Will killing commission kill financial advice?
There’s a worrying possibility that the FSA is about to kill off independent financial advice in the UK for all but the wealthy. I do hope I’m wrong. It’s just confirmed plans of its Retail Distribution Review which, in a nutshell, means from 2012 Independent Financial Advisers will have to charge a fee rather than simply take...
When is misselling mis-consuming? Can you be missold every month for 10 years?
This is quite a staggering story – I’d love to know where your sympathies lie! A friend texted to say he was outraged with his bank, and could I help. Normally I tend to say check the website, but he said this one was different, so I asked him to send me a brief email. His complaint....
Do the law lords declare an interest?
A bit of lawyer humour on bank charges… spotted in the New Law journal “Civil Way” column. Comment and discuss
Savings fountain HSBC… nifty idea… shame about the products
One kind MoneySaver popped me an email to suggest that HSBC was now using our Savings Fountain concept in its adverts. The fountain idea is simple: as the highest paying after-tax savings products such as cash-ISAs or regular savers allow different amounts in them, it’s all about filling up the top product then letting the rest overflow....
Why Martin Lewis’ is correct grammar!
It staggers me quite how many grammar fiends take the time to e-mail about the apostrophe in ‘Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com’ in the site logo, arguing it should be ‘Martin Lewis’s’. So it’s time to blog on it, so we can simply link here every time we get a complaint. While you may not agree, at least it...
How do you buy British in banking?
Following on from my last blog about Is ICICI an Indian bank?, I was interested to read the forum discussion. There Fudge 1977 was one of many to voice the following sentiment: “With the push to ‘buy British’, maybe you could just highlight British owned banks when referencing them. I’m buying british where I can do which...
The best worst shop slogan… can you beat TK Maxx?
I’ve just spotted the most terrible promise in a shop window and wonder if you can beat it… In the Money Diet, I write through a large explanation of what different shop slogans actually mean, but the following really is absolutely meaningless… In TK Maxx shop window “Always up to 60% less” Lets just examine the words:...
Is ICICI an Indian Bank… do xenophobic overtones hurt its custom
ICICI is a massive Indian bank, but on this site we’re only ever referring to its fully UK owned and regulated UK savings subsidiary that has exactly the same protection as any other UK savings institution (see savings safety). Yet this is what I wrote in this week’s e-mail… New top fixed savings. Lock-in at 4.35% for...
The new MSE weather prediction service
Having just been away in the sun for a few days, I’ve discovered MoneySavingExpert.com has a bespoke new service for nerds, which even I hadn’t been told about. Quite remarkably, the site can now predict British Weather. I first noticed the phenomena a couple of weeks ago, when between 1,200 and 1,700 people joined the email over...
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Recent Blogs
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Is it time to ban Christmas presents?
14 September 2020
Update September 2017: It’s eight years since I first braved this subject, expecting a snowstorm of protest. Instead, year after year more join in, like Julia who recently tweeted me, “@MartinSLewis, finally took your advice and told my family I can’t afford Christmas presents. What a weight off my mind. Thank you.” One year even the Archbishop of... -
Martin Lewis: I confess, I did a 'decoy effect' experiment on my Twitter and Facebook followers… and it may be why they're buying more Jaffa Cakes
7 September 2020
Behavioural economics is a powerful science. Some retailers are undoubtedly using it to make us pay more to get less. One element is the 'decoy effect' – where a higher-priced item is sold, to make items next to it look like bargains. So I wanted to do a little experiment to test it -
Martin Lewis: Payment holidays extended – but should you take one? Mortgages, credit cards, loans, payday loans, car finance and more
11 August 2020
Within the last week, we've seen the extension of coronavirus credit card, personal loan and overdraft help to 31 October 2020, with mortgage payment holidays already extended. The regulator's other help schemes are also likely to be extended too, including car finance and payday loans, yet should you do it?
