Giving up smoking last month will save Mandie Martin as much as £3,500 a year, but the 25-year-old radio worker is still struggling to build a savings cushion and get on to the property ladder.
She says: “I used to withdraw £10 from the cash machine every morning to buy cigarettes on the way to work — and I’d spend the change on coffee and a banana. I’ve stopped that now, so I should be able to start saving for once. Now seems an obvious time to review my finances.
Financial CV
Income £774 a month, after rent, phone and gym bills.
Rent £200 a month.
Objectives To get into better financial habits and start saving. Also wants to get on the property ladder with her boyfriend, possibly using the Government’s HomeBuy scheme, provided that the timing is right.
Dennis Hall gives Mandy advice in this Times Money Makeover. You can read the rest of the article on the Times website.
Cara Martin, 28, is a qualified social worker and works full time in adult mental health for the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. She lives at home with her parents in the family home in the south of the city. “My financial goals include increasing my personal savings and working towards buying my own home within a year,” she says.
Besides getting a foot on the property ladder and increasing her savings, Cara would also like some investment advice. “I am sceptical of the risks of making a bad investment and would like to have solid advice to help me make the correct choice when investing my money.”
Case notes
Income: £22,000 per year
Monthly outgoings: £400 rent, £134 for a car, £15 for private health insurance, £15 for mobile phone.
Debt: £20,000 student loan
Savings: None
Read the rest of the article on the Independent website, with advice given by Dennis Hall of Yellowtail Financial Planning and two other advisers.
The economic crisis has prompted many people to seek help from personal finance books, with Amazon reporting a significant uplift in sales.
Classics of the genre promise a quick route to riches, while recent examples, written since the start of the downturn, tend to be more cautious and realistic in their claims.
Times Money has looked at the five bestselling financial self-help books at Waterstone’s and asked financial planners for their views on the key ideas, rating the books from one to five stars. All have a snappy style and are accessible to the novice, but some are considerably more helpful than others.
Yellowtail’s Zac Ghadially rates the five bestsellers.
Read the rest of the article on the Times website.
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- Journalists have voted Yellowtail’s Managing Director Dennis Hall as one of the top 20 Media IFAs of 2008
- Voting has been conducted by journalists via Unbiased.co.uk’s Blue Book online
- Thriving demand for independent financial advice commentary during the recession increases the need for Unbiased.co.uk media services in 2009
Unbiased.co.uk media services is now in its 12th year, and continues to put journalists in touch with IFAs who can provide expert commentary on a range of financial topics. It enables journalists to always present the best financial advice proposition to their readers, listeners and viewers, and resulted in over 5,000 press articles mentioning Unbiased.co.uk media services IFAs in the past 12 months.
David Elms, chief executive of Unbiased.co.uk commented, “Over the past year, turbulent markets have meant the need for independent financial advice commentary has increased. This is reflected by Unbiased.co.uk’s Blue Book online receiving over 26,000 online enquiries from journalists wanting to speak to a Media IFA. There are currently 222 Media IFAs listed in Unbiased.co.uk’s Blue Book, ready to deal with journalist enquiries.”
This year’s Media IFA of the year was chosen directly by journalists themselves, via Unbiased.co.uk’s Blue Book online. Journalists who register on the Blue Book can create their own personal list of favourite Media IFAs and Dennis was voted 19th favourite Media IFA of the year after only his second year in the “Blue Book”.
Journalists needing to speak to IFAs for their articles or to find case studies can log on at www.unbiased.co.uk/bluebook to find media-friendly IFAs who specalise in a range of financial topics.
Dennis appeared on CNBC to discuss the benefits of offshore savings and investments.
Watch the video on the CNBC website.
My colleague Zac Ghadially was quoted in an article in this month’s Money Observer magazine.
Investment trusts are currently trading at a wide discount to the value of their underlying assets. Zac discussed a cheap index tracking trust, the Edinburgh UK Tracker, which tracks the FTSE All-Share Index and available on a discount of around 5%.
Dennis Hall appeared on Strictly Money on CNBC. Dennis again answered viewers’ emailed questions, including whether it was better to pay off a mortgage or save the money, and his thoughts on the ‘Gilt bubble’.
See the video on the CNBC website.
With UK interest rates are at record lows, savers are left will little return on their money.
Dennis Hall from Yellowtail Financial Planning considers the alternatives and potential pitfalls. See the video on the CNBC website.
Dennis Hall appeared on Strictly Money on CNBC today.
Dennis answered viewers’ questions on the sustainability of the high level of dividends in the UK, and whether there is value in corporate bonds. Dennis was giving his opinion along with Amanda Davidson from Baigrie Davies.
You can see the video on the CNBC website.
Our MD Dennis Hall is presenting at the Life Planning Conference in London on the 4th February.
You can see a short press piece about the conference in Money Marketing. There is more information on the conference in the events section of the Kinder Institure website.
