Money guides
Plain-English explanations of how financial advice and the big money decisions work in the UK. Every guide is educational: we explain how things work and what questions to ask — we never tell you which product to buy.
The advice system itself
Do I need a financial adviser?
An honest framework: when paying for advice earns its fee, when free guidance is enough, and a five-question self-test.
Read → CornerstoneHow financial advice works in the UK
Advice vs guidance, what regulation actually protects you from, and when paying for advice tends to be worth it.
Read → CornerstoneHow to find an adviser you can trust
Where to look, how to use the FCA Register, independent vs restricted, and how to run a first meeting.
Read → CornerstoneWhat financial advice costs
Fixed fees, hourly rates and percentage-of-assets charging — and what each model really costs over a decade.
Read → AdviceRobo-advisers vs humans
What automated advice actually is, what it costs against human advice, and which problems each one solves.
Read → Your rightsHow to complain about an adviser
The escalation route with real teeth: firm, Ombudsman, FSCS — deadlines, evidence and what redress covers.
Read → ToolkitHow to read a suitability report
The letter every recommendation must come with: a ten-point checklist, the red flags, and why it's your evidence.
Read →Money decisions, explained
Pensions explained
Workplace, personal and State Pensions, how tax relief works, and the decisions that matter most at each age.
Read → SavingISAs explained
Cash, Stocks & Shares, Lifetime and Junior ISAs — how the allowance works and how the types differ.
Read → InvestingInvesting basics
Risk and return, diversification, fees and time horizons — the concepts every first-time investor should understand.
Read → PropertyMortgages explained
Repayment vs interest-only, fixes and trackers, loan-to-value, and what lenders actually assess.
Read → RetirementWorkplace pensions & auto-enrolment
What the 8% minimum really means, the employer match, and the five settings worth checking in your scheme.
Read → RetirementThe State Pension
Qualifying years, checking your forecast, filling NI gaps — and the best-value purchase in UK personal finance.
Read → TaxSalary sacrifice
The pay cut that pays you: how sacrifice saves NI as well as tax, and the catches around mortgages and minimum wage.
Read → RetirementPension consolidation
When merging old pots is smart, when it destroys guarantees, and the one question that sorts your pots into piles.
Read → SavingLifetime ISA vs pension
Same 25% boost, different cages: first homes, the withdrawal penalty, and how the wrappers stack.
Read → ProtectionProtection insurance explained
Life cover, income protection and critical illness — what each does, and the order most planners think about them.
Read → RetirementAnnuities explained
Trading a pot for a promise: the types, what moves the rates, why shopping around matters, and how they pair with drawdown.
Read → RetirementPensions for the self-employed
No auto-enrolment, no employer match — how to replace both, sole trader vs limited company, and the State Pension check.
Read → TaxTax year-end checklist
What expires on 5 April: ISA and LISA allowances, pension carry forward, CGT, gifting — and the cliff-edge checks.
Read → PensionsThe pension annual allowance
£60,000, carry forward, the high-earner taper and the £10,000 MPAA trap — the ceiling on tax-advantaged saving.
Read → TaxCapital gains tax basics
The shrunken £3,000 allowance, how gains stack on income, the 60-day property rule and the legitimate reducers.
Read →Reminder: these guides are general education, not regulated advice or personal recommendations. Rules, allowances and tax treatment change and depend on individual circumstances. For advice tailored to you, consult an FCA-authorised adviser — see our adviser-vetting toolkit.
When money meets real life
What to do with an inheritance
A calm order of operations: the parking strategy, debts, tax wrappers — and the vulture window to guard against.
Read → DivorceDivorce and money
Why pensions are the forgotten asset, the three ways they split, and the house decision done honestly.
Read → Later lifeEquity release
The loan that grows while you sleep: the compounding maths, the real protections, and everything to try first.
Read → EstateWills and powers of attorney
Hundred-pound documents protecting six-figure outcomes — intestacy, LPAs and the nominations your will doesn't control.
Read → EstateInheritance tax basics
The nil-rate bands, the unlimited spouse exemption, the seven-year gift rule — and who actually pays.
Read → FamilyGifting money to family
The allowances, the underused gifts-from-income rule, the 7-year clock, deposit gifts — and the paper trail.
Read → RetirementRetirement income options
Annuities, drawdown and lump sums — how each works, how withdrawals are taxed, and the risks with names.
Read → Later lifeCare costs explained
The means test, what the house counts for, NHS Continuing Healthcare, deferred payments — and the deprivation trap.
Read → BereavementBereavement and your money
What must happen now, what freezes, probate in brief, the claims families miss — and what can safely wait.
Read → WorkRedundancy and your money
A triage plan in the right order: what you're owed, the £30,000 tax rule, the runway maths, and the benefits people forget.
Read →Your money at every age
Your money in your 30s
The compounding decade: foundations, the pension ratchet, LISA deadlines, and the protection that arrives with dependants.
Read → 40sYour money in your 40s
Peak earnings, peak demands: catch-up maths, cliff-edge checks, overpay-vs-invest, and the first look at your parents' plans.
Read → 50sYour money in your 50s
Decisions come due: Pension Wise from 50, pot assembly, income choices, the mortgage endgame — and the scam window.
Read →