An energy stampede, gored houses and buff a low pension

Quick boring yet money-saving tip to start. If you’re not on a smart meter, take a reading today. From 1 October the new (lower) price cap comes in and the average household will now pay £1,923 a year, down from £2,074 before. For those of you who value your sanity, energy websites can crash on the ‘changeover’ days so it might be better to take a timestamped photo and log it online once the digital stampede has passed.

Before you get too dizzy about the average savings of £151 a year, do remember that the price cap is forecast to rise again in January. (Oh thanks, Eeyore!)

A gored housing market

Well OK, before I’m brandished a grumpy old *** here’s another dollop of money sunshine – 5 year fixed mortgages have now fallen under 6%. Phew. But with sellers reported by Zoopla to be forced to cut asking prices by 4.2% in September, and Nationwide today reporting the biggest annual fall in house prices (5.2%) since 2008’s financial crisis, the property market has been gored and remains a volatile and painful place to be for many. (You did it again, Eeyore. Cheers.)

Could you buff a low pension?

Pensions are in the spotlight again this week with HMRC’s new stats on what we’re up to:

• Self-employed – Just 340,000 of you made contributions to a personal pension in the last year. Given that there are over 4 million self-employed people, this highlights a massive problem we’re storing up for the future. If you are putting your fingers in your self-employed ears about pensions, and singing la-la-la in a mild state of panic, you might find this guide a helpful starting point. Why not start by opening an online pension and put 1% of every invoice in it. Just 1% to get going?

• And what about all Brits? Over 7.4 million of us paid into a personal pension. Not bad. Remember the tax perks – if basic rate taxpayers pay 80p into a pension, a wand is waved and that turns into £1. I promise! Pensions are a lovely (yet temporarily inaccessible) magic money tree with a less sexy name.

• And what about retired folk? People taking money from a pension? The average amount drawn from pensions in April – June this year was £7,143; and the average person drew from their pension 2.4 times in three months. Which suggests most people are taking monthly payments. Gradual nibbling. If you are approaching decision time around retirement, this article will help you get your head around annuities versus drawdown. It’s a bit like deciding whether to ‘stick’ or ‘twist’. And you can do both by the way.

You could Bi-yourself-Son ISAs?

Of course, pensions are locked away so if you have shorter timescales you can’t beat the ISA. The Chancellor is dropping hints already about a chunky shake-up to ISA rules in the upcoming Budget. But let’s not forget that the £20,000 tax-free amount we can all save every year is a lovely perk.

“Who should I choose?”, is probably one of the most common questions I get. And the ISA market is getting more competitive with lots more secret squirrel people coming to market in the next 6 months. Oooh… enigmatic….!

The banks are collectively making more noise. Monzo is getting ready to push 'Go' and is tantalising users with its waitlist. But people tend to have quite split views on which bank brands they trust. If you have an account with a high street bank today, and like a bricks-and-mortar set-up, don’t forget that the ability to have your ISA and pension with them is handy if convenience is your thing. It’s one app, one log-in and you see it all together. And many of the traditional brands actually offer you more choice than the ‘cooler’ new kids on the block. Barclays, for example, have ready-made options as well as a range of funds and UK and international shares, and our research indicates their charges are particularly competitive at around the £50,000 portfolio size.

Our tables will let you filter for whatever tickles your fancy, whether that’s brand, cost, app or other customer reviews.

Have you Herd about Strictly?

Last Last week I said I was was going to geto get your predictiion on on who would lift the Strictly glitterball. I must confess I’m still at the stage of working out who everyone is. But I think the producers are going to milk the ‘East End’ versus the ‘West End’ of the two handsome young wiggly actor guys – the EastEnders one and the black sequined jumpsuit one from the theatre! (Not very good with names!) Cast your vote below. To make this more interesting, if your top pick wins, I will make a video of my Christmas show dance and share it with you. And that would be a sight to behold.

Have a good weekend everyone. I am recovering from Covid - The Sequel. Makes me feel like an oooooooold cow! 🤣🐮

Holly

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