When it comes to investing, there are numerous questions that need to be asked, and lots of things which need to be properly understood before committing your hard-earned money
As a British citizen, you're entitled to save £20,000 every year, tax-free. This comes in the form of an ISA (place you chuck money and forget about it for a rainy later-life).
For all the resilience the UK economy has shown, there is no doubt that this year's ISA season is set against a backdrop of uncertainty. Whatever the pros and cons, Brexit, and a lack of clarity on what our future economic relationship with the EU will look like, has left us at a crossroads.
With just over six weeks to go in the 2018/19 tax year, many savers and investors will be turning their attentions to ISA season, with a view to making the most of their £20,000 ISA allowance.
The housing crisis in the UK is widely mentioned in the media, but the extent of it is often underestimated.
The 2019 ISA season is now in full swing, and it's as good a time as any to focus on financial planning - and, within that, looking ahead to your retirement years to ensure financial security.
Lending Works Blog
Product updates, business news, and current affairs.
Since opening our doors back in 2014, we’ve always prided ourselves on living and breathing two key principles at Lending Works: innovation, and putting the customer first in everything we do.
On 4 June 2019, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released its new regulatory framework for peer-to-peer lending (P2P); a Policy Statement known as PS19/14. As you might imagine, it's a document which, following a three-month consultation, is a hefty read of no fewer than 102 pages.
As 2018 draws to a close, with our bellies full of Christmas turkey, it's only natural to look back on the past 12 months and reflect. No doubt, it's been a turbulent one economically and politically, and not everyone has had it all their own way.
If you're going to take a shine to an awards event, why not do it at the biggest one of them all?
A recent study by Which? (published by Moneywise) has shone a spotlight on the practices of banks and other high-street financial institutions regarding the way savers and borrowers are treated.
With each passing day, savers are filled with hope that substantial and sustained increases to Bank of England (BoE) rates are on the cards.
Peer to peer
It feels like a lifetime ago, but it’s worth remembering that, prior to the 2008 financial crisis, returns on savings accounts of 5 per cent were nothing unusual.
Last week, a controversial landmark was achieved: gender equality in the state pension age. Having spent decades apart, the process of convergence began in 2010 (off the back of legislation passed 15 years prior), at which point the state pension age for women was 60, while for men it was 65.
The housing crisis in the UK needs little introduction, and the statistics say it all. Rates of home ownership plummeted from 73.3 per cent in 2007 to just 63.4 per cent by the end of 2016.
Anyone who keeps an eye on best buy tables may have noticed some encouraging shifts within the savings section.
In personal finance, there are few greater challenges than stashing away enough money to last for the duration of one's retirement.
The issue of self-employed workers has been something of a political football in the past.
Investing
The financial crisis is a bitter memory of what can go wrong when regulators lose control of markets. It seems hard to fathom now, but a little over a decade ago, buyers could acquire mortgages to the tune of 125 per cent of the home’s value (the Northern Rock Together mortgage being one of the most infamous), with only the most lax affordability checks standing in their way.
The decline of cash in recent years has been there for all to see, and the sound of a tap of a card seems far more common these days than the shuffling of notes and coins. But even still, the numbers make for remarkable reading.
Common perception these days is that of an inter-generational wealth divide, whereby pensioners are deemed to have it good, while millennials and Generation Z have a hard time making ends meet.
With political parties jostling for position amid a series of Elections, and the ongoing spectre of a snap General Election looming large, the Labour Party put forward a policy last week which has proved to be a talking point: increasing the minimum wage to £10 per hour, and extending this to workers under the age of 18.
The vexing issue of social care, set against a backdrop of an ageing population trying to sustain itself, refuses to go away, and policy ideas invariably prove divisive.
Credit scoring is a system which can have a big impact on many of our lives, yet in the UK it is one that we don't seem to be fully across as a nation.
Finance
Numerous theories have emerged as to why the UK has endured such a severe productivity problem over the last decade. Growth in productivity of just 2 per cent during that period would typically have been accomplished within a single year prior to the financial crisis, and thus the 'productivity puzzle' continues to confound economists
As an economy, we're a collective of buyers and sellers. One thing both parties have in common is that they want the process of making a payment to be as quick, convenient and safe as possible.
As the world's dependence on technology escalates, so too do the twin threats of fraud and cybercrime. And Brits, in particular, seem to be affected, especially so by the latter.
This week, Bitcoin breached the $12,000 mark for the first time. The total value of all Bitcoins is now approaching $100bn.
Undoubtedly the biggest driver of change over the coming decades will be Artificial Intelligence (AI) – a much-publicised subject, but also one which is often poorly understood.
The word ‘disruption’ is often associated with fintech and sporting a positive connotation to boot.
Technology
In the aftermath of the financial crisis back in 2008/09, the Bank of England (BoE) had considerable headroom in terms of monetary policy, and - rightly - it made full use of it.
On a daily basis, diligent readers of financial publications consume a wide range of economic data, which act as key performance indicators regarding the state of the UK economy.
As the adage goes, every 5-7 years, people forget that a recession happens every 5-7 years.
You often hear the phrase ‘the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer’ within political and economic discourse, and the UK in particular gets singled out for high levels of inequality.
It’s fair to say that last week was a turbulent one for global stock markets. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a Financial Stability Report on Wednesday at its annual meeting in Indonesia, and the paper struck a less-than-optimistic tone.
A couple of weeks ago, industry regulator Ofgem introduced a new cap on energy prices.
Economy
With the retail sector enduring its fair share of challenges, companies are looking at new ways to attract customers, and drive conversion. In an overcrowded, dog-eat-dog marketplace, with behemoths such as Amazon flexing their muscle, it’s easier said than done.
While it has held up better than expected over the past year or two, the UK economy and its macroeconomic indicators make for anaemic reading.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the global financial system as a whole is predicated on the ability to buy something now, and pay for it later. Barely anyone would be able to make a substantial purchase such as a house without an instrument like a mortgage.
In a difficult climate, customer acquisition and lead generation present stern challenges for UK retailers, and a great deal of marketing spend invariably gets directed towards getting feet through the door.
There is a variety of literature and research illustrating the importance of building brand loyalty, albeit with some degree of variance.
The old adage ‘cash is king’ has never seemed wider of the mark than it does today. In 2017, cash was eclipsed as the most prominent medium for payments in the UK, falling 15 per cent from the year before to a total of 13.1bn transactions.
Retail finance
Eighteen months ago, you could barely open the finance section of a newspaper without seeing headlines about Bitcoin.
The starting gun has been fired to seek out Mark Carney's successor as Governor of the Bank of England (BoE), but he will nevertheless remain in his post until January 2020.
Britons' obsession with home ownership is somewhat unique, and it is fair to say that many of our friends on the Continent are left perplexed by the importance we attribute to making the step up onto the housing ladder.
There are a number of statistics which emphasise the growing generational wealth divide in the UK; such as the projection that so-called millennials will be the first in modern history to be poorer than their parents.
Current affairs
Since opening our doors back in 2014, we’ve always prided ourselves on living and breathing two key principles at Lending Works: innovation, and putting the customer first in everything we do.
With the retail sector enduring its fair share of challenges, companies are looking at new ways to attract customers, and drive conversion. In an overcrowded, dog-eat-dog marketplace, with behemoths such as Amazon flexing their muscle, it’s easier said than done.
On 4 June 2019, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released its new regulatory framework for peer-to-peer lending (P2P); a Policy Statement known as PS19/14. As you might imagine, it's a document which, following a three-month consultation, is a hefty read of no fewer than 102 pages.
When it comes to investing, there are numerous questions that need to be asked, and lots of things which need to be properly understood before committing your hard-earned money
For all the resilience the UK economy has shown, there is no doubt that this year's ISA season is set against a backdrop of uncertainty. Whatever the pros and cons, Brexit, and a lack of clarity on what our future economic relationship with the EU will look like, has left us at a crossroads.
Featured
In a difficult climate, customer acquisition and lead generation present stern challenges for UK retailers, and a great deal of marketing spend invariably gets directed towards getting feet through the door.
There is a variety of literature and research illustrating the importance of building brand loyalty, albeit with some degree of variance.
Over the last decade, there can be little dispute that the reputation of mainstream banks – and particularly the so-called ‘Big Four’ (HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds and RBS) – is at its lowest ebb.
The idea of peer-to-peer (P2P) lending is a simple one; you lend money to those who wish to borrow, with a view to receiving a great return for doing so.
The peer-to-peer (P2P) lending industry is now regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The regulatory framework has been designed to protect customers and promote effective competition.
Most popular
The financial crisis is a bitter memory of what can go wrong when regulators lose control of markets. It seems hard to fathom now, but a little over a decade ago, buyers could acquire mortgages to the tune of 125 per cent of the home’s value (the Northern Rock Together mortgage being one of the most infamous), with only the most lax affordability checks standing in their way.
Numerous theories have emerged as to why the UK has endured such a severe productivity problem over the last decade. Growth in productivity of just 2 per cent during that period would typically have been accomplished within a single year prior to the financial crisis, and thus the 'productivity puzzle' continues to confound economists
In the aftermath of the financial crisis back in 2008/09, the Bank of England (BoE) had considerable headroom in terms of monetary policy, and - rightly - it made full use of it.
While it has held up better than expected over the past year or two, the UK economy and its macroeconomic indicators make for anaemic reading.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the global financial system as a whole is predicated on the ability to buy something now, and pay for it later. Barely anyone would be able to make a substantial purchase such as a house without an instrument like a mortgage.