Guides
How the rules work, in plain English, with worked examples on the same engine as the planner.
Barbell, ladder or bullet — three ways to hold gilts
The same £100,000 of UK government bonds can be held as a ladder (one gilt a year), a bullet (all in one maturity) or a barbell (very short plus very long). What each is, a live example priced off today's yield curve, what happens to each if yields fall 1.5 points, rise 1 point or the curve steepens, and what each shape is really a bet on.
Gifts and the seven-year rule — how giving money away reduces inheritance tax
How lifetime gifts work for UK inheritance tax — the seven-year rule, taper relief, the £3,000 annual exemption, gifts out of income, and how much you can safely give without running short — with examples.
Building a gilt ladder for retirement income — how it works and what it pays
How a ladder of UK government gilts gives a known income for the years before or into retirement, why gains on gilts are free of capital gains tax, what today's yields pay, and how to compare it with a savings account or a bond fund.
How good is a final salary pension — and should you take the bigger lump sum?
What a defined-benefit pension of £10,000 a year is actually worth, why the inflation caps matter, how the commutation trade (a bigger tax-free lump for less pension) really prices, and the one question the FCA says only an adviser may answer.
Index-linked gilts — how they work and how they lose money
How UK index-linked gilts are indexed, what a real yield and breakeven inflation mean with today's numbers, and the six ways they lose money — real yields rising (2022, from the Bank of England's own figures), buying above par at a negative real yield, inflation undershooting the breakeven, the 2030 switch from RPI to CPIH, the missing deflation floor, and tax on the coupons — each in pounds.
How much inheritance tax will my estate pay?
A plain-English guide to the UK inheritance tax sums for 2026-27 — the £325,000 nil-rate band, the £175,000 home allowance, the £2m taper, couples, charity, and pensions joining the estate from April 2027 — with a worked example.
What pension pot do I need for a minimum, moderate or comfortable retirement?
The PLSA Retirement Living Standards for 2025 (£13,900 / £32,700 / £45,400 for one person; £22,500 / £45,400 / £62,700 for a couple), what the state pension covers, and the pot that fills the gap — by rule of thumb and by a proper plan.
Pensions join the estate for inheritance tax from April 2027 — what it means for you
From 6 April 2027 unused pension pots count towards inheritance tax. Who is affected, how much it can cost, the double tax after 75, and what people are doing about it — with the numbers.
What is a safe withdrawal rate in the UK? The 4% rule against 150 years of British history
The 4% rule comes from US history. Run the same test on UK returns since 1871 and the always-survived rate for a balanced mix over 30 years is about 2.9% — and 4% failed roughly one retirement start in four. The full table by asset mix and retirement length, why holding fewer shares made the worst case worse, and what actually raises the safe rate.
What is a factor? Value, quality, size and momentum on your fund's factsheet
The words value, quality, small cap, momentum and low volatility appear on fund factsheets and in fund names. What each one means in plain English, what a fund with that tilt actually holds and how it differs from a plain tracker, what each did in good and bad decades (with sources dated), whether a planner needs any of it, and how to spot a tilt on a factsheet.
Where should the next £1,000 go? The UK money order of operations
The order that answers most UK money questions — emergency cushion, expensive debt, the employer pension match, pension vs LISA vs ISA, this year's allowances, then the estate — with the arithmetic behind each step, and a planner that shows which step you are on with your own figures.
Which funds hold each risk level?
The multi-asset and index funds whose mix matches each of five levels, with ISINs and charges — dated facts, unranked, never a pick.
What the market pays today
Bank Rate, SONIA and the gilt curve from the Bank of England, every gilt inside ten years with an indicative yield, and cash vs money market funds vs gilts.
What the words mean
The money words the planner and the guides use — gilt, coupon, yield, drawdown, OCF, nil-rate band and the rest — each in plain English with a pound example.