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Anna Bowes is a regular contributor to the BBC’s Money Box, Breakfast and News programs, as well as the national press, providing expert analysis and commentary on the UK savings market. Anna has worked in the financial services industry for more than 20 years and for most of that time has been helping people to make the most of their savings. |
The big savings news this week is the long-awaited launch of Marcus, the new savings bank from investment banking giant, Goldman Sachs. It stormed into the best buy table with a market-leading easy access account that is head and shoulders above the nearest competition. We’ve looked at how this compares with other easy access accounts and how Marcus has a huge opportunity in this growing market.
🔖 Read: Long-awaited launch of Marcus by Goldman Sachs doesn’t disappoint
Did you know that over 1.3 million people in the UK have chosen to plan and pre-pay their funeral costs using a funeral plan and so far in 2018 almost 55,000 funerals were provided using one of these plans^. However, recently funeral plans have come under scrutiny in the media due to a rise in schemes that are not fit for purpose.
Sadly, the market is being tainted by a minority of plan providers that are failing to deliver with high charges and fees, as well as aggressive sales tactics. However, there are schemes that protect customers and provide the peace of mind that your loved ones are not left with an unexpected financial burden.
To help and protect those of you with a plan or looking at purchasing one, we’ve teamed up with Dignity, one of the leading funeral plan providers registered with the Funeral Planning Authority, the organisation set up to oversee the conduct of registered funeral plan companies, in order to help you understand what to look out for when choosing a Funeral Plan.
In our article Not all Funeral Plans are the same, funeral specialists Dignity highlight the key things to consider when choosing a funeral plan, meaning your loved ones will have less to worry about during those difficult times.
🔖 Read: Not all Funeral Plans are the same – make sure your loved ones are protected
A reminder to those holding a NS&I Direct ISA. This week saw NS&I proceed with its planned rate cut, affecting all 387,000 savers, according to the Telegraph. This, following the recent increase in the Bank of England base rate, has raised some eyebrows, even if the plan was announced before the base rate increase. We take another look at how savers will be affected, but more importantly where the best place to move your money is and why NS&I has made this decision when rates should be rising!
🔖 Read: NS&I proceeds with disappointing rate cut
We’ve also included our regular features, our Rates Rundown for the latest best rates and our review of the recent financial press.
That’s all for this week. As always, we love to hear your views and do get contact if there’s anything you’d like our help with. We’re always happy to help where we can.
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