Tim Leonard

Tim Leonard

Following a news report that the age at which people can claim their state pension could increase to 68 by the end of the 2030s, we explore how this earlier-than-expected rise could affect you and what you can do to prepare.

Tim Leonard

Covering your mortgage, paying for your funeral, and ensuring your loved ones can live comfortably are important benefits that life insurance can provide. What tends to join them all is peace of mind that those you care about will be looked after financially once you’re gone.

Tim Leonard

A life insurance premium is the sum of money you’ll need to pay an insurer in return for providing you with life cover. The life insurance premium you’re asked to pay will depend on many factors relating to you and the policy you choose.

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. Searching out the highest savings rates, shopping around and setting a budget are just some of our tips for helping you towards a money-savvy 2023.

Joel Kempson & Tim Leonard

Green mortgages offer incentives, such as lower interest rates and cashback, to borrowers who purchase an energy-efficient home, or adapt their current home to meet certain environmental standards. This means you can save money while doing your bit for the environment.

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

Set up a child’s pension and with tax relief payable on a £2,880 yearly allowance your kids will have a head start towards a better retirement. Here, we explain how to open a child’s pension, the pros and cons of children’s pensions, 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.

John Fitzsimons & Tim Leonard

The government’s mortgage guarantee scheme aims to encourage lenders to offer 95% loan-to-value mortgages to buyers with a 5% deposit. The scheme has been extended by a year and is now set to run until the end of 2023.

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.

Rhiannon Philps & Brean Horne & Tim Leonard

Stamp duty is a tax you pay when buying property in England and Northern Ireland. How much stamp duty you pay will vary depending on whether you’re a first-time buyer and the value of the property.

Caroline Ramsey & Tim Leonard

It’s not essential to have a credit card but, when used responsibly, they can be a useful way to borrow money. Read on to find out when you may want to get a credit card and when it may not be a good idea.

Jim Kersey & Tim Leonard

With an interest only mortgage, you only pay off the mortgage interest each month, and none of the original loan – that must be paid back at the end. This can make a mortgage on an interest only basis worth considering if you need to keep your monthly mortgage repayments low.

Holly Bennett & Tim Leonard

Making mortgage overpayments can help you save money in interest and clear your mortgage sooner. But first you should check if there are limits and charges on how much you can overpay and be confident that overpaying your mortgage is right for you.

Tim Leonard

With savings rates finally paying some semblance of a decent return, deciding whether it’s better to pay off more of your mortgage or put your spare funds into a savings account has got a little harder. Here’s what you need to consider.

Tim Leonard

Sliding property values and wider economic woes have seen whispers of a house price crash in the UK start to grow. Here, we explore whether a correction in prices could be coming and, if it does, how it might affect you.

Tim Leonard

With Help to Buy ISA house price limits failing to rise in line with house price growth, some first-time buyers are finding these savings accounts are hampering their homeownership dreams. Here’s why Help to Buy ISAs and their Lifetime ISA counterparts should start moving with the times.

Tim Leonard

With far-reaching announcements on taxes, benefits, pensions, energy bills and new cost-of-living payments, the Autumn Statement 2022 looks set to affect us all.

Tim Leonard

Mortgage interest rates have been rising and hundreds of deals have disappeared since the mini-budget. So what can existing mortgage borrowers and those hoping to get on the property ladder do?

Tim Leonard

Borrowing money for your mortgage deposit is sometimes allowed, but it’s likely to make it harder to get a mortgage and leave the best deals out of reach.

Tim Leonard

The government is exploring whether ultra-long, fixed-rate mortgages could make buying a first home more affordable, while a new lender is granted permission to offer 50-year fixed-rate mortgage deals. But could fixing for longer help and will borrowers want to commit for such a long time?

Tim Leonard

The mini-budget 2022 turned out to be anything but small, and some policy reversals have since occured. Stamp duty cuts and National Insurance are now some of the last policies standing.

Tim Leonard & Rhiannon Philps

It’s not possible to get loans with no credit check from a regulated UK lender. If you’re searching for no credit check loans because of bad credit, there are other borrowing options you could explore.

Tim Leonard

It might be possible to get a bridging loan with bad credit if you have a strong exit strategy for repaying the loan and can offer the lender the security it needs. Bad credit bridging loans may be available to both personal and commercial borrowers.

Tim Leonard

Bridging loan costs can quickly stack up, with various fees being payable alongside the bridging loan rate that will determine your monthly repayments. To keep the cost of a bridging loan low, try to borrow at the lowest loan-to-value ratio possible against a property in a good location.

Brean Horne & Tim Leonard

Getting a bridging loan can take between 72 hours and two weeks to complete, or perhaps even longer. It is rare, but some bridging loans can be arranged in just 24 hours. Having the necessary paperwork to hand and using an experienced solicitor could help you get a bridging loan faster.

Brean Horne & Tim Leonard

Each lender will have its own individual bridging loan eligibility criteria and requirements that must be met if you’re to successfully apply for bridging finance. The security you’re offering and your exit plan are among the most important lending criteria that will be assessed.

Rhiannon Philps & Tim Leonard

Bridging loans can be regulated or unregulated, depending on the type of property you need the loan for. A regulated bridging loan is required if you’re borrowing against a residential property, while unregulated loans can be used for buy-to-let and commercial property.

Holly Bennett & Tim Leonard

There are a few alternatives to bridging loans that might bridge the gap between buying and selling a property, or act as a stopgap to fund other projects. What you need a short-term loan for will play a part, and whether you’re a homeowner or run a business comes into it too.

Tim Leonard

Taking out life insurance to cover funeral costs could help make life a little easier for loved ones at a difficult time. By making sure your beneficiaries receive a life insurance payout when you die, they shouldn’t have to pay for your funeral themselves.

Tim Leonard

Choosing to include a waiver of premium rider or benefit when taking out life insurance or critical illness cover might allow you to avoid paying premiums out of your own pocket if you can’t work due to serious illness or injury, but still see your cover continue.

Tim Leonard

Taking out life insurance can reassure you that your loved ones will be looked after financially if you die during the policy term. Payouts might cover your mortgage or make sure your family has money to live on, but if you’re single and have no dependents it might not be worth taking out.

Tim Leonard

Working for an employer offering death in service means your loved ones should receive a payout if you were to die while in its employment. It can offer valuable protection similar to life insurance, although how death in service benefit works means it might still be worth considering life cover.

Tim Leonard

Providing security for a loan means you put forward an asset, such as your home, as collateral against the loan that you need. As lenders feel they are taking on less risk with loan security in place, secured loans often have lower interest rates than loans with no security attached.

Brean Horne & Tim Leonard

Our stamp duty calculator can help you work out how much Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) you’ll need to pay when buying a home in England or Northern Ireland. There are different stamp duty thresholds, and some buyers may be exempt from paying any tax at all.

Tim Leonard & Connor Campbell

Start up funding can be crucial in getting small businesses up and running. From start up business loans to lines of credit, grants, crowdfunding and angel investors, here are the various options for securing the start up business funding you need.

Tim Leonard

An Islamic or halal mortgage doesn’t charge interest, allowing Muslims and others a Sharia-compliant way of raising finance to buy a property. Rather than being referred to as mortgages, they are actually called home purchase plans.

Tim Leonard

A personal guarantee can allow smaller business owners to secure credit for their company that might otherwise be out of reach. But the risk for a business loan guarantor who signs up to a personal guarantee is that lenders can call on their personal wealth if the business can’t settle its debts.

Tim Leonard

A qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme – or QROPS – is a pension scheme based in another country that might prove a suitable destination if you wanted to transfer your UK pension scheme abroad. You should definitely consider getting advice before making a QROPS transfer.

Tim Leonard

Equity release can be considered safe because you must take professional advice, and providers and advisers are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Most equity release providers are members of the Equity Release Council, meaning their plans must offer certain protections to customers.

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, as it might also be called, means you may spend less on interest overall.