Finance

Home-owners in Britain face a startling post-code lottery when it comes to the cost of repairing household gadgets and appliances. Do you repair your old appliances, or just go out and buy new ones? It's widely known that costs of living in the capital have continued to soar compared to regional counterparts.  However, new research shows that those living in London also face the highest hourly labour charges in the UK for repairing and mending old appliances, with those living...

With Halloween fast approaching, millions of Britons are preparing how they’ll spend the holiday. It is great news for retailers all over the country with Brits set to spend a mind-blowing £466m in British stores, surpassing the £442m amount set last year. Figures collated by voucherbox.co.uk  indicate that last year, people in Britain spent £148m on Halloween costumes and clothing. This year, the figure is set to rise to over £157m, with that being able to dress approximately 3.4m families...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  New research has revealed retirees have an average of only £1,343 put away for emergencies. The study on the finances and lifestyles of 1,000 retired people found one in four had less than £1,000 saved and more than half said they would be “stumped” if they had to pay for unexpected house repairs or specialist medical care. Around one in five retired respondents in the poll by financial services giant MetLife said they had less than £500...

By Joe Mellor Deputy Editor In April 2005, Fair Finance opened its doors as a solution to tackle loan sharks and money lenders on a council estate in the heart of East London’s Stepney. Fast forward 10 years and they are now a thriving social business offering a range of financial products and services designed to meet the needs of individuals and businesses. On 2 July the Dalston based not-for-profit celebrated its 10 year anniversary with the whole Fair Finance family. During...

By Chris Maule, CEO of UK Bond Network In the past, high net worth (HNW) investors have been stereotyped as older, male, British and well-educated, who have often inherited their wealth. But this has now changed. The ranks of affluent individuals in London interested in growing their wealth are becoming increasingly diverse and we’re seeing the emergence of distinctive sub-cultures, each with particular attributes and attitudes to investment. Here, we explore these new investment ‘tribes’ and how they’re impacting the...

Those with considerable personal wealth, whether it has accumulated over time due to business interests, is linked to family assets, or has been gifted to them as an inheritance, should not feel uncomfortable about taking the necessary steps to protect it before entering into a marriage. Pre-nuptial agreements can certainly be difficult to talk about in the context of a happy relationship that neither party can see going wrong, but when it comes to the protection of sizeable assets, they...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  Dividends have been, and always will be, an important component to the average investment strategy. The typical dividend strategy is rather basic (but effective) - purchase a well-reputed, long-term income stock, one that has a history of paying regular dividends. But, that's far from the only dividend strategy available. There is a dividend strategy called dividend stripping that takes the typical long-term strategy and flips it on its head. In this article, we will be...

By Marina Schlotzhauer Gone are the good old days where the major risks for businesses were costs running out of control or the threat of imminent local competition. Globalization has introduced a whole new array of challenges that vary from foreign financial economic ripples to cyber security and beyond. Just in time production and the outsourcing of unskilled labour seems very good from a microeconomics level; However, when applied at a global scale, it increases the chances of sudden demand...

By Michael Boxwell Eco-friendly cars have long been a good investment for Londoners. Driving an electric vehicle means you are exempt from both congestion charges and VED (road tax) both pet hates of the average motorist. There are an abundance of charging points around the City and local government offer a grant that will give you up to 75 per cent off the cost of installing a domestic charge point. With no fuel charges and the majority of car journeys...