 May 2020 - The FTSE 100 plunge into the red on Thursday (14 May) after Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey warned that the UK’s economy could suffer long-term damage from the coronavirus shutdown.

It’s important to remember that different geographic areas offer different advantages for investors, and indeed have different risks.

07 May 2020 - The FTSE 100 held strong on Wednesday (6 May) despite dismal data showing construction output suffered its biggest ever slump in April.

24 April 2020 - Investors flocked to housebuilders and carmakers on Thursday (23 April) after many of them revealed plans to return to work following the coronavirus shutdown.

01 May 2020 - The FTSE 100 index of stocks finished 3.5% down at 5,901.21 points on Thursday. The index was sunk by the news that Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), down 11.37% on the day, was slashing its dividend for the first time since the Second World War due to severe falloff in demand for oil, because of the coronavirus crisis.

When you get started with investing, one of the most important considerations is where in the world you want to invest your money. And while there’s no quick answer, different geographic areas of the world offer different advantages, and indeed have different risks, for investors.

17 April 2020 - A weaker pound helped push the largely dollar earning FTSE 100 into positive territory on Thursday (16 April) in what was a relatively buoyant day for European markets.

17 April 2020 - The FTSE 100 finished Thursday (9 April) strongly despite warnings that the UK economy could shrink by up to 25% in the second quarter of the year if the coronavirus lockdown persists.

03 April 2020 - A surge in the price of Brent Crude helped lift the FTSE 100 into the black on Thursday (2 April), with oil giants Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDSA) and BP plc (BP) among the day’s best performers.

When extreme losses take hold, so-called “circuit breakers” are triggered, particularly in US indices such as the S&P 500. But what are these circuit breakers, and why are they activated? Stock markets in the USA have circuit breakers to act as a break on ultra-panicky indices. In times such as these they become an increasingly implemented measure to prevent the total collapse of share prices.

27 March 2020 - The FTSE 100 rebounded from early losses on Thursday (26 March) despite the Bank of England (BoE) warning that the coronavirus could have a damaging long-term effect on the economy.

20 March 2020 - The FTSE 100 bounced back from a near decade low on Thursday (19 March) after the Bank of England slashed rates and pumped £200 billion of fresh quantitative easing into the financial system to protect the economy.

How to react when markets tumble is something of a million-pound question. But there are things you can do, and lessons to be learned when indices turn red.

13 March 2020 - The FTSE 100 index of stocks suffered one of its worst ever days on Thursday losing 10.87% of its value as markets responded to the US travel ban on European countries.

Making money and protecting the environment are not mutually exclusive. You can actually enjoy excellent returns while helping to safeguard the planet.

06 March 2020 - The FTSE 100 suffered another painful day of losses on Thursday as worries about the coronavirus outbreak once again spooked markets.