Although not traditionally associated with jollity, for those who like to have the last laugh, a funeral may offer the perfect opportunity.

It’s becoming increasingly popular to use humour during services to reflect the personality of the individual being celebrated. A survey by Co-op Funeralcare on the music people would like at their final goodbye found Another One Bites the Dust by Queen, Going Underground by the Jam and Highway to Hell by ACDC were among the chosen tunes.

After the music’s faded, gravestones offer another opportunity t...

When preparing to buy your first home, saving for a deposit can be a difficult process. As house prices, inflation, cost of living and mortgage rates increase, it can mean that some mortgage lenders may require larger deposits of the property value. This can be challenging trying to save a large sum of money and for some within a limited time. According to the Office for National Statistics, the average UK house price was £277,000 in February 2022, which is £27,000 higher than this time last year. It’s also important to consider all the othe...

After seeing their six-year-old son’s birthday list, Liz and Dan have realised it’s high time they started teaching Archie about the value of money. It’s true they both have reasonably well-paid jobs and only the one child but, even so, a Saint Bernard puppy, a quad bike, a horse and a life-size dalek don’t come cheap. So, what can Liz and Dan do to ensure Archie doesn’t end up bankrupting them before he goes to high school?

Pocket money

Archie is nearly seven - the age when most parents start giving their children pocket money, accordin...

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...

Sarah and Andrew’s 10-year-old twins, Isabelle and Isaac, couldn’t be more different. While Isabelle is boisterous and full of beans, Isaac is gentle and reserved. The children do have one thing in common though - they’re both extremely bright and they already know exactly what they want to do when they grow up. Isabelle loves animals and wants to be a vet; and Isaac is a very talented artist and has his heart set on art school.

When they found out they were getting two for one, Sarah and Andrew couldn’t have been happier. But bringing up t...

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’...

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 li...