How might rising interest rates affect your mortgage?

Posted by JSCFinancial on Friday 28th of October 2022

How might rising interest rates affect your mortgage?

The Bank of England has raised interest rates and warned further hikes are likely in the coming months. This will mean bigger bills for some homeowners.

On 22 September 2022, the Bank of England raised interest rates from 1.75% to 2.25% - the seventh hike since December 2021 - in a bid to combat soaring inflation. And, the Bank’s Governor, Andrew Bailey, has warned people to expect further rises in the coming months.

It is now widely anticipated that rates will rise to over 5% by...


10 ways to reduce your energy bills

Posted by JSCFinancial on Friday 28th of October 2022

10 simple ways to cut your carbon footprint and reduce your energy bills

Reducing your energy consumption can be a great way to cut your carbon footprint, lessening your personal impact on the environment and potentially helping to limit the devastating effects of climate change.

As living costs and the price of energy are soaring, taking action to lessen your usage can also be an effective tool to save money on your bills.

1 in 8 UK consumers think they’re already doing enough
Interestingly, when compared globally, the UK has the hi...


What the recent Growth Plan and Government U-turns mean for you and your finances

Posted by JSCFinancial on Friday 21st of October 2022

What the recent Growth Plan and Government U-turns mean for you and your finances

Now that the dust has started to settle, what do the recent announcements, and U-turns, mean for you and your finances?

What is still happening

The National Insurance contribution rate will fall from 6 November 2022.

In April 2022, the National Insurance contribution (NIC) rate increased by 1.25 percentage points to pay for additional health and social care services. In April 2023, a new Health and Social Care Levy was set to replace this rise...


Pension lifetime allowance – how it affects you

Posted by JSCFinancial on Wednesday 19th of October 2022

Pension lifetime allowance – how it affects you

In his 2021 Budget, the Chancellor announced a five-year freeze on the lifetime pension allowance. What does this mean for you and your retirement fund?

What is the lifetime pension allowance?
The lifetime pension allowance sets a limit on how much you can save in your pension before you start paying tax on anything over the limit. For a few years before the 2021 announcement, the limit had been tied to inflation, meaning that it rose in line with the cost of living.

With the global pan...


‘The Growth Plan’ – a further update

Posted by JSCFinancial on Wednesday 19th of October 2022

At 6.00 am on Monday 17 October, the Treasury issued a press release announcing that the (new) Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, would making a statement “bringing forward measures from the Medium-Term Fiscal Plan”. The timing of the press release suggested that the Treasury was concerned it had not done enough the previous Friday to calm markets ahead of the end of Bank of England gilt purchase support.

The Chancellor’s statement was in two parts: firstly, a pre-emptive media statement in the morning, then an official statement to the House of Comm...


What does the base-rate increase mean for you?

Posted by JSCFinancial on Tuesday 27th of September 2022

What does the base-rate increase mean for you?

In a bid to tackle rising inflation, the Bank of England has increased the base rate for the seventh time since December 2021. The 0.5% hike takes the interest rate to 2.25% - the highest since November 2008, when the banking system faced collapse. So, what does this mean for you?

Mortgages
If you’re on a fixed-rate mortgage, you’ll be protected from the latest rise until your current deal runs out. If that happens any time soon, you may well find the cost of a new fixed-rate mortgage has...


Mortgage to Wealth - First Steps Into Investing

Posted by JSCFinancial on Tuesday 20th of September 2022

Taking Your First Steps Into Investing

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 coul...


Landlords Insurance

Posted by JSCFinancial on Tuesday 20th of September 2022

Landlords Insurance

When Sue and Jim decided to move in with their daughter so they could be on hand to help with childcare, they were reluctant to sell their home in case their new living arrangement didn’t work out. They were a bit worried about leaving it empty though, so when they heard their niece Megan was looking for somewhere to rent, it seemed like the perfect solution.

Everything was going great until, after a busy night shift, Megan came home and decided to run a bath. While the tub was filling up, she went downstairs to w...


DIY Insurance

Posted by JSCFinancial on Tuesday 20th of September 2022

Home insurance - when your DIY dream turns into a nightmare

Harpreet is pretty good with his hands so he decided he’d save himself some money by carrying out his own loft conversion. It was all going quite well until he dropped his hammer. The hammer crashed through his bathroom ceiling and landed on the toilet, cracking the cistern. When Harpreet rang his home insurance company to report the incident, he discovered he wasn’t covered as he didn’t have accidental damage protection.

The cost of a DIY disaster

Harpreet’s mistake ended ...


Funeral Planning

Posted by JSCFinancial on Tuesday 20th of September 2022

Can you afford to die?

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 Funeral care 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, gravesto...


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UK News

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