An emergency fund is money you put aside to cover a financial shock. This could be losing your job, or a large, unexpected expense. Building an emergency fund can help prevent you needing to borrow money or make difficult financial decisions in those moments, by giving you savings to fall back on.
Knowing what to expect can be an important part of planning for life after work
How much do you think you’ll need to fund your retirement? Of course, the answer to that question will depend on what you want to do when you stop work. Worriedly almost half of non-retirees (46%) are unable to identify how much annually they believe retirees receive from their state pension according to a survey[1].
What will the government’s proposals mean for the social care system?
The government has set out its vision for the future of adult social care. New plans were announced on 7 September 2021, for adult social care reform in England. This included a lifetime cap on the amount anyone in England will need to spend on their personal care, alongside a more generous means-test for local authority financial support.
Creating a realistic plan for achieving your objectives within a certain time frame
No matter where you are in life, you probably have financial goals you want to achieve. Planning your investment goals is essential if you’re going to have a real chance of achieving them.
Is now the time to look for long term alternatives?
The relentless effect of inflation over time can be detrimental for those keeping large sums in cash and attracting interest at a low or even zero rate. The combination of rising inflation and low interest rates make holding cash unappealing. Many people underestimate the damaging effect of low interest and high inflation on their cash savings.
Even if you are a sophisticated investor, one of the most important tools available is diversification. Whether the market is bullish (rising) or bearish (falling), maintaining a diversified portfolio is essential to any long-term investment strategy.
Volatility is less frightening if you take a longer-term view
Although past performance is no indicator of future performance, market corrections can be healthy and result in even stronger growth in the future. This is why holding a diversified portfolio for the long term makes good investing sense. It’s time invested in the market, and not the timing of the market, which dictates long-term returns.
If you feel you do not have the time, knowledge or inclination to manage your own portfolio of investments, you can delegate responsibility for managing your money to a professional fund manager. Funds are collective investments, where your and other investors’ money is pooled together and spread across a wide range of underlying investments, helping you spread your overall risk.
Collective investment schemes are a way of combining sums of money from many people into a large fund spread across many investments and managed by a professional fund manager. Your money is invested on a pooled basis by an investment manager in return for a fee.
Market index following the overall performance of a selection of investments
Tracker funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are investments that aim to mirror the performance of a market index. A market index follows the overall performance of a selection of investments. The FTSE 100 is an example of a market index – it includes the 100 companies with the largest value on the London Stock Exchange.
