Moneystepper

The Steps To Financial Freedom

10 year government bonds vs FTSE performance

10 year government bonds vs FTSE 100 Since the FTSE 100 index began in early 1984, the overall performance has not been greatly different to the performance of the “risk-free” 10 year government notes. However, given today’s very low interest rates, returns on government notes should lag the market over the next 10 years.  … Read more

Saving habits in Britain – snakes and ladders

Saving habits in Britain Britain’s unhealthy attitude towards personal savings could steer us towards an early retirement crisis. Research from the UK’s biggest peer-to-peer (P2P) lender, Zopa, looked at the saving habits in Britain and has found that Brits are in need of a critical financial health check.   What are we saving for? Survey… Read more

Santa Rally and other market phenomena – are they real?

Santa Rally and other market phenomena Mummy, is Santa Claus real? No? Well, is the Santa Rally real? The Santa Rally is the idea that the markets perform well in December compared to other months. The theories behind this vary, but the data seems to suggest that the “Santa Rally” is indeed real.   The… Read more

Saving a deposit for your first home

Saving a deposit for your first home This post was originally posted on First Home News, which is supported by Keepmoat. Keepmoat is a national market leader in sustainable community regeneration, housing, and planned and responsive repairs to the UK housing industry.   Saving a deposit for your first home is tough. Unfortunately, the media… Read more

UK unemployment: comparison to historic unemployment and EU countries

UK unemployment – is it something to worry about? UK Unemployment seems to be a substantial issue. Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, is focusing his monetary policy largely upon unemployment. The papers are issuing headlines such as “Unemployment crisis warning” and “Unemployment: Britain in crisis”. But, compared to Europe and compared… Read more

Timing the market: can you improve gains by timing the stock market?

Timing the stock market: can you easily time the markets? I’ll be brief. No. You can’t. Don’t try. The old saying “buy low, sell high” is the fundamental of investing. Even Homer Simpson knows that! However, timing the market to identify the lows and the highs is exceptionally difficult.   Buy and hold For all… Read more

hotels.com review – Wake up happy with rewards on hotel bookings

Hotels.com review – get rewards when booking hotels Why am I writing a hotels.com review – well, quite simply because I use them personally. I find that they offer the lowest prices, often with savings of up to 40%. However, beyond that, you also get to benefit from the hotels.com rewards program, where you effectively get… Read more

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