Tim Leonard

Tim Leonard

Setting yourself some new year financial resolutions is a great way to take control of your finances and make your money work harder for you. Saving, shopping around and setting a budget are just some of our tips for helping you towards a money-savvy 2022.

Tim Leonard

If you work for yourself, setting up your own private self-employed pension can help you plan for your retirement. Even though you won’t typically be able to benefit from matched employer contributions, the tax relief you receive is the same as if you were employed.

Tim Leonard & Richard Eagling

The pension triple lock has been suspended over concerns that it would cost the Treasury a potential 8% rise in state pension payments to retirees. While a smaller increase is still assured, the decision could have wider implications for the triple lock – and pensioners – going forward.

Tim Leonard

The chance to retire early will appeal to most, but early retirement is not to be entered into lightly. Having a guaranteed income and enough funds in reserve are the obvious foundations for retiring early, but there is much more to think about before you give up work.

Tim Leonard

Our NerdWallet survey of 2000 homeowners looks at the mortgage mistakes people have made and how clued up they were about mortgages. The study includes their thoughts on mortgages, mortgage lenders and the process of applying for a mortgage loan and buying a property.

Tim Leonard

Saving for a first home can be challenging but what if stamp duty could be scrubbed off your list of costs? Well, qualify for first-time buyer stamp duty relief and this tax on buying a new home can be avoided altogether, or at least reduced.

Tim Leonard & Brean Horne

Both renting and buying a home have pros and cons. The right option for you will depend on your circumstances and financial goals, so read on to find out more.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby & Tim Leonard

Finding an old pension can give your retirement income a welcome boost. What you need to do to trace it will depend on how much you remember about your lost pension. But your old pension provider, previous employer and the Pension Tracing Service might all be able to help.

Hannah Harper & Tim Leonard

You might not have considered a child’s pension before but, with a £2,880 yearly allowance plus tax relief, it could give your child a savings head start and a better retirement. Here, we explain how to open a child’s pension, the pros and cons, and the rules around passing on a pension to a child.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby & Tim Leonard

Cashing in a pension usually only becomes possible at age 55. At this point some or all of your pension funds can be used to buy an annuity, set up a drawdown arrangement, accessed as cash, or you can opt for a combination of these options.

Hannah Smith & Tim Leonard

A pension provides a way to save during your working life that can then deliver an income when it’s time for you to retire. There are tax efficiencies and requirements on employers to pay into a pension, which can make saving into a pension hugely attractive.

Tim Leonard

You might have a guaranteed minimum pension if you were a member of a contracted out final salary scheme before April 1997. A GMP pension should pay a level of income that is at least comparable with how much you would have received if you had been contracted into SERPS.

Tim Leonard

A non-standard construction mortgage might be needed if the home you’re buying or already own is built differently from the norm. Prefabricated concrete houses, steel or timber-framed homes, listed properties and flats might all require you to find a non-standard mortgage lender.

Tim Leonard

A drawdown mortgage is a form of equity release that allows you to unlock the equity in your home as and when you require. As you only pay interest on the funds that you actually withdraw, a drawdown lifetime mortgage means you may spend less on interest over the term of a plan.

Tim Leonard

If you contributed towards a SERPS pension between 1978 and 2002, you might be due a top up to your state pension. Alternatively you may have contracted out of SERPS, and seen your National Insurance contributions paid into a workplace or private pension instead.

Tim Leonard

A land mortgage can help you secure the plot of land you want, whether it’s for a self-build project, commercial development, or an agricultural mortgage for farmland. Find out more about how these mortgages work and what you can do to improve the chances of your application being approved.

Tim Leonard

Getting a mortgage as a contractor may require you to jump through a few more hoops than if you’re employed, but don’t let this put you off. Contractor mortgages might be available if you have a certain level of stable earnings and proof that your services are in demand.

Tim Leonard

The pension lifetime allowance is the maximum you are allowed to build up in pension benefits before a lifetime allowance charge is applied. Keeping track of your pensions and using pension lifetime allowance protection can help you avoid the lifetime allowance charge.

Tim Leonard

A small self-administered scheme, or SSAS pension, can be set up by senior company executives who want to take full pension investment responsibility for themselves. The tax advantages of using a SSAS to buy and then rent back business premises is often very appealing.

Tim Leonard

Stakeholder pensions are flexible pension schemes designed to provide a way for anyone to save for their retirement. Government rules that all stakeholder pension schemes must follow mean minimum contributions are always low and fees are capped.

Tim Leonard

An AVC pension scheme could prove useful if you want to supplement payments you make into a workplace pension. AVC pensions allow flexibility when it comes to managing contributions and can help boost your future retirement benefits.

Tim Leonard

Property investment funds are a simple way to gain exposure to bricks and mortar, but rental properties and property development could be alternatives if your finances allow. Read on to learn how you could invest in property, and which option might be right for you.

Tim Leonard

Buying a home is rarely easy, but with a shared ownership mortgage getting a home loan might be more affordable. You’ll only own a share of the home at the start, and will need to pay some rent at the same time, but you will have the chance to ‘staircase’ your way to full ownership if you wish.

Tim Leonard & Brean Horne

The First Homes scheme was introduced to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder in their local area. The price you’ll pay for a First Homes property, which needs to be a newly built home, will be at least 30% lower than the market value but there are a number of boxes to tick to qualify.

Hannah Harper & Tim Leonard

The government’s Rent to Buy scheme provides would-be homeowners with a way to bridge the gap between renting a property and owning one. Read on for more information about the Rent to Buy scheme, and to find out whether it could help you.

Rachel Lacey & Tim Leonard

You must receive equity release advice from an adviser with a specialist qualification before you’re allowed to take out any equity release plan. Finding a good equity release adviser, and knowing what to ask, is a must.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby & Tim Leonard

The triple lock protects the income that retirees receive through the state pension from inflation. Usually payments increase in line with the highest of either earnings, Consumer Prices Index inflation, or 2.5%. But for the next rise in April 2022, the earnings measure won’t be considered.

Anthony Beachey & Tim Leonard

A lifetime mortgage is an equity release scheme that allows you to access some of the wealth you have tied up in your home. With a lifetime mortgage you can receive a lump sum or regular cash payments, and carry on living in your home until you die or move into residential care.

Tim Leonard

A gifted deposit is when parents or a close relative give you money towards a mortgage deposit with no strings attached. Lenders usually require a gifted deposit letter from the gifter to confirm you don’t need to pay the money back.

John Fitzsimons & Tim Leonard

A let-to-buy mortgage allows you to buy a new home and let out your existing property to bring in extra income. It can be useful if you can’t or don’t want to sell your current home, but can be a difficult process to negotiate. Consent to let is an alternative to let to buy you might consider.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby & Tim Leonard

If you are not ready to retire, want to build more retirement savings, or simply don’t need to claim your pension yet, you may want to defer taking your pension. Your state pension can also be deferred in return for increased payments in the future.

Hannah Harper & Tim Leonard

In 2020 the state pension age for women increased to 66, and it’s set to rise even more over the next decade. Find out more about the increase, the Waspi women seeking compensation following the rise, and how to prepare for any future state pension age changes.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby & Tim Leonard

A tracker mortgage is a type of variable rate mortgage where the interest rate tracks another rate. Usually this will be the Bank of England base rate, though the rate you pay typically has a margin added on top.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby & Tim Leonard

Buying a pension annuity with some or all of your pension pot means you can rely on a certain level of retirement income. There are different types of annuity that can provide for your loved ones after you die, pay a higher income if you’re in ill health or smoke, and keep pace with inflation.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby & Tim Leonard

Moving into pension drawdown at retirement gives you flexibility as to how you withdraw your money and enables your funds to stay invested to hopefully grow further after you retire. How pension drawdown works means retirement income decisions are firmly in your hands.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby & Tim Leonard

Pension contributions are the payments that you, your employer, and the government make into a pension, but there are caps and other considerations to bear in mind. So how much should you contribute to a pension and what does the pension annual allowance allow?

Ruth Jackson-Kirby & Tim Leonard

Pension tax relief is a government top-up to your pension contributions that aims to encourage people to save for their retirement. The amount of tax relief you can claim will depend on the income tax that you pay.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby & Tim Leonard

A self-invested personal pension (SIPP) gives you more control over your retirement savings, enabling you to make your own investment decisions. Contributions into a SIPP are eligible for tax relief and existing pensions can be transferred into a SIPP too.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby & Tim Leonard

A personal pension is a private pension that you can set up for yourself, outside any workplace scheme. Open a personal pension plan and your contributions could be boosted by tax relief too.

John Fitzsimons & Tim Leonard

With a variable rate mortgage the interest rate you pay, and therefore the monthly repayments you must make, could potentially go up or down. A fall in your variable rate can work in your favour, but there is always the risk that your payments could increase.

Tim Leonard

Joint mortgages are often taken out with a partner, but can also be taken out with friends and family. A parent may take out a joint mortgage with their child to help them on to the property ladder and improve their chances of being approved for a mortgage.

Tim Leonard

Most homeowners would like to pay off their mortgage early, but is it always the right thing to do? Here’s how to find out if you should overpay, along with six ways you could secure mortgage freedom much faster.

Jim Kersey & Tim Leonard

A self-build mortgage is a type of loan designed to help finance the cost of building your own home. By paying out the funds in stages, self-build mortgages aim to make sure your money won’t run out before the build is completed.