Judy Armstrong

With the cost of living going up and salaries stagnating, it’s now more important than ever to have a robust financial plan. So how well prepared are you? Find out with this super-quick wealth check.

Wedding costs can mount up easily – here are our top five tips to help you manage your budget and save for your dream wedding.

A weaker pound and rising costs across transport, housing, utilities and food are pushing inflation up, and forecasts suggest that the rate will continue to rise this year and next. But what does this mean for you, and what should you do about it?

Nutmeg has won the title of Best Online Stocks & Shares ISA Provider in the YourMoney.com awards for the second year in a row.

The bad news is that no non-ISA cash accounts beat the current rate of inflation. With the latest Consumer Prices Index standing at 2.8 per cent, a basic rate taxpayer would have to find a savings account paying at least 3.5 per cent to negate the effects of tax and inflation. A higher rate taxpayer, meanwhile, would have to find an account paying at least 4.66 per cent. Such rates simply don’t exist at the moment.

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Financial Education for Young People recently produced questions that test what it thinks GCSE-age children should know. Would you get an A*? Or are you nearer the bottom of your class?

Do you know more about ISAs than your bank? In a recent survey by Which?, the consumer group, only 16 out of 180 advisers gave correct answers to all its questions about ISAs. Of the 15 major providers contacted, advisers at National Savings and Investment came top with 72 per cent correct answers. The worst major bank got only 33 per cent.

The bitter Siberian winds aren’t the  only unseasonal thing about the UK at the moment. The banks are also refusing to get into the Spring spirit. The last few weeks of the tax year – the so-called “ISA season” – have traditionally seen household names falling over themselves to attract new customers with eye-catching rates. This year, however, has been a huge disappointment for savers. A brief glance at the best-buy tables for Cash ISAs tells you all you need to know. Even by locking your money away with Halifax for five years at 3.1 per cent, you’d fail to beat the RPI annual inflation rate of 3.3 per cent.

It’s 6.20 on a Monday morning. The only noise drowning out the sound of the planes overhead is the occasional wail of a police siren. You get up and walk to the nearest Tube and find the drivers on strike. So you go to the bus stop. The first three buses are full. The fourth…