AJ Bell has slashed the fee on its ready-made personal pension, making it one of the cheapest fee-wise on the managed personal pension market.

The investment platform has today (14 October) reduced its annual charge from 0.45% to 0.35% for investors taking a hands-off approach.

The 0.35% fee is all-in, covering administration and investment charges, with investors facing no additional charges on transactions.

AJ Bell launched the ready-made personal pension in 2024, and now offers investors the choice of five growth funds based on their risk appetite.

AJ Bell manages the investments for you which can be helpful for those who are time poor or new to investing and don’t want the responsibility of managing their investments.

The ready-made pension also lets savers track down old pension pots and consolidate them into a single account.

Mahdi Shabir, lead insight analyst at Boring Money, a website providing advice on saving and investing, said: “AJ Bell's pricing change is both compelling and illustrative of the increased competition in the ready-made pension market.

“Following price reductions from both Moneybox and Hargreaves Lansdown in the past 12 months, AJ Bell has thrown down the gauntlet by reducing fees from 0.45% all-in to 0.35% for its ready-made pension.”

Is AJ Bell’s ready-made personal pension worth it?

Following the fee change, AJ Bell’s ready-made personal pension is now one of the cheapest own-brand managed pensions on the market.

However, the higher the value of the portfolio, the less competitive it becomes fee-wise.

For portfolios worth £20,000 or less, its fees are the lowest out of the major providers offering similar products, including Aviva, Fidelity and Hargreaves Lansdown, according to analysis by Boring Money factoring in platform and ongoing fund charge fees.

However, based on a portfolio of £50,000, interactive investor’s (ii) managed pension is cheaper on an annual basis.

Based on a portfolio size of £300,000, AJ Bell’s ready-made pension is more expensive than similar products from Monzo and PensionBee.

Source: Boring Money, looking at the most aligned ready-made pension product offered by mainstream providers, factoring in platform fees and ongoing fund charge fees, excluding transaction costs. **no regular savings plan assumed

Beyond fees, AJ Bell’s ready-made personal pension comes with five growth funds to choose from depending on your risk profile.

However, ii has 10 different investment portfolios to choose from depending on what level of risk you’re willing to take.

Should you consolidate your pension pots?

AJ Bell’s ready-made personal pension also comes with a free pension-tracing service included. You can then consolidate these pots into one with AJ Bell.

Consolidating pension pots can make it easier to track investments and see whether they are performing well, as well as reduce what you’re paying in fees.

Shaun Yates, direct to consumer managing director at AJ Bell, said: “Many people have accumulated several pension pots over the course of their career and it can be surprisingly easy to lose track of them.

“Keeping on top of multiple accounts often leaves people unsure whether their savings are working as hard as they could be.”

It’s worth double-checking you won’t lose out on valuable benefits that come with a pension before consolidating it. For example, it’s generally not worth giving up a defined benefit (DB) scheme pension.

Check for any exit fees which may be incurred from ditching a pension pot as well.

Patient investing has driven the number of ISA millionaires – those with £1 million or more held in their ISAs – to a record high of 7,730 in the latest tax year.

The figures, revealed in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request sent to HMRC by savings and investment app Plum, mark an increase of more than 50% in the number of ISA millionaires in the 2023/24 tax year, compared to 5,070 in the tax year prior.

The average ISA millionaire now has a pot worth £1,348,000, virtually the same as the average in the 2022/23 tax year despite over 5,000 more individuals becoming ISA millionaires.

“A jump of more than 50% in a single year is really telling,” said Will Bryant, director of wealth strategy at Plum. “These aren’t people who suddenly saved their way to £1 million. It’s the result of years of patient investing, where the growth on your growth starts doing the heavy lifting. That’s the bit people underestimate.”

The number of ISA multi-millionaires has also increased, with 320 individuals sitting on ISA pots worth between £2 million and £3 million, 40 with pots between £3 million and £4 million, and 60 with accounts worth over £4 million.

Among those 40 with pots worth more than £4 million, the average account value was £7,708,000. This figure balloons to just under £12 million when looking at only the top 25 ISA investors in the UK.

As any money held in an ISA is shielded from capital gains tax and dividend tax, returns from these portfolios will be protected from a hefty tax bill. For example, a portfolio of £1 million which grew by 15% – the average return from the S&P 500 index over the last 10 years – will have brought tax-free returns of £150,000.

Bryant added: “These investors didn’t reach millionaires’ row by selling every time things got scary. They’ve sat through financial crises, Covid, rising interest rates and tariff worries, all of it.

“Staying put is harder than it sounds, but it’s time in the market, not trying to time the market, that works. And this data is proof of that.”

Are there any cash ISA millionaires?

While it is theoretically possible for someone who put their full £20,000 ISA allowance into cash each year since 1999 to have become an ISA millionaire, it is incredibly unlikely.

The vast majority of ISA millionaires joined the club by putting their ISA contributions into the stock market.

A separate FOI request sent to HMRC by Murphy Wealth in 2025 found that in the 2021/22 tax year, not a single ISA millionaire managed to reach the figure through cash ISA holdings alone.

The request found that 94% of the UK’s ISA millionaires got there exclusively through stocks and shares ISAs while the remaining 6% held money in a combination of cash and stocks and shares ISAs.

How can you become an ISA millionaire?

While joining the ISA millionaire’s club may seem a distant dream, diligent and patient investors could get there sooner than you may think.

Data from Plum shows that someone starting from scratch today and putting their full £20,000 ISA allowance into a stocks and shares ISA could reasonably expect to become an ISA millionaire in around 22 years, assuming annualised returns of 7% after fees.

Any investors who want to reach £1 million in their ISA should remember that patience is key.

Charlene Young, head of technical at AJ Bell: “ISA millionaires paint a great picture of what can happen when investors combine time, regular contributions, patience and perhaps a bit of good fortune.”

She said that those who want to build up £1 million in their ISAs will need to adopt a ‘get rich slow’ mindset and start as early as possible.

“There will be younger investors with a high-risk appetite who have achieved huge returns, but ordinary investors are normally best served by a diversified portfolio held for the long term.”

As for what you should invest in, Young says there isn’t a single route to becoming an ISA millionaire.

“Analysis of AJ Bell’s ISA millionaire investors has shown that shares and [investment] trusts are especially popular, but there are plenty using funds too. The important thing is to invest in what you feel comfortable with and understand the level of risk you are taking in return for the potential reward.”

The public have had their say on which four animals will feature on the next series of £5, £10, £20 and £50 banknotes.

Almost 480,000 Brits voted in a consultation launched by the Bank of England in June to decide which fauna will replace historical figures on the notes, and the results are in.

The public has voted for the Atlantic puffin, barn owl, buff-tailed bumblebee and European hedgehog to feature as the central images.

It has not yet been decided which of these animals will feature on each denomination.

Victoria Cleland, chief cashier at the Bank of England, said: “I am delighted that nearly half a million people responded to our wildlife imagery consultation, showing that cash still matters.

“I would like to thank everyone who engaged, including those who I met at our events. With their support, we have chosen four distinct and inspiring animals that not only showcase the great variety of wildlife we have in the UK but will also enhance the security of our banknotes.”

The Bank of England launched an initial consultation in July 2025 asking members of the public to decide which theme they wanted the new notes to follow.

In March 2026, the bank confirmed the theme was animals, with 60% of the 44,000 responses saying it was one of their preferred themes.

The new animal-based notes, which are being launched over the next few years, will come with the latest technology, making them harder to counterfeit.

How did people vote?

In the consultation earlier this summer, the Bank of England released a shortlist of 18 animals to choose from across three categories: Mammals, birds and amphibians, insects and fish.

Here is how many votes each animal received:

Mammals

• European hedgehog (259,665)
• Red fox (244,651)
• Brown hare (130,614)
• Grey seal (92,043)
• Pine marten (82,773)
• Bottlenose dolphin (48,847)

Birds

• Barn owl (270,596)
• Common kingfisher (211,277)
• Atlantic puffin (183,137)
• Great spotted woodpecker (86,839)
• White-tailed eagle (46,109)
• Eurasian curlew (44,521)

Amphibians, insects and fish

• Buff-tailed bumblebee (360,399)
• Emperor dragonfly (143,894)
• Common frog (120,382)
• Marsh fritillary butterfly (108,467)
• Basking shark (69,699)
• Atlantic salmon (45,090)

What other new banknotes have entered circulation in recent years?

A host of new banknotes featuring King Charles III’s face were launched in 2024 following his ascension to the throne in 2022.

The £5, £10, £20 and £50 denominations featured the new monarch on one side and historical figures on the other.

The £5 note was circulated with former prime minister Winston Churchill on the reverse side while the £20 note was printed with the artist J. M. W. Turner on one side.

The £10 note featured early nineteenth century author Jane Austen on the reverse side and the £50 note has mathematician Alan Turing on one side.

Some of these new notes which were the first to enter circulation have sold for thousands of pounds since being printed.

It’s not just new notes which have entered circulation since the King’s ascension to the throne – coins bearing his face started arriving at Post Office branches in late 2022.

High street lender Barclays has become the latest bank to introduce a bumper switching bonus for customers.

Customers could get up to £600 when switching to a Barclays account, making it the highest-paying deal on the market.

However, there are a few hoops to jump through if you want the full £600, and not everyone is eligible for the free cash.

Barclays £600 switching bonus

The £600 offer is only available to those who switch to a Barclays Premier account. It pays customers £350 for switching, plus £150 in monthly rewards. Neither is subject to UK income tax.

However, to be eligible for the account, you need to earn £75,000 a year or have at least £100,000 in eligible savings or investments with Barclays.

To qualify for the initial £450, you must complete the following steps within 30 days of opening your Premier account:

• Complete a full switch using the Current Account Switch Service
• Move at least three direct debits
• Pay in at least £5,000

To receive the additional £150 Monthly Engagement Reward (which is paid as £30 a month for five months), you have to make at least 10 eligible debit card transactions per month. This excludes any pending transactions.

A Barclays Premier account gives you access to several rewards, including:

• Access to a dedicated Wealth Planner and a Wealth Manager, provided you have an investment portfolio of £150,000.
• A free Apple TV subscription, usually worth £9.99 per month

Premier customers also get access to exclusive savings rates and mortgage options, cashback on spending and fee-free spending abroad with a black Premier debit card. The fee-free spend on the card is only valid until 27 September 2027.

Barclays £300 switching bonus

If you’re not eligible for the £600 switching bonus, Barclays is offering another market-leading deal that pays customers up to £300 for switching to a Barclays Bank Account.

It is paying customers £150 in free cash and £150 in Monthly Engagement Rewards. Neither is subject to UK income tax.

To qualify for this bonus, you must complete the following steps within 30 days:

• Open a Barclays Bank Account through the Barclays app.
• Complete a full switch
• Move at least two direct debits
• Deposit a minimum of £2,000

To get the additional £150, paid as £30 a month for five months, you must make at least 10 eligible debit card transactions each month, excluding any pending transactions.

Is Barclays offering the best switching deal on the market?

Currently, Barclays has the highest-paying switching deal on the market, whether you’re a higher earner or want to switch to a standard current account.

Barclays takes the top spot thanks to the £150 in monthly rewards, which brings its £450 Premier bonus to £600, and £150 current account switching bonus to £300.

Here’s how it compares with other deals currently available.

Keep in mind that you can only apply for a Premier account if you meet the relevant income or savings/investment requirements, so check the eligibility criteria before applying.

There are rules around who qualifies as a new customer. For instance, if you bank with HSBC, you cannot take advantage of First Direct’s £175 switching bonus, and vice versa, as First Direct is a division of HSBC. Make sure you check your eligibility before switching.

Should you switch to Barclays?

Jessica Sheldon, MoneyWeek’s deputy digital editor, said: “If you aren’t happy with your bank, it can make sense to take advantage of a current account switching offer. Make sure you’ll meet the requirements and consider if the cash bonus outweighs any benefits your current provider gives you before applying.”

There are many reasons you may want to switch from one banking provider to another. Before doing so, it’s worth considering whether the account you’re moving to suits your needs beyond the headline switching bonus.

If you prefer in-person banking, check whether there is a branch near you. Barclays has closed 1,236 branches since 2015, according to Which?, making it the individual bank to have reduced its network the most in the UK. Barclays has recently announced plans to open three new branches this year.

If you’re after better savings rates, compare what’s available from the provider. Barclays pays customers between 1% and 3.96% for an easy-access account, 1% and 4.55% for an ISA, and up to 4.55% for a fixed bond.

In contrast, the best savings accounts on the market are paying more than 5% on your cash, so your money might be better off in a different account. You don’t have to hold your savings in an account with the same provider as your current account.

While Barclays’ latest switching offer pays the most overall cash bonus, you will only receive the full amount after around six months.

NS&I has hiked rates on eight of its fixed-rate savings accounts for the second time in two months.

The Treasury-backed bank has improved the rate on its one, two, three and five-year fixed rate accounts, with several now paying more than 5%.

It comes as NS&I strives to meet its net financing target of £15 billion for the 2026/27 tax year, up from £13 billion in 2025/26.

Andrew Westhead, retail director at NS&I, said the move to increase interest rates comes in response to changes across the wider savings market.

What NS&I savings accounts have improved interest rates?

NS&I has raised rates on its British Savings Bonds, made up of Guaranteed Growth and Guaranteed Income Bonds, from today (6 October).

NS&I last increased rates on the accounts in August.

All eight of the accounts are fixed-rate, but the Guaranteed Growth Bonds pay out interest annually while the Guaranteed Income Bonds pay interest monthly.

The Guaranteed Growth and Guaranteed Income one-year bond rates have been increased to 4.99% gross/AER and 4.88% gross/4.99% AER, respectively.

The Guaranteed Growth and Guaranteed Income two-year bond rates have been hiked to 5.07% gross/AER and 4.96% gross/5.07% AER, respectively.

Rates on the Guaranteed Growth and Guaranteed Income three-year bonds are now 5.10% gross/AER and 4.99% gross/5.10% AER, respectively.

The Guaranteed Growth and Guaranteed Income five-year bond interest rates have been raised to 5.17% gross/AER and 5.06% gross/5.17% AER, respectively.

Source: NS&I

How do the British Savings Bonds compare to the rest of the market?

All eight of the British Savings Bonds were already competitive before these changes and they’ve now shot up the best buy tables.

The one-year bonds can be beaten only by thisbank’s one-year bond which is paying 5.10% at the time of writing, while the two-year deals are the fourth best on the market in terms of headline interest rate.

Meanwhile NS&I’s three and five-year bonds are among the top three for the highest interest rates for those types of account.

These rankings are based on an initial investment amount of £500 and comparing deals on data firm Moneyfacts’ website.

Rachel Springall, finance expert at data firm Moneyfacts, said NS&I’s latest interest rate rises are “likely to grab the attention of savers looking for a guaranteed return, particularly those who value the reassurance of having their money 100% backed by HM Treasury.”

Springall added: “The rate rises from NS&I reflect the wider uplift in savings rates and expectations surrounding future interest rate decisions.

“Competition in the savings market is good news for consumers, but attractive deals don’t always last for long, particularly if a provider attracts enough deposits and pulls a product from sale.”

Art market watchers are hoping that Claude Monet will fuel a recovery in sales in this year's important autumn auction season. The French painter, best known for his late-19th-century Impressionist works, died 100 years ago this December. To mark the occasion, a number of his paintings are appearing at auction in Paris, the city where Monet was born in 1840.

Fittingly, Sotheby's is focusing on Monet's late career, when the artist was working on a painting called Iris in his famously colourful garden in Giverny, Normandy, just a few months before he died. It is a large painting and one of only a few to reside outside the collection of a museum. That perhaps explains why its existence had only been known thanks to a black-and-white photograph – until now. Iris will lead Sotheby's “Le Temps Retrouvé: The Schlumberger Collection” sale on 22 October, where it will appear alongside several other works assembled by collector Jeanne Schlumberger over four decades from the 1950s.

Monet's Iris could fetch €30 million

Yet, it is not even its first public viewing that makes Iris so special. It's what it tells us about the development of Monet as a painter. It doesn't so much represent the “final chapters of Impressionism,” says Sotheby's, as it does “the opening pages of Modernism and Abstraction” – artistic styles that Monet had begun to explore in the mid-1920s. It's little wonder, then, that Iris has been given an upper pre-sale estimate of €30 million – the highest ever bestowed on a painting at auction in France. A second late-career Monet is also appearing in the sale – Saule pleureur (Weeping willow), painted in 1918-1919 and valued at up to €12 million.

Beyond the Monets at Sotheby's, highlights of the sale include La Ferme, Arbres au Bord de la Rivière and Ciel Entre les Arbres, all painted by a young Paul Cézanne in 1862-1864 as a single large mural at his home in Provence. The mural was later detached from the wall and transferred to canvases, including these three with upper estimates ranging from €600,000 to €800,000. As rare, early examples of Cézanne's work, they have been designated Trésors nationaux – important works of major value to France's cultural heritage.

Paris, however, is not quite done with Monet. Over at rival auction house Christie's, also on 22 October, Monet's Impressionist work Bord des falaises à Pourville (Edge of the Cliffs at Pourville) is leading the marquee sale of paintings from the collection of the revered 19th-century collector Paul Durand-Ruel, who was also Monet's art dealer.

Painted during Monet's stay in Pourville-sur-Mer in 1882, it “ranks among the artist's most remarkable depictions of the Norman coast,” says Christie's. It is expected to fetch in the region of €11 million to €15 million.

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The Principality of Liechtenstein is currently mired in a dispute that is “consuming Europe’s wealthiest monarchy” – with rebel royals threatening to sue the prince regent, Prince Alois, says the Financial Times. At issue are his progressive plans to reform their “dynastic status – and the allowances that come with it”.

Extended family members claim the 58-year-old prince has used long overdue reforms – including opening up the succession to women and giving them voting rights in family affairs – as cover for a series of less attractive measures that will “tighten his grip” over their own lives and weaken their power.

The mooted changes (reportedly opposed by a third of the 50 princes eligible to vote) give Alois more authority over “their titles, coats of arms and dynastic membership” of the “princely house”. Also at stake is the multi-billion dollar family fortune, much of it centred on LGT – the private bank owned by the princely house and overseen by Alois’s brother, Prince Max. In 2025 the bank, worth more than $400 billion, paid out a dividend of about $878 million. No one wants to be cut out of their share.

The situation is complicated by Liechtenstein’s governance structure. The “house law” governing the ruling family – which dates from 1136 – sits outside the microstate’s constitution. Yet the ruler has “power to veto laws, dismiss governments and dissolve parliament”. Two decades ago, the Council of Europe’s body of legal experts called this arrangement “astonishing”. It is currently still in force.

Who are the House of Liechtenstein?

The combination of “royal status and business savvy” has long set the House of Liechtenstein apart from every other monarchy in Europe, says Salon Privé. The dynasty has bred a long line of bankers, not least Prince Max, 57 – the second son of the official reigning monarch Hans-Adam II and a former alumnus of JPMorgan Chase – who has been running LGT since 2006. Under his watch, it has expanded “from a regional European bank to a global operation” with 6,000 employees across 30 countries and now seems well positioned “for another century of success”.

More recently, a younger family member, Gisela Bergmann, 36, has been making waves, says The Times. In August, the Pope appointed the princess – who previously ran the family’s wealth management business – to manage the Vatican’s finances. She has the perfect credentials to run a wealthy microstate, once observing: “We look at wealth and family from a holistic perspective, always thinking in terms of generations” – a message likely to go down well at the Vatican.

Still, the most significant, and increasingly controversial, member of the tribe is Prince Alois, who has been acting as regent to his father since 2004. Born in 1968, he attended Sandhurst, becoming a second lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards, before studying law at the University of Salzburg. Alois worked at a firm of London chartered accountants before returning to the family ancestral home, Valduz, in 1996.

For years, the prince had the perfect public profile. As the Australian Women’s Weekly approvingly noted, he was known “for his more contemporary outlook, balancing tradition with global diplomacy”. But recent opposition stretches beyond his family, says the Swiss news site Blue News. “Liechtenstein is in an uproar” over everything from the prince’s stance over abortion to his far-reaching constitutional powers. A recent hacker attack – which has “shaken confidence” in Liechtenstein’s financial centre – hasn’t helped.

For decades Liechtenstein was regarded as “the epitome of stability” and “synonymous with prosperity”. It’s going through an unusually turbulent period.

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Retirees withdrew over £22 billion from their pensions in tax-free lump sums in the 2025/26 tax year, up more than 20% compared to the previous tax year.

Pensioners took over £40 billion in tax-free lump sums in the last two tax years alone, Financial Conduct Authority data shows.

Under pension tax-free cash rules, you can normally withdraw up to 25% of your pension pots free from tax.

Experts at AJ Bell say the boom in withdrawals may have been driven by fears of increased taxation at Labour’s first two Budgets when rumours circulated that then-chancellor Rachel Reeves would increase taxation on pensions.

Between 2018/19 to 2022/23, FCA data shows the total taken in tax-free pension lump sums never exceeded £8.7 billion, but rose to just over £10 billion in the 2023/24 tax year, and then soared to £18.3 billion in 2024/25.

Despite speculation of a tax raid, Reeves left pension tax-free cash untouched in the 2025 Autumn Budget.

Michael Summersgill, chief executive of AJ Bell, said: “These figures should end any doubt about the real-world consequences of allowing pension tax speculation to run unchecked. The rush to take tax-free cash began in 2024 and the latest FCA data confirms another repeat around the 2025 Budget, just as pension providers warned.

“This trend is bad for households and bad for the economy – pulling billions of pounds out of pensions prematurely reduces the capital available for long-term investment.”

AJ Bell has urged the new chancellor John Healey to publicly commit to not making any major changes to pension tax-free cash and tax relief to avoid a similar rush before this year’s Budget.

“A chancellor focused on putting households on sound financial footing and boosting growth should see this as an open goal. Confirming pension tax stability would solve the problem overnight without a penny of new Treasury spending, while clearly signalling the government stands behind its promises to savers,” added Summersgill.

How tax-free pension lump sums work

You can usually take up to 25% of your pension pot out without having to pay any tax on the money, up to a maximum of £268,275. The minimum age you will be given this option is 55, although this is set to rise from April 2028, and you are able to withdraw your tax-free lump sum in one large payment or multiple smaller ones.

The 25% maximum is calculated from the total money you have in any of your pensions, not just one. For example, if you had £50,000 in one pension and £50,000 in another, the maximum lump sum you could take from either would be £25,000.

Income from the lump sum is not included in your tax-free personal allowance. Any money withdrawn from your pension over the 25% tax-free portion or £268,275 maximum will be taxed according to the tax band you are in.

The risks of withdrawing your pension lump sum

Having the option to take up to 25% of your pension pot as a lump sum can give you more freedom in retirement. But while the option being available can be useful, you should know the risks of taking money out of your pension too early.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, said: “The vast majority of people take some tax-free cash from their pension, and millions do so before they reach retirement age.

“There will be some people who have drawn up their plans carefully, for whom this makes perfect financial sense. However, there are others taking it purely because of worries about what might lie in the Budget – particularly in the past two years – who could be doing immeasurable damage to their retirement income.”

For example, having a large pension pot means the effects of compound interest are stronger, and if you take money out of the pot, the returns you get from compound interest are lower, meaning your pension pot will grow slower.

Coles said: “If, for example, you had a pot of £400,000 at the age of 55, which grew untouched at 6% for 10 years, the pot could grow to £716,339. If you took the £100,000 and spent it, your £300,000 could grow to just £537,254 over a decade.”

She said other risks included taking a lump-sum too early because people “don’t trust the government not to mess with tax-free cash in the Budget”, and spending it before thinking about whether you would like an annuity instead.

Withdrawing and spending a quarter of your pension pot also means you will have less money to use later on in your retirement which increases the risk of outliving your retirement savings.

Meanwhile, Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The FCA’s data shows the enormous impact Budget speculation can have on people’s behaviour. Many people took money they didn’t need and when the anticipated announcement failed to materialise, they were left with few options.”

She warned that once you take the tax-free lump sum, you will not be able to put the money back into your pension without incurring extra tax if you have second thoughts.

That means if you have already used up your other tax-free allowances like your annual ISA allowance then the money you have taken out may be subject to capital gains and dividend tax. Meanwhile, leaving the money in cash means it will slowly be eroded away by inflation.

Morrissey said: “Building a pension takes years of disciplined investing and planning and this should not be put at risk by short term speculation. Pensions are the ultimate long-term investment, and people need a stable tax framework that allows them to make informed decisions and build their retirement pot with confidence.”

US stocks continue to climb despite rising interest rates and squealing bond yields. The S&P 500 index has risen another 12% so far this year, with the technology-focused Nasdaq 100 up a fifth. Thank “a golden period” for company profits, says Iain Snedden of Aegon Asset Management. S&P 500 earnings rose 50% year on year in the second quarter, an “incredible number” that you usually only see during a recovery after a recession.

While mega-cap tech stocks remain in the vanguard, the boom is broad-based. Energy firms are raking in money from rising fuel prices, while banks are throwing off cash because of higher interest rates. The AI boom is also supporting strong performance at industrials, whose expertise in power management and construction is essential for the data centre build-out. Earnings growth has been so explosive that valuations have actually fallen. The S&P 500 trades on a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 19, down from 23 a year ago.

You don’t usually see valuations falling in a bull market, says Ben Carlson on his blog, A Wealth of Common Sense. Why are investors marking down companies even as they deliver superb growth? It is probably a mixture of three things.

Firstly, it prices in an assumption that the current AI splurge – and the associated profits – won’t last forever. Secondly, it reflects concerns that higher inflation may ruin the party. And thirdly, with bond yields rising, equities face stronger competition from fixed-income securities.

Donald Trump’s claim that America is the “hottest economy in the world” isn’t far wrong. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracker estimates that GDP grew at an annualised pace of 5% in the just completed third quarter. The latest PMI business survey shows activity running at the highest level in more than five years. Fuelled by “fiscal largesse”, “booming business investment” and “near-zero interest rates” after you adjust for inflation, the world’s largest economy “is building a powerful head of steam – and risks overheating”, says Mike Dolan for Reuters. That could require interest rates to climb much higher, but it is far from clear whether that would kill the bull market in US stocks.

For all the talk of government debt, households and businesses are not very leveraged, says Max Kettner in the Financial Times. Net interest payments at US companies have fallen to a “more than 20-year low”. That reduces private-sector sensitivity to interest-rate increases.

US stocks are partying like it’s 1999

There is precedent for US stocks to rally despite rising bond yields, says Sam Goldfarb in The Wall Street Journal. The 1994 yield surge, which was caused by Alan Greenspan raising rates, initially sent the S&P 500 down 8%. But it then recovered because a strong economy continued to support corporate earnings. AI-fuelled spending and hopes for a deal with Iran has many US investors feeling similarly optimistic today. That said, this could also be like 1999. Back then, rising yields initially left markets “choppy”. Shares then rallied, reaching a dotcom peak in March 2000, only to subsequently fall 49% by late 2002.

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The gap between earnings and house prices has fallen to an 11-year low, but higher mortgage costs continue to squeeze buyers.

The average UK home now costs 7.3 times median earnings, down from 7.6 in 2025 and is at its lowest point since 2015, according to new research by Lloyds Bank.

Lloyds data showed the average UK house price rose by 0.5% to £299,131 between the second quarter (Q2) of 2025 and Q2 2026, while median earnings went up by 4.5% to £40,790 over the same period.

But higher mortgage rates resulting, in part, from the conflict in the Middle East are counteracting this trend, meaning owning a home is still a challenge for many.

According to data firm Moneyfacts, the average two-year fixed-rate deal is 5.93% as of 1 October, up from 4.83% on 27 February, the day before the US and Israel began strikes on Iran, which led to global oil prices surging.

Lloyds suggested the average monthly mortgage payment rose from £1,100 to £1,157 between Q2 2025 and Q2 2026.

Andrew Assam, mortgages director at Lloyds, said: “There are some encouraging signs for people looking to buy a home. Wages have continued to rise while house prices have remained relatively stable, helping to narrow the gap between earnings and house prices.

"However, affordability remains stretched for many households.”

Affordability improves for first-time buyers

Incomes relative to house prices have improved for first-time buyers, according to Lloyds.

The bank said the average property price for first-time buyers rose by 0.3% to £239,681 between Q2 2025 and Q2 2026.

The average UK first home now costs 5.9 times median earnings, down from 6.1 in 2025. This is the lowest the figure has been since 2015.

Lloyds acknowledged, though, that saving for a deposit still remains a significant challenge for first-time buyers, who typically need to save around £24,000 to get on the ladder with a 10% deposit.

Higher borrowing costs are also an issue, with the average monthly repayment rising from £1,100 to £1,150 between 2025 and 2026.

According to Lloyds’s figures, the average first-time buyer mortgage payment now accounts for around 34% of income compared with 41% for those renting.

Prime minister Andy Burnham has made getting people on the property ladder for the first time a key priority, recently announcing the Your First Home scheme.

The equity loan scheme means first-time buyers will be able to get a home with a 2.5% deposit, backed up with a 20% loan from the government.

Affordability pressures persist in London and the South East

London and the South East remain the least affordable places to buy a home based on local house prices relative to median incomes, Lloyds’s research found.

The house price to income ratio fell from 10.9 to 10.3 in Greater London and from 9.7 to 9.1 in the South East between 2025 and 2026 – meaning both areas became more affordable.

Areas where house prices tend to be lower generally saw less dramatic improvements in affordability.

The house price to income ratio in the North East, for example, dropped from 5.1 to 5.0, while in the North West it fell from 6.5 to 6.3 and 6.0 to 5.8 in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Northern Ireland was the only UK region where homes became less affordable between 2025 and 2026.

House prices rose by 7.4% in the region compared to a 3.7% rise in median earnings, meaning the average house now costs 6.0 times median earnings versus 5.8 times last year.

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at estate agent Knight Frank, said: “The house price gap between London and the rest of the country continues to narrow as more affordable parts of the country see stronger growth.”

Bill believes that this dynamic will eventually see demand gravitate back towards London and South East England, re-starting the housing cycle again.

“The recent mortgage rate spike has only just begun to hit, which will keep a lid on activity and prices for the rest of this year, something that will affect highly-leveraged borrowers, like first-time buyers, hardest,” he added.

The cheapest areas to buy a home relative to earnings are in Scotland, according to Lloyds’s research. In Inverclyde and Aberdeen, the average home costs 3.5 times earnings in both areas as of Q2 2026.

The most expensive areas to buy a home relative to earnings are in Elmbridge in Surrey and Kensington and Chelsea, London. Buyers in these areas need to earn 17.4 and 17.3 times the median UK salary respectively to buy the typical home there.

Source: Lloyds Banking Group/Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Starling Bank has launched a market-leading easy-access savings account which pays an interest rate of 5%.

The account is available for new customers, and you can make unlimited withdrawals without incurring a penalty.

What does Starling’s easy-access saver offer?

Starling’s Easy Saver is paying new customers 5% on balances of up to £25,000.

The account has a fixed bonus of 2.5% for six months, on top of an underlying standard variable rate of 2.5%.

While you can save up to £1 million in this account, the top rate is only payable on balances of up to £25,000. The rate will drop to 2.5% on any balances above this threshold.

Customers will need to open a Starling current account to apply for the easy-access saver. You can make unlimited penalty-free withdrawals with this account, and interest is accrued daily and paid monthly.

Starling is a digital bank, which means the account may not be right for you if you prefer to do your banking at a branch.

This 5% offer is only for new customers – loyal customers are offered a lower 4% rate, including a 1.5% fixed rate bonus for six months.

Is Starling’s easy-access saver a best-buy?

Starling’s 5% saver pays the most on the market as of 1 October, making it the top easy-access savings account in terms of interest rate. Starling has also been voted one of the UK’s best banks.

However, there are a few caveats to keep in mind when considering the savings account.

Jessica Sheldon, MoneyWeek's deputy digital editor, said: “Starling's 5% easy access savings account looks attractive but it includes a 2.5% bonus rate for six months, so you might want to check if you can get a more competitive rate elsewhere in half a year's time. Plus, the underlying rate is variable, meaning it could change at any time.”

Customers can close their Starling Easy Saver without incurring a penalty, so once the bonus period comes to an end, you might want to review your options to find a better savings account.

The next best account is Zopa’s Limited Access pot, which pays 4.56% and has a fixed rate of 1.05% for 12 months, followed by Cynergy Bank’s 4.55% saver, which includes a 2% fixed bonus for 12 months.

Alternatively, if you wish to fix your savings, you could earn up to 5.12% with AlRayan Bank if you lock away your cash for a year.

Fund flows from UK retail investors were positive during August for the tenth consecutive month, but some sectors have seen outflows.

Latest data from the Investment Association (IA), an industry body representing the UK’s fund managers, shows UK-based investment funds registered £894 million in net sales to retail investors during August, in marked contrast from the £1.8 billion in outflows registered in the same month last year.

“Despite the summer break typically slowing flows and a worsening outlook for price inflation… investors kept their cool and carried on investing through the warmer weather,” said Miranda Seath, director, market insight & fund sectors at the IA.

^{Source: The Investment Association}

August’s positive figure brings the total net retail fund flows in the first eight months of 2026 to £13.8 billion.

Monthly net retail fund flows have been positive ever since October 2025, which saw £4.6 billion in outflows.

Which asset classes were the most popular in August?

While investors were net buyers of funds in general during August, though, there were significant differences between funds targeting different asset classes.

Fixed income and mixed asset funds were the most sought-after, registering inflows of £656 million and £749 million respectively.

Equity funds, though, saw £478 million in outflows during the month. While that sounds like bad news for the stock market, it actually represents a substantial slowing of outflows compared to July, when nearly £2 billion of capital flowed out of equity funds.

^{Source: The Investment Association}

Money market funds saw net outflows of £728 million in August following three consecutive months of positive flows.

Which equity fund sectors saw the biggest outflows during August?

Equity funds across the board showed net outflows during August, and besides global funds – which registered net inflows of £568 million – no individual sector saw significant positive flows during the month.

However, the £459 million that left equity funds in August was an improvement following three consecutive months of £1.4 billion+ outflows (peaking at £1.86 billion outflows in June).

Funds investing in UK stocks saw the biggest outflows during August, with £615 million leaving this sector. Again, though, this was an improvement compared to July, when £1.65 billion left the sector.

Flows into North American funds turned negative, from £201 million inflows in July to £363 million outflows during August, while outflows from Asian funds accelerated from £49 million in July to £114 million in August.

There were modest positive inflows for funds targeting European and Japanese stocks, with these sectors netting inflows of £40 million and £25 million respectively.

Should you invest in funds?

Funds offer a versatile approach to investing across almost any type of asset class. They can work in a wide variety of market environments, as evidenced by the inflows and outflows across different sectors the August data reveals.

The IA noted that it is natural for uncertainty to creep into decisionmaking when it comes to buying funds.

“Market conditions alone do not determine investor behaviour,” said the IA’s Seath. “The domestic policy environment plays an equally critical role. With the Autumn Budget fast-approaching, it is worth remembering that policy stability is a fundamental pillar of investor confidence.

“In October 2025, the last full month before the previous Budget, UK retail investors withdrew £4.5 billion from investments, including £1.4 billion from UK equities, amid concerns about reported tax changes,” she added.

If you are new to investing in funds, it is worth considering that some funds are better for beginners than others. You should do your research thoroughly and consider where any given fund fits with your overall goals and risk tolerance before diving in.

Two Premium Bonds holders have woken up millionaires thanks to NS&I’s October prize draw.

The first £1 million jackpot winner is from East Sussex. They bought their winning bond for £5,900 in May 2018.

Their winning bond number is 331QY484133 and they have the maximum holding of £50,000.

The second is from Somerset, bought the winning bond only months ago, in July 2026, and holds £16,000 in total in Premium Bonds. Their winning bond number is 681KK770541.

Meanwhile, 96 people have won £100,000 in the October prize draw. A further 191 people got a £50,000 payout and 382 won £25,000 each.

How many prizes will be issued in October’s Premium Bonds draw?

Millions more smaller prizes will also be shared out by NS&I this month, including 957 £10,000 prizes.

Over 1.7 million £25 prizes and 2.3 million £100 prizes will also be making their way to winners.

In total, more than 6.5 million prizes worth £498 million will be distributed in the October draw.

Here is the breakdown of all the prizes that will be shared out this month:

Source: NS&I

How to check if you've won in October’s prize draw

The two £1 million winners are notified in person by NS&I’s Agent Million each month.

Winners of the £100,000 and lower Premium Bonds prizes can check if they have won the day after the first working day of each month. For October 2026, that date is 2 October.

You can do this by using the Premium Bonds prize checker app, visiting the NS&I website or via Amazon Alexa.

The prize checker app and website will show you prizes you’ve won that month, anything you’ve won in the previous six draws and any older prizes you haven’t claimed yet.

Make sure you have your bond number or NS&I number so you can access your account.

There is no time limit to claim a Premium Bonds prize so you should check if you’ve won anything before and didn’t realise, even if you bought the Premium Bonds years ago.

More than half of UK savers do not expect to have enough to retire on, meaning more people could be forced to use their property wealth for an income boost.

This typically involves equity release plans, which enable homeowners to exchange some of the home equity for tax-free cash payments.

Insurance firm LV= found that almost six in 10 (58%) non-retired UK adults aren’t confident they will have saved enough for a comfortable retirement, and that 39% would consider using property wealth as a source of retirement income.

While equity release may feel attractive, and can allow you to stay in your home and provide a cash boost in retirement, there are major drawbacks to consider.

Lucie Spencer, partner at wealth manager and financial planning firm Evelyn Partners, said: “Equity release may not be the right approach for everyone, and it could be that it is more costly than drawing down other assets, so should be considered alongside other options.”

What is equity release?

Equity release is a way of freeing up the equity you’ve built up in a home in exchange for tax-free cash.

Equity is the part of a property you own. If you have a mortgage, the equity is the difference between your home’s current market value and what’s left to pay on the mortgage.

For example, if your home is worth £300,000 and you have £50,000 left to pay on your mortgage, your equity is £250,000.

Equity released from a property can be taken as a lump sum, smaller withdrawals over time or a mixture of both.

Typically, equity release products are only available to those aged 55 and over.

By releasing equity from your home, you’re taking out a loan which has to be paid back with interest added on top, either when you die or when you move into a care home and your property is sold.

There are two different types of equity release: a lifetime mortgage and a Home Reversion Plan.

Lifetime mortgages are more common and usually have a fixed rate of interest applied for the life of the loan. When you die or move into care, the home is sold to repay the loan and any leftover money goes to your beneficiaries.

Through a Home Reversion Plan, you sell a percentage of your home in return for a lump sum. When your property is sold, the equity release company receives their percentage and the remaining balance is paid to the estate.

Should you use your property for retirement income?

You may want to use equity from your property to fund retirement. Or maybe you want to gift money to a loved one.

But, there are pros and cons to consider.

Pros

Most lifetime mortgages don’t require monthly repayments, which means the loan and any additional interest don’t have to be repaid until you die or move into a care home.

Some lifetime mortgages let you make monthly repayments if you want to keep the overall balance of the loan and interest down and lower the eventual bill.

Equity release can also lower the inheritance tax (IHT) bill for your beneficiaries as you are reducing the size of your estate.

One major advantage to equity release is that you get to stay in your home.

Spencer, from Evelyn Partners, said: “You can stay in your family house for longer and use the funds to spend as you wish to, for example improving your lifestyle.

“You don’t need to release everything in one go and can opt to take smaller sums.”

Cons

Borrowing against your property can see interest build up significantly over time, especially if you take out a loan earlier in your retirement, meaning your beneficiaries are left with less or you don’t have enough to pay for care.

Spencer said: “The whole property could end up being owed [to the equity release company] once interest has been rolled up and the debt can increase substantially due to compounding [interest] which could significantly impact the amount of assets you leave behind to children or other family members.”

Some equity release products come with a ‘no negative equity guarantee’ – which means your estate will never owe more than the property is worth when sold. It’s worth finding out if a product you’re looking at has one of these.

Another drawback to equity release products is that some come with early repayment charges, so if you want to pay off a bit of the loan early, you’ll have to pay a fee.

Taking out equity release can also impact your eligibility for means-tested benefits which are based on your income, such as Pension Credit.

Having to pay for equity release could be a shock to beneficiaries upon your death as well.

Spencer said: “I would really stress that [you should] involve the family members that are going to be dealing with your estate or benefitting from your estate when you pass away.

“Most of the complaints [we notice around] equity release are when the kids don’t know [it’s been taken out].”

Meanwhile, some equity release companies will attach certain conditions or rules to letting you take out equity on your home such as not smoking in the property or repainting the home.

Spencer said: “Because, effectively, you’ve signed over a chunk of your house to them, and even though it’s still your house, they can put provisos on it to keep it up to a [certain] standard to make sure they get their money back.”

Spencer advised those considering equity release to take professional advice from a Financial Conduct Authority-authorised financial advisor.

She added: “I’d strongly recommend doing so with an adviser who is a member of the Society of Later Life Advisers, who has specialist expertise in this area.”

What are the alternatives?

Downsizing

Downsizing from a more expensive house to a cheaper one can free up equity and could also lead to lower council tax, energy, or other household bills.

You will have to factor in the cost of moving home though, including conveyancing and survey costs, as well as removal company and estate agent fees.

Spencer said: “A lot of clients prefer it [downsizing] because they’re not running the risk of high interest charges clocking up.

“They know their family is still going to inherit the estate and all of the money is still within the estate.”

Retirement interest-only (RIO) mortgages

These types of mortgages are generally designed for those aged 50 and over, and work like other interest-only mortgages where you pay off the interest each month and then pay off the principal loan when you sell your home.

They can be a cheaper alternative to lifetime mortgages because interest isn’t allowed to grow each month, leaving you with a bigger balance when the home is sold.

“It’s not like where the interest rolls up and you can lose the entire value of your house,” said Spencer.

You can also use the money gained from the loan as a gift to a loved one and if you die more than seven years after making it, it will fall outside your estate for IHT purposes, Spencer explained.

Investors appear to have piled into both crypto and gold in the later part of this summer.

Gold was a standout asset during 2025 with gains of 64% during the year, though the price of gold has fallen off in 2026 after hitting an all-time high of $5,595 on 29 January.

Similarly, cryptocurrencies (crypto) endured a challenging start to the year. The price of Bitcoin, the largest and most influential cryptocurrency, fell 28% between the start of the year and 31 July, while Ethereum, the second largest, fell 37% over the same period

However, there has been a partial recovery in August and September, particularly in crypto markets; across these two months, gold gained 2% and Bitcoin gained 33% (as of market close on 28 September).

“Record inflows into Bitcoin and gold exchange-traded products (ETPs) have fuelled the rally in both assets recently,” said Francesco Paganelli, principal, manager research at Morningstar.

Paganelli added that August saw the strongest inflows into gold ETPs in five years, while the recent spate of buying marked “a sharp turnaround for global Bitcoin products”.

What are the similarities between gold and crypto?

It makes sense that gold and crypto markets sometimes move in tandem since there is some overlap in the investment case for both asset types.

In theory, both function as stores of value or a means of exchange that, unlike fiat currencies, have a finite supply. Only so much gold has been and ever will be mined, while most cryptocurrencies have scarcity built into their design. There will, for example, only ever be 21 million Bitcoin produced (the process by which they enter circulation is known as ‘mining’).

That means both asset classes can be viewed as a hedge against inflation; if the value of a currency (particularly the US dollar) shrinks, it takes more of that currency to buy a given amount of gold or crypto.

By extension, both are sensitive to changes in interest rates (again, particularly in the US as both asset classes are usually priced in dollars). If expectations for higher US interest rates increase, it is reasonable for gold and crypto prices to fall, because there is a higher likelihood that US inflation will be lower – and vice versa.

“A common driver appears to be the de-dollarisation trade, whereby investors seek to reduce their reliance on US dollar-denominated assets,” said Morningstar’s Paganelli. “After years of exceptional US equity market performance, many portfolios have become increasingly concentrated in dollar-linked exposures.

“At the same time, rising government bond yields are making bonds less effective as a safe haven, prompting some investors to look elsewhere for assets they perceive as alternative stores of value.”

However, the two are not perfectly correlated. Historically, Bitcoin has tended to perform in risk-on market conditions, while gold has done better in risk-off environments. 2026 has been an exception to that rule – the gains that gold made last year and the outsized impact that interest rate expectations have had on price movements this year have made it behave more like a risk-on asset.

How to invest in gold and crypto

You can buy a wide range of funds or ETPs that give exposure to gold and crypto prices individually. The rules for crypto ETPs are evolving; as of April 2026, crypto ETPs can only be held in an Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA), not a stocks and shares ISA – though as of October 2025 they are eligible to be held in a self-invested personal pension (SIPP).

One product that offers exposure to both assets in one is the 21Shares Bitcoin Gold ETP (LON:BOLD). The ETP invests in both gold and Bitcoin, and adjusts the balance between each asset based on their inverse volatility, meaning the amount of risk you are exposed to from each is equal. As with other crypto ETPs, BOLD can only be held in a SIPP or an IFISA.

As of 28 September, BOLD’s underlying assets were allocated 53.1% to gold and 46.9% to Bitcoin.

Before buying either gold or crypto, though, you should consider where each fits into your portfolio and your risk appetite.

“History shows that crypto's sharp rallies can be followed by equally sharp reversals,” said Paganelli. “With both gold and bitcoin experiencing elevated volatility in recent months, investors should be particularly disciplined about the size and timing of any allocation to either asset class.”

Prime minister Andy Burnham has delivered a welcome lift to beleaguered UK housebuilding stocks ahead of the first Autumn Budget of his tenure with the announcement of a new scheme, which some analysts say could boost housebuilder profits by as much as 70% over coming years.

Hopes that UK housebuilders could benefit from a Burnham boost were vindicated when markets opened on 28 September, following the announcement of the Your First Home scheme aimed at helping first-time buyers get onto the property ladder. The equity loans scheme means you only need a 2.5% deposit, and can get a support of 20% from the government. But, to be eligible, you must purchase a new build from a housebuilder that is part of the scheme.

Shares in Persimmon (LON:PSN) and Barratt Redrow (LON:BTRW) rose around 16% and 13% respectively amid the news.

“The UK government's new equity loan scheme could be the catalyst the UK homebuilding sector has been waiting for,” said Jack Fletcher-Price, equity analyst at investment research company Morningstar. “While the finer details will matter, anything that lowers the deposit barrier for first-time buyers should translate into stronger demand, higher reservation rates and a healthier market for new-build homes.”

The FTSE 350 Household Goods & Home Construction Total Return Index gained around 11% on 28 September, following the announcement of the new scheme. In the 12 months prior to its announcement, the index had fallen 13%.

What is the Your First Home scheme?

The Your First Home scheme aims to enable more people to buy their first home. It is similar to the Help To Buy scheme the Conservative government introduced in 2013 and which ran until 2023, with a second iteration introduced in 2021.

The new scheme will enable first-time-buyers to purchase a new-build home with a deposit of just 2.5% of its value, and to borrow up to 20% in a government-backed equity loan.

As well as being limited to first-time buyers, regional price caps will also limit the value of properties that can be bought using the scheme.

“The previous Help to Buy scheme supported more than 387,000 new-build purchases, with the vast majority of those by first-time buyers,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at wealth manager Hargreaves Lansdown, “so a well-designed replacement could meaningfully lift demand and give builders confidence to start more sites.”

Chiekrie cautioned, though, that exact details of the scheme will be unveiled at the Autumn Budget on 28 October and that, until then, some buyers may choose to hold off, “so sales are likely to remain subdued in the meantime”.

What does Your First Home mean for UK housebuilder stocks?

While it is still a month until the full details of the scheme are announced, markets have been quick to assume that UK housebuilders will benefit from higher demand for new-build homes.

At its peak, the previous Help To Buy scheme supported around 40% of new-build transactions according to a research note from investment bank Peel Hunt. The analysis forecasts a 10% uplift in sales volumes by 2028 alongside a 200 basis point increase in gross margins. That could lead to an increase in earnings per share (EPS) of around 70% for the sector.

“We expect the biggest impact to be on sales volumes rather than house prices,” said Morningstar’s Fletcher-Price, “with Persimmon particularly well placed given its high exposure to first-time buyers.”

He added that Barratt Redrow “trades at an excessive discount to the peer group” and could therefore be an appealing option for value-focused investors.

Analysts at Peel Hunt, meanwhile, believe that Persimmon could see the smallest EPS increases among the sector and that Crest Nicholson (LON:CRST) and Gleeson (LON:GLE) could see the largest rises.

There will also be benefits along the housebuilder supply chain. Brick manufacturers Ibstock (LON:IBST) and Forterra (LON:FORT) derive around 60% of revenue from new builds, according to Peel Hunt, and as such could be key beneficiaries.

The state pension triple lock is set to be replaced with a double lock system in April 2030 to help fund a new free social care service, prime minister Andy Burnham has announced.

Burnham affirmed that he will stick to the 2024 Labour manifesto commitment to keep the triple lock in place for the rest of this parliament, but said he will “adjust” the promise if Labour win a second term in power.

“I won't pretend some of this won't be difficult. I accept I may pay a political price, but someone has to go through the pain barrier and rip the plaster off,” he said during his speech at the Labour Party conference.

Under the current triple lock system, the state pension increases every year by whatever is highest out of inflation, average earnings, or a flat 2.5%.

From April 2030, the first tax year after the next general election, Burnham said the state pension “will continue to rise every year, at least by prices, or 2.5%”.

Assuming Labour won the election so they could change the policy, this would effectively turn the triple lock into a ‘double lock’, protecting the state pension against inflation but ending the direct relationship between the state pension and annual average earnings.

Burnham said the state pension will also “hold its value relative to earnings over time, so that pensioners will always share in the rising prosperity of the nation”.

Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, speculated that this link to earnings over time “could possibly involve an element of smoothing of earnings increases over a few years relative to the increases in prices and the 2.5% increase,” but said that it is currently unclear how this will work in practice.

Smith welcomed the change to the triple lock, saying that it is time for the country to have “serious conversation about how the state pension can remain affordable, sustainable, and fair across generations.”

She added: “It is important to remember that nothing changes for pensioners now. The government has reiterated that the triple lock remains in place until 2029. For millions of people, the state pension is the bedrock of retirement income and will continue to be so.”

Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Now that the move from the triple lock to the double lock has been announced, the government must also provide savers with a stable tax environment and publish a five-year tax roadmap that sets out its plans on the important issues that influence how people plan for retirement such as tax-free cash and pensions tax relief."

Savings from triple lock removal will fund new social care system

Burnham said that scrapping the triple lock in its current form would “generate significant savings” that will be used to create a new ‘national care service’ if voters grant Labour a second term in office.

The proposed service would provide social care for the elderly and operate under NHS principles of being universal and free at the point of use, and would be at the heart of Labour’s next general election manifesto.

Burnham called the plan “a landmark policy as significant as the creation of the NHS itself, and utterly essential to securing its future. We will start laying the ground now for the National Care Service and introduce it in the next Parliament.”

He added: “So this is the deal: a state pension that rises every year, no care charges, and a high-quality national care service to give peace of mind in later life. Conference, I am going to go out and argue for a good deal for our pensioners and for older people in the 21st century.”

Residential adult social care costs an average of £54,000 a year

Implementing a free and universal social care system could save families hundreds of thousands of pounds on average on residential care.

Residential adult social care costs more than £54,000 a year on average in England, while nursing care costs over £71,000, according to a report by Laing Buisson in 2025.

Meanwhile, new data from investment platform AJ Bell suggests caring for a loved one yourself over 20 years can cost £1 million in lost salary and pension wealth.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, said: “When we think about the cost of care, we tend to consider the expense of formal care, which is eye-watering. However, in 2023/24, an estimated 5.4 million people were informal carers, and for them, there’s every chance their responsibilities are costing them dear too.”

Last November, Brazilian federal agents pulled banker Daniel Vorcaro off the tarmac at São Paulo's Guarulhos airport as he prepared to board a private flight out of the country. He was subsequently charged with multiple counts of bank fraud, corruption and money laundering, and is currently awaiting judgement, says The Conversation. Daniel Vorcaro, 42, presided over Brazil's biggest banking failure in a generation – his defunct Banco Master left a $10 billion black hole and many thousands of victims.

He is hardly “the first Brazilian scammer in a banker's suit”. But, aside from scale, what singles this case out is Vorcaro's network of influence, which extends right to the top of the Brazilian establishment. As the country approaches crucial elections, the Banco Master crisis “threatens to shake the country's democracy to its core”. It's hard to find a prominent Brazilian politician – including president Lula – who hasn't been dragged into Vorcaro's net. Portraying himself as a financial wizard, he took “the country's political system hostage”, allegedly building a massive network of tame “economists, influencers, bureaucrats, politicians and judges”. In the months since his arrest, tantalising details of high-level hobnobbing have emerged.

The Brazilian newspaper Gazeta do Povo compares Vocaro's reach into the Brazilian establishment with Jeffrey Epstein's mastery of US power circles. Certainly, the tactics were similar, says The Economist. Vocaro revelled in his “playboy” lifestyle – inviting politicians “to lavish parties with sex-workers” and feting several Supreme Court judges. His bank was essentially a “Ponzi scheme with an influence-peddling operation attached”: Bernie Madoff meets Jeffrey Epstein.

Daniel Bueno Vorcaro was born in southeastern Brazil in 1983 – the son of a real- estate broker, says The Capital Review. Vorcaro studied for a degree and then an MBA at the Brazilian Institute of Capital Markets and embarked on a series of business ventures before getting into banking in 2018, when he struck an agreement to acquire Banco Maxima and rebranded it Banco Master.

“What followed was a period of extraordinary – and, as investigators now allege, artificially inflated – growth.” The engine was “an aggressive retail strategy” based on extensive issuance of bank deposit certificates offering returns way above the market average. “Ordinary Brazilians, lured by yields that rivals couldn't match, poured their savings in.” What they didn't know was that “much of the bank's asset base was hollow”.

Daniel Vorcaro spent millions wooing Brazil's political class

Daniel Vorcaro put substantial effort into wooing Brazil's political right. He spent millions financing Dark Horse, a biopic of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was jailed for orchestrating an attempted coup in 2022 – reportedly at the request of the latter's son, Flavio Bolsonaro, a senator and presidential candidate who until recently denied he'd ever met Vorcaro. But perhaps most worrying, says The Economist, are the relationships forged with leading members of Brazil's judiciary – not least Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes, whose lawyer wife was recently revealed to have signed a $25.5 million contract with Banco Master.

As the probe into Vorcaro's affairs – dubbed Operation Compliance Zero – continues, comparisons with the “car-wash” bribery scandal that rocked Brazil a decade ago are inevitable, says Bloomberg. Much as it might like to, Brasilia's political class can't “put the Master case behind it”. Still, the “biggest loser”, says The Economist, is democracy. Amid all the corruption scandals that have tarnished their country, Brazilians at least used to trust their top court. “Now that trust is fraying.” Corruption at the heart of the country's institutions “could undermine trust in democracy more than Bolsonaro ever did”.

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Revolut co-founder and CEO, Nik Storonsky, has often boasted about his plans to take Revolut from a private tech start-up to a banking giant with technology so advanced, other banks would not be able to compete.

In just over a year after receiving its full banking license, Revolut has done just that. It has become the first UK bank to roll out biometric payments, allowing you to make payments at a store using facial recognition only.

I was invited to demo the system - Pay with Smile - at a nearby coffee shop in London. The face recognition technology requires a customer to simply look at a camera at the till point, smile, and 'kerching'. I was told you don’t have to smile if you’re not the smiley type, but you do have to be moving to ensure the camera is capturing a real person and not just a photo of one.

“And what if you have a twin?” I asked. Revolut said the technology is advanced enough to know the difference between them, recognising distinctive features in movement.

A Revolut colleague guided me through the system. He ordered a coffee, looked into a camera at the till, and in around 3 seconds his payment was made. There is no need to have a phone, card or wallet at hand – and in fact, your phone could be at home.

Alex Codina, general manager of merchant payments at Revolut Business, said: “By combining high-performance processing with facial recognition technology, we’ll replace outdated, fragmented tills with a hyper-efficient checkout experience designed to solve consumer and merchant pain points.”

Revolut claims merchants lose around £2,500 a year in technical glitches and that its advanced technology can help avoid losses caused by terminal outages.

For its banking customers, it claims it offers a speedy way to pay, and perfect for when you are out for a run perhaps and choose not to take your phone, forget it, or want a stress free way to pay without digging out your phone from your bag.

Revolut has started the roll out this week, but is yet to announce which retailers will be adopting this new technology.

Would you pay with facial recognition?

If you have a modern smartphone, then you are no stranger to facial recognition technology. But while you may happily use it to unlock your device and open apps, using your face to pay at stores may feel futuristic.

As you may expect, my first question to Revolut was over safety. Sharing biometrics over till points feels risky and could possibly leave you vulnerable to hackers, but Revolut assured me that no data is stored and staff at till points cannot access the information. It comes with high level banking security and similar technology used in Apple products.

I felt safe with this new advanced tech, but whether it is the future of payments is yet to be seen. Merchants would need to purchase a Revolut register, which is being offered at 0% processing fees. But, while it may feel attractive to small independent retailers like Kiss the Hippo, the coffee store where the biometric payments are available, the real game changer will be when the likes of Tesco or Sainsbury's adopt the system.

Who can use biometric payments?

If you have a Revolut account, you can use facial recognition payments where available.

You do not have to have a premium Revolut account, but you must opt in and scan a QR code at the store for first time use, after which you can be phone-less.

There are no costs to use it, but you may be limited to purchases of up to £200 and there will be times when you have a pin prompt, but you do this on the merchant’s screen and do not need your contactless device at hand.

While I was impressed with the tech, I'd like to hear what you think.

The government is reportedly looking at increasing capital gains tax (CGT) rates to help those on the lowest incomes.

The prime minister Andy Burnham and chancellor John Healey are understood to be mooting raising capital gains tax rates to as high as 45% to pay for a potential £3,000 hike to the tax-free personal allowance from £12,570 to £15,570.

The proposal is presented in a Budget submission from the Labour donor and green energy entrepreneur Dale Vince, The Telegraph reports.

According to modelling by economic research institute the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) commissioned by Vince and seen by the publication, a £3,000 increase in the personal allowance would leave the lowest fifth of earners £600 a year better off.

It would cost the Treasury £20 billion but could be funded by increasing CGT rates and ending interest payments on Bank of England reserves while Vince said giving money back to lower earners through a lower income tax bill would also help stimulate the economy.

The proposals are reportedly being considered by the Treasury and No.10 ahead of the Autumn Budget next month.

A Treasury spokesperson said: “As has always been the case, decisions on tax are a matter for the chancellor to set out at fiscal events, rather than routinely commenting on rumour, speculation or proposals.”

What are the current rates of capital gains tax?

Currently, basic rate taxpayers pay a capital gains tax rate of 18%, while higher and additional rate taxpayers pay 24%.

The capital gains tax allowance is £3,000 per year, so you’re only taxed on any capital gains which exceeds this.

CGT has been targeted by both the previous Conservative Party government and the current Labour government in recent years.

The lower and higher rates of CGT were raised with immediate effect in the 2024 Autumn Budget while the tax-free allowance was slashed from £12,300 to £6,000 in 2023 and then halved to £3,000 in 2024.

Is there support for a capital gains tax hike?

A number of people close to Burnham have called for a change in the CGT rules to drum up cash for the Treasury.

In May, Louise Haigh, now first secretary of state, called for CGT to be brought closer to income tax rates.

“It would shift the taxation burden away from punishing work, and towards unproductive capital accumulation which does little to grow the everyday economy,” she said in an essay published in the Renewal journal.

In the same month, defence secretary Wes Streeting also called for CGT rates to rise in line with income tax bands.

Dan Neidle, tax lawyer and founder of the Tax Policy Associates think tank, said he thought Streeting’s proposal was “good”, suggesting the extra money brought in from raising CGT could be used to cut the basic rate of income tax.

“That would be a brave thing for a Labour politician to do, but in my opinion the right thing at this moment. Spend the rest on e.g. defence,” Neidle said.

However, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has suggested significantly raising CGT rates could actually cost the Treasury money, as it would lead to behavioural changes.

Daniel Herring, head of economic and fiscal policy at the CPS, said: “It punishes the kind of productive investment the country needs to grow, those most likely to pay it can and will leave the country.”

Soaring oil prices have pushed UK inflation to a five-month high. Consumer prices rose 3.1% in the year to August. Motor fuel prices rose nearly a quarter, with petrol rising to 161.3p per litre and diesel hitting 181.8p. Brent crude is back above $100 a barrel. Trading at $108 as of Wednesday, it has risen 78% since the start of the year.

While there is no end in sight to America's war with Iran, until recently the White House had seemed to be gaining the upper hand in the economic battle. Despite the closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz artery, oil prices had stayed below $100 for several months. That was in large measure thanks to clandestine shipments through the strait – high-risk “dark crossings” made by crude tankers with their transponders turned off so as to evade Iranian detection, say Dmitry Zhdannikov and Anushree Ashish Mukherjee for Reuters.

Together with pipelines that circumvent the Strait of Hormuz, the “industry consensus” is that roughly two-thirds of pre-war Persian Gulf volumes are still making their way out of the region. All told, such “dark shipments” may have reached 500 million barrels between June and August, enough to put a meaningful dent in the world's thirst for fuel.

Now the pendulum is swinging the other way. Last week, Saudi Arabia was forced to close its vital east-west pipeline following attacks by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. That may cut global oil supplies by as much as 3.6 million barrels per day, equivalent to 3.6% of global demand, according to analysis by Kpler.

Pipelines have been a major tool for bypassing Hormuz, but these strikes are a reminder that they can be destroyed, Anne-Sophie Corbeau of Columbia University tells the BBC. In war, pipelines are “sitting ducks”.

Meanwhile, the alternative Red Sea route is coming under renewed threat from Yemen's Houthi militia, says Gideon Rachman in the Financial Times. The Houthis are a tough nut to crack. They have been fighting better-equipped enemies for more than two decades. The persistence of the Taliban, another US adversary that ultimately outlasted Washington's patience, comes to mind. Another vital energy route is being squeezed just as the northern hemisphere enters winter.

Surging oil price at the root of the debt crisis

Surging energy prices and inflation are the root cause of the global spike in government borrowing costs, says Aaron Back in The Wall Street Journal. The benchmark US ten-year Treasury this week topped 5% to hit its highest level since 2007. After years of deficit spending and the “twin crises” of Covid-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the world's developed nations entered this year in a “weakened fiscal position”. That was “the dry timber that the Iran war now threatens to set ablaze”.

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“We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans!”, says Anthropic researcher Evan Hubinger on X. He thinks there is more than a 10% chance we could all be dead “within the next decade”. Talk of AI's apocalyptic potential is in the air. Senior figures at AI labs are said to be terrified by the capabilities of recent models, which could be used to create bioweapons or elude human control and go rogue. The panic hit a new level at the weekend when a group of AI CEOs, including Dario Amodei – Hubinger's boss at Anthropic – publicly backed calls for a slowdown in AI development.

Anthropic: the AI company at the centre of a media storm

Scary stuff. Perhaps Silicon Valley really has been seized by a collective spasm of conscience about the consequences of building AI. Or maybe this is a PR campaign so slick and devious that it would make Alastair Campbell weep. For one thing, the timing is highly suspicious. Anthropic, the AI startup at the centre of the current media storm, is preparing to launch the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history in a matter of weeks.

A basic tenet of critical thinking is to pay attention to vested interests. Dario Amodei is not a neutral commentator. He is trying to secure an IPO valuation of up to $2 trillion. Yet much of the tech media, keen for a dramatic story, uncritically treats the self-serving pronouncements of AI executives as objective statements of fact.

The more conspiratorially minded pointed out that the tweet by Jacob Coxon, the Anthropic researcher whose resignation triggered the latest news cycle, was viewed 140 million times despite the fact that his account had almost no prior activity. While Coxon's concerns are probably genuine, the way his message was picked up and boosted by multiple influential figures appears less than organic.

On the face of it, it's not obvious how dire warnings about existential risk would be beneficial to the AI industry. Big tobacco spent years suppressing information about the dangers of its products. So why are AI executives so keen to talk about how their technology could be used by terrorists or lead to the extinction of swathes of white-collar work?

Is Anthropic doom trolling?

The answer, as Cal Newport, a computer science professor at Georgetown University, argues, is the pervasive use of a marketing technique he calls “doom trolling” (a spin on phone addicts' “doom scrolling”). Fear sells. Outrageous claims about the dangers of large language models (LLMs – the currently favoured AI technology) go viral, generating vast amounts of free media coverage for the company that originated them. Talk of existential risk makes AI products appear hugely powerful and desirable.

This buzz helps to distract from the less exciting reality. Yes, LLMs can do impressive things in highly structured domains such as coding and translation, where clear failure conditions help limit their tendency to go off the rails. In other areas (including journalism), their catastrophic tendency to make up information greatly circumscribes their usefulness.

In short, the LLM is a new software category, but investors are not going to pay trillions of dollars for a newer version of Microsoft Excel. Instead, these tools must be imbued with a dark, apocalyptic glamour. Such doom-mongering is longstanding industry practice. As Parmy Olson notes on Bloomberg, in 2019 OpenAI said it would hold back its GPT-2 model from general release on the grounds that it was too dangerous – this for an LLM that struggled to answer primary-school-level reasoning tasks. Terrifying indeed.

This year the AI doom campaign has been turned up to max. Barely a week goes by without claims (all originating from within the AI companies themselves) that a bot has gone on a rogue hacking spree, CEOs, including Anthropic's Dario Amodei, have backed a slowdown in the development of AI or that a new model can't be released because it creates serious cybersecurity risks (it is then released shortly afterwards anyway). The effect has been to generate precisely the sort of frenzied atmosphere that one would want to surround a trio of high-stakes AI-linked IPOs: SpaceX in June, Anthropic scheduled for October, and OpenAI sometime next year.

Who benefits from AI doom trolling?

The AI industry's calls for regulation carry the whiff of “regulatory capture”. Government red tape is more burdensome for upstarts than it is for big established players. New safety regulations could help AI leaders throttle the competition. There is persistent suspicion that Anthropic's Amodei would like to see regulations that effectively excludes his main competitor – cheaper, open-source, often Chinese AI – from major Western countries. If you can't beat them, ban them.

It is also possible that calls for a slowdown represent an attempt to put a brave face on the fact that the AI arms race is becoming too expensive. OpenAI is on course to spend $45 billion this year alone on training and inference (the cost of running AI), but the performance of new models is running into diminishing returns. That isn't an ideal backdrop in which to successfully list a growth company. Instead of breaking the bad news to investors and tanking the valuation, why not piously tell the media you are choosing to slow down development because of your abundant love for humankind?

Don't fall for the hype

What does all this mean for ordinary investors? For starters, don't fall for the tech hype machine. Steer clear of this year's big flashy IPOs, a crowded trade if ever there were one. Secondly, diversify widely. Continue to look for the sort of underexplored investment themes that we cover in depth. And finally, keep your head. There is no knowing how long the current AI fever will last, nor exactly how wide the damage will be when it breaks, but you can at least regain some tranquillity by tuning out the endless talk of doom. Perhaps AI really will kill us all in some hypothetical future. But for now, it is the AI-marketing hype that represents a clear and present danger to our collective mental health.

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Challenger bank Monzo has launched a new credit card offering customers the chance to earn cashback and automatically invest it.

There are many cashback credit cards on the market, letting you earn rewards on your everyday spending, but Monzo’s new Aura card is the first in the UK to allow you to auto-invest any cashback you earn.

The card has a monthly £15 fee (£180 a year) and can be opened by existing Monzo customers aged 18 or over who have a Monzo current account.

The account is being gradually rolled out so might not be available to open yet. Monzo said it will contact customers to let them know when they can apply.

Luke Enock, general manager of borrowing at the bank, said: “We know our customers really value products that deliver both immediate benefits and longer-term financial progress in one.

“For the first time, Aura combines fee-free auto-investing and cashback as you spend, so every purchase has the potential to do more.”

What’s on offer from Monzo’s Aura credit card?

The Monzo Aura card offers 1% cashback on food shopping and 0.5% on everything else. Cashback is uncapped so there’s no limit on how much you can earn.

The average person spends £33 on food and non-alcoholic drinks each week, according to the government, or £1,716 a year. Someone spending this amount would get £17.16 in cashback a year from the Monzo Aura card.

If that person spent £10,000 a year on everything else, they would receive £50 in cashback.

The Aura card also comes with a range of perks which Monzo says are worth £360 a year, including an Apple TV subscription which is typically £9.99 a month and Google AI Plus which costs £4.49 a month.

You also get two airport lounge passes and two airport fast-track passes per year.

The card has a representative APR of 64.2% (variable) because of the high £15 monthly fee, but the purchase rate, which is applied if you don’t pay off your balance in full each month, is 29% per year (variable).

Credit cards in the UK come with Section 75 protection. This means the credit lender is jointly liable with the retailer if anything goes wrong with a purchase, if it is more than £100 and up to £30,000.

How does Monzo Aura’s auto-invest feature work?

The main unique selling point of the Aura card is the auto-invest feature on cashback earned. The feature can be turned on and off when you want.

You can invest in a range of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) including the FTSE 100, S&P 500 and Nasdaq, as well as exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) in gold and silver.

You will pay a fund management fee to asset management firm BlackRock, but it comes out of the value of your investments rather than as a separate charge.

The value of your investments could go up or down and you may get back less than what you put in.

How does Monzo’s Aura credit card compare?

The American Express Platinum cashback credit card is arguably more competitive – you can get 5% cashback (up to £125) on purchases for the first three months, dropping to 0.75% on spending up to £10,000 per year afterwards.

It also has a lower £25 annual fee versus Monzo’s £180 per year fee. Its purchase rate is a similar 29.1% per year (variable).

American Express also has an Everyday cashback credit card with no annual fee offering 5% cashback (up to £125) on purchases for the first three months, dropping to 0.5% on spending up to £10,000 per year afterwards. The purchase rate is 29.1% per year (variable).

Santander’s Rewards Credit Card comes with no monthly fee and offers 3% cashback on travel, eating out and takeaways and 0.25% on food shopping in your first year. After the first year, you earn 0.25% on everything.

You can also get 35% off Santander Travel Insurance.

Rachel Springall, finance expert at data firm Moneyfactscompare, said: “The Aura card will be of most benefit to consumers who use a credit card as their preferred choice when covering everyday expensive and frequent grocery bills, but also those who might want to automate small investments through the cashback they earn.

“As with every credit card, it’s important to pay off debts before interest applies, because interest charges could wipe out the benefits of the cashback offer. Clearing the balance every single month will be essential.”

One of the biggest appeals of investment trusts is their ability to pay out dividends, even during tougher economic times.

However, some investment trusts are better than others at consistently increasing the amount they return to their shareholders.

The Association of Investment Companies (AIC), an industry body representing investment trusts, tracks so-called ‘dividend heroes’ – investment trusts which have raised dividends for at least 20 consecutive years.

Annabel Brodie-Smith, director at the AIC, said: “Investment trusts can achieve these impressive long records of dividend growth because they can smooth their flow of dividends.

“A trust can retain up to 15% of the income it receives each year, and this reserve of income can be used to boost dividends when markets are difficult.

“Dividends are never guaranteed, but these long records of resilient dividend growth are much appreciated by income investors.”

The investment trust dividend heroes with the longest dividend-raising streaks

The City of London Investment Trust (LON:CTY) topped the AIC’s list, having increased its dividend payout every year for the last 60 years. The trust invests in UK-listed equities, with top holdings as of 31 July including HSBC, Shell and NatWest.

The trust says its focus is on providing a steady income stream to customers in dividends as well as delivering long-term growth on investments.

“By reaching this milestone we celebrate not only 60 years of consecutive annual dividend increases, but also the resilience of the UK market and indeed the benefits afforded to us by the investment trust structure,” said Job Curtis, fund manager at the investment trust.

“Our investment approach prioritises patience, valuation discipline and long-term thinking, all of which has allowed us to navigate the varied market conditions of the past six decades.”

Three investment trusts could join City of London in the 60+ threshold next year, having been consistently raising dividends for the last 59 years: Bankers Investment Trust (LON:BNKR), Alliance Witan (LON:ALW) and Caledonia Investments (LON:CLDN).

Bankers Investment Trust’s main focus is on holding a global portfolio of stocks selected for their potential to grow and generate increasing income over time.

Its largest holdings as of 31 August are in chip designer Nvidia, cloud and e-commerce giant Amazon and chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing: holdings also include American aerospace and defence firm RTX as well as Japan Post Bank.

Alliance Witan is run by 11 fund managers who pick high-conviction stocks from around the world with the goal of delivering long-term returns through capital growth and a rising dividend.

Top holdings as of 31 July are Microsoft, Alphabet and Taiwan Semiconductor, alongside smaller holdings in drinks firm Diageo and Samsung Electronics.

Caledonia invests in public and private companies across the globe, but mostly in North American, UK and Asian-listed stocks, including family services company Stonehage Fleming and investment company Cobepa.

Which investment trust became a dividend hero in 2026?

BlackRock Greater Europe (LON:BRGE) became a dividend hero in May, when it reached its twentieth consecutive year of increased dividends.

The investment trust invests in equities across more than a dozen European countries, with 22.5% based in the Netherlands, 16% in France and more than 16% in Switzerland.

Stocks are held across a range of sectors such as technology, energy and healthcare. The trust has a dividend yield of 1.22% and has grown its dividend at an annualised rate of 3.06% over the last five years as of 11 September, according to Morningstar data.

Andrew Impey, chair of BlackRock Greater Europe Investment Trust, said: “We are pleased to have delivered 20 consecutive years of dividend growth to our shareholders, reflecting the resilience of BlackRock Greater Europe’s underlying portfolio holdings through different market cycles.

“This resilience is underpinned by BlackRock’s highly regarded and well-resourced European team, which seeks to identify the best investment opportunities across Europe, focusing on companies with durable competitive advantages and quality management teams committed to long-term value creation.”

Source: theaic.co.uk / Morningstar, as of 11 September, 2026

Investors holding cash in their stocks and shares ISA face a triple blow from next year when new rules come into effect.

From April 2027, any interest earned on uninvested cash held in a stocks and shares ISA will be taxed at 22%. Investors will also be barred from moving cash from their stocks and shares ISA into a cash ISA.

With many investment platforms paying low or no-interest on cash balances, experts are urging investors to check what interest their earning on uninvested cash held in their stocks and shares ISA, and consider if they could be left worse-off or trapped.

Almost half (46%) of stocks and shares ISA providers pay 0% interest on cash, according to research by consumer group Fairer Finance, while 84% of platforms pay less than 3% – a level below the average for a savings account.

Once the new rules come into force, investors who want to continue holding the cash will either need to swallow low interest rates and extra taxes, or use part of their annual ISA allowance to move it from the investment ISA into a cash ISA.

James Daley, managing director at Fairer Finance, said: “Consumers now face a triple blow: a new tax on cash held in their stocks and shares ISA, no ability to transfer back to a cash ISA, and investment platforms paying little or no interest.

“It’s quite normal for investors to hold cash in their investment accounts. Income that’s not automatically reinvested or maturing investments, can legitimately build up cash on account, and many investors may take their time to decide where to allocate it. Some investors may actively choose to increase their cash balances at certain parts of the market cycle.

“Penalising investors by not paying proper interest on cash holdings risks discouraging responsible investing rather than encouraging it.”

Investment platforms offering low interest rates on cash balances

Interest rates on uninvested cash have tumbled ever since the Bank of England started reducing the base rate, research from Fairer Finance shows.

Of the 49 providers analysed by Fairer Finance, 21 offer no interest at all, 33 offer rates of less than 2% and 37 offer less than 3%.

Britain’s largest investment platform, Hargreaves Lansdown, has halved rates on cash balances below £10,000 since August 2024, moving from 2.75% to just 1.3% today.

The highest interest rate available for uninvested cash in a stocks and shares ISA is currently 3.8%, offered by Trading 212, although this has fallen from a peak of just over 5% in 2024.

What ISA rules are changing?

From April 2027, the ISA regime will receive its biggest shakeup since the tax wrapper was introduced in 1999.

While the total £20,000 annual ISA allowance will remain in place, savers under 65 will only be able to save a maximum of £12,000 a year in cash ISAs.

They will still have the overall £20,000 annual ISA allowance, so if they put £12,000 into cash ISAs in 2027/28, the remaining £8,000 of allowance that year would need to go into a stocks and shares ISA.

The change was announced in the 2025 Autumn Budget by then-chancellor Rachel Reeves who said she wanted to “create more of a culture in the UK of retail investing like what you have in the United States, to earn better returns for savers”.

HMRC later confirmed a set of new anti-circumvention rules in a bid to stop people simply holding cash within a stocks and shares ISA.

A new tax of 22% will be introduced on interest earned from uninvested cash in a stocks and shares ISA.

Meanwhile, ISA portfolios made up of 100% ‘cash-like’ investments like money market funds will also be banned.

To stop people from putting cash in their stocks and shares ISA and then transferring it to their cash ISA, you will not be able to complete an ISA transfer between a stocks and shares ISA and a cash ISA.

More than 5,000 estates paid over £1 billion in inheritance tax on lifetime gifts between 2020/21 and 2023/24, according to new Freedom of Information (FOI) figures.

In 2023/24 alone, 1,390 estates paid £315 million in inheritance tax on lifetime gifts, an average of £226,000 per estate, the figures obtained from HMRC by financial advice firm NFU Mutual showed.

There are annual inheritance tax gift allowances, such as the annual exemption and small gifts allowance.

You can also give away any amount of money and no inheritance tax is owed if you die seven or more years after making the gift, but, if you die within seven years after making the gift, it may be liable for IHT.

These types of gifts are known as potentially exempt transfers (PETs).

NFU Mutual said families were increasingly gifting money or assets to loved ones to reduce their IHT exposure, a trend likely to accelerate with most unused pension pots set to be included within estates from April 2027. However, leaving gifting until too late can see your beneficiaries stuck with a significant IHT bill.

Ade Babatunde, senior financial planning director at wealth management firm Rathbones, said: “Many people start thinking about inheritance tax planning later in life, leaving less time for the seven-year clock to run.

“This is one of the reasons we frequently encourage families to start planning earlier than they think necessary.”

Source: HMRC FOI (submitted by NFU Mutual)

How the seven year rule applies to gifts

How inheritance tax is applied depends on when the gift was made and its size. If the gift is a potentially exempt transfer, meaning it isn’t within an inheritance tax gift allowance, the tax rate may apply on a sliding scale depending on the time between the gift being made and your death. This is known as taper relief and applies to gifts given three to seven years before your death.

It only applies if the value of the potentially exempt transfer goes over your £325,000 nil-rate band – this is a tax-free amount which you can pass on free from inheritance tax.

Source: Gov.uk

Gifts made within the seven years before death ‘eat’ your £325,000 tax-free allowance first, with the tapering of the tax applying to any part above that.

Sean McCann, chartered financial planner at NFU Mutual, gave an example of someone making a non-exempt gift of £100,000 then dying six years later. This would reduce their IHT-free allowance to £225,000 and no IHT would be owed on the gift by their beneficiaries.

However, if the gift was worth £425,000 and that person died six years later, the first £325,000 would ‘eat’ their tax-free allowance and the £100,000 would be chargeable based on the sliding scale.

In this instance, the rate of tax applied would be 8% on the £100,000 (£8,000), not the typical 40%, because the gift was made six to seven years before death.

After the £325,000 tax-free allowance was wiped out, the beneficiaries would have no tax-free allowance left to use against the rest of the person’s estate.

How else to use gifting to lower an inheritance tax bill

There are a number of allowances which are not subject to inheritance tax.

The first is the ‘annual exemption’, which lets you give away up to £3,000 each tax year to one or more people.

If the exemption was not used in the previous tax year, it can be carried forward for one tax year.

“This allows an individual to gift up to £6,000 immediately,” Babatunde, from Rathbones, said.

You can also make smaller gifts of up to £250 to as many people as you want each tax year, so long as you haven’t used another exemption, such as the annual exemption, on them.

In addition, parents can gift up to £5,000 to a child getting married or entering into a civil partnership, while grandparents can give a grandchild who is getting married or entering into a civil partnership £2,500.

You can also give £1,000 to someone getting married or entering into a civil partnership even if you’re not a parent or grandparent.

This wedding allowance can be combined with any other allowance, but not the small gift allowance.

Babatunde said: “For families with multiple children or grandchildren, this can be an effective opportunity to pass wealth at an important stage of life.”

Another avenue for gifting can be made through the gifting out of surplus income rule, with any gifts falling outside of your estate for IHT purposes.

There is no upper limit on how much you can gift using this method, but the gifts must be made as part of a regular pattern, be funded from income rather than capital and not reduce your standard of living.

Babatunde said: “For retirees who receive more pension, rental or investment income than they actually spend, this can be one of the most effective ways of reducing inheritance tax exposure.

“The challenge is ensuring the gifts are properly documented and that adequate records are retained.”

Pensioners will likely get a 3.9% increase in their state pension next April.

Under the triple lock mechanism, the state pension rises each April by the highest of the previous September’s Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation, 2.5% or average earnings growth from the previous May to July.

Provisional figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today (15 September) confirmed average earnings growth between May and July was 3.9%.

Unless CPI inflation for September 2026 rises sharply from 2.9% in July, the 3.9% figure is likely to drive how much the state pension will go up by next April.

The 3.9% uplift will probably be confirmed by the chancellor John Healey in next month’s Autumn Budget.

The latest wages figures for May to July are initial estimates and potentially subject to change when revised data is published in October. However, revisions of this sort are typically minor.

Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at investment platform AJ Bell, said: “Although we still need to see September’s inflation figure and any revisions to July’s earnings growth before we know for definite how much it will increase by in 2027, it’s looking very likely that the value of the full new state pension will surge past £13,000 – and the personal allowance – for the first time.

“Even using the lowest measure of 2.5% under the triple lock means the full state pension amount would exceed the personal allowance of £12,570.”

How much will the state pension rise by?

The full new state pension, paid to men born on or after 6 April 1951 and women born on or after 6 April 1953, is likely to increase from £241.30 per week (around £12,547 per year) to £250.70 per week (around £13,036 per year).

The basic state pension, paid to older pensioners, looks set to increase from £184.90 a week (around £9,614 per year) to £192.10 (around £9,989 per year).

Some people don’t benefit from the state pension triple lock and those on the old state pension won’t see all elements of their pension rise in line with the mechanism.

For example, additional amounts such as SERPS or state second pension are inflation-linked.

Will retirees have to pay tax on their state pension?

More pensioners face paying income tax from April 2027 due to the ongoing freeze to income tax bands and the state pension rising each year.

A recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by Steve Webb, former pensions minister and now consultant at LCP, revealed hundreds of thousands of pensioners are gradually being pulled into paying more tax due to frozen tax thresholds and rising incomes.

With the full new state pension set to breach the £12,570 personal allowance, even pensioners whose sole income is the state pension will be pulled into the basic rate tax band.

However, former chancellor Rachel Reeves said these pensioners are not expected to have to pay the “small amount” of tax on the state pension.

Torsten Bell, minister for pensions, said the chancellor will “set out further details on how that commitment will be delivered at the Budget”.

Analysis by LCP suggests, as the policy currently exists, one in 16 pensioners will benefit from the move.

How to protect yourself from income tax

There are ways pensioners facing a greater income tax bill from next April can lessen the blow.

James Norton, head of retirement and investments at investment firm Vanguard Europe, said: “For those with other sources of retirement income, given the personal allowance remains frozen at £12,570 and the higher rate tax threshold has stayed at £50,270, a considered approach to tax and retirement is needed to make sure you keep as much of your hard-earnt savings as possible.”

Only draw the pension income you need. Leaving surplus funds in your pot will allow it to grow while reducing your taxable income.

You can also make the most of tax-free accounts like ISAs, ensuring any investment gains or interest earned from savings are shielded from tax.

Couples can make the most of each other’s allowances to lower overall tax bills as well. For example, if you’ve used up your capital gains tax (CGT) allowance for the tax year, you could transfer assets to a partner who hasn’t used their full allowance to lower your combined CGT bill.

Savers with Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) could boost their retirement pots by tens of thousands of pounds by ditching platforms with costly platform fees and claiming tax relief, according to new analysis.

Research by investment platform InvestEngine suggests a basic rate taxpayer with a SIPP putting away £500 a month for 30 years could end up £18,000 worse off by choosing a platform with a 0.25% annual fee compared to a fee-free platform.

The same person choosing a platform with a 0.45% annual fee would be £32,000 worse off compared to a fee-free platform, the analysis suggests.

Higher rate taxpayers opting for costly platforms and failing to claim additional tax relief are losing out by even more.

Basic rate taxpayers with SIPPs have tax relief added automatically, but higher and additional rate taxpayers have to claim any extra relief on top, something many forget to do.

This is because tax relief on SIPPs is applied using the ‘relief at source’ rather than the ‘net pay’ method.

InvestEngine’s analysis found a higher rate taxpayer putting £500 a month in a SIPP for 30 years could end up £139,000 worse off based on choosing a platform with a 0.45% annual fee over one with no annual fee and by not claiming higher rate pension tax relief.

Bob Tronson, head of pensions at InvestEngine, said: “Pensions are a long-term product, which means small changes today will deliver surprisingly large improvements over time.

“A fraction of a percentage point in annual fees over decades can cost tens of thousands of pounds. Higher rate taxpayers not claiming the extra tax relief they're entitled to will miss out on even more.”

Source: InvestEngine, based on an initial pension value of £20,000 and annual investment growth of 5%

How do SIPP platform fees compare?

When considering what SIPP to get, there are typically a number of fees to consider. The account fee, sometimes known as platform fee, is one of the most important.

MoneyWeek analysed platform fees across some of the biggest providers to see how they compared.

Fees for trade shares or funds can vary across providers too.

For example, Hargreaves Lansdown charges customers with a SIPP £1.95 for each one-off fund trade and £6.95 per share trade (if they made 0-19 trades the month before) and £3.95 per trade (if they made 20 or more trades the month before).

SIPP customers with ii paying for the basic £5.99 per month ‘core’ package pay £3.99 per fund or share trade.

AJ Bell charges customers £5 per share trade or £3.50 if they had 10 or more share deals the previous month. Fund dealing costs £1.50 per trade.

Some providers have better customer service than others too, while some platforms offer a wider choice of funds or shares to choose from than others.

How to find the best SIPP for you

Ultimately, the best provider for you will depend on what you want from your SIPP and how much money you have to invest.

According to research firm Kepler Trust Intelligence, ii is the best all-round choice for SIPPs based on its fee structure, broad choice of investments and strong customer service.

Freetrade is the best low-cost provider as it charges no trading fees across its plans and has a wide selection of education guides and market insights.

AJ Bell is considered the best for customer service, while also offering a wide range of investments to choose from.

If your choice of SIPP is based purely on platform fee then, generally, platforms charging fixed fees cost less for those with larger pension pots, according to Sam Richardson, editor of Which? Money.

If you’ve got a smaller pot, percentage-based annual platform fees tend to be the most cost-effective option.

Richardson also said it’s worth checking if a platform fee includes the cost of funds held within a SIPP as some providers will charge an additional ongoing fund charge.

He added that sometimes SIPPs with ready-made portfolios can prove cheaper, in terms of fees, than if those same funds were held within a DIY SIPP.

Nationwide has boosted the perks of its fee-free FlexDirect current account, meaning new customers could get up to £370 in free cash in their first year.

The building society has upped its cashback deal, with customers now able to get up to £120 in free cash from spending in their first year, double its previous offering of just £60.

Spending is rewarded through £5 a month cashback when you spend at least £500 on your debit card, up to a maximum of £60 a year.

An additional £5 a month cashback is available when you spend at least £300 through direct debits on anything from water bills to streaming subscriptions, up to a maximum of £60 a year.

In addition to its boosted cashback offer, Nationwide’s FlexDirect account also provides 5% interest on current account balances up to £1,500 in the first 12 months, giving customers up to £75 in interest. This interest rate drops to 1% after your first 12 months.

The FlexDirect current account is fee-free, meaning none of the free cash you earn over your first year with the account will be eaten away by monthly account costs.

Since 2023, Nationwide has also distributed an annual 'Fairer Share' payment of £100 to each individual with a qualifying account, and in previous years having an active FlexDirect account has made you eligible for the payment.

That means if the building society decides to make the payment again in 2027, you may receive an additional £100 bonus.

Fred Powell, head of current account at Nationwide, said: "With our new free FlexDirect account, customers can still earn interest on money in their account, get cashback on everyday spending and benefit from a £175 switching offer.

“It means new customers could get as much as £295 with Nationwide in their first 12 months and that’s without adding the 5% on current account balances [and] access to savings accounts,” he added.

How to get £370 of free cash by switching to Nationwide’s FlexDirect

FlexDirect’s perks mean some new customers could manage to get £370 in free cash in their first 12 months – as long as they keep enough money in the account.

Firstly, new Nationwide customers are eligible for a £175 switching bonus when changing their main bank account to Nationwide through the Current Account Switching Service (CASS).

To qualify for the switch incentive, customers need to complete a full switch using CASS within 28 days of opening the new FlexDirect account, switch from an account with at least two direct debits, and pay in at least £1,000.

Then, once you have an active FlexDirect account, you can get £5 a month in cashback from everyday spending of at least £500, and another £5 a month in cashback from direct debits of at least £300

Together, this cashback will come to £120 over the full 12 months.

Finally, you can get another £75 from the 5% interest on your current account balance over your first 12 months.

To get the maximum amount, you will need to have a current account balance of at least £1,500 and make sure it does not drop below this all year to get the full £75 interest.

Put together, these bonuses mean new customers switching to Nationwide can get a maximum of £370 in their first year with the FlexDirect account – or more if Fairer Share is repeated this year.

Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, said: “Households are no doubt looking for simple ways to make their money go further, so it is incredibly important to take time out to review all the financial products they have, including current accounts, which are often overlooked.

“Nationwide’s FlexDirect account could offer customers up to £470 in value in the first year, including cashback, credit interest, the switching incentive and, assuming the £100 Fairer Share is paid again.

“The account is highly attractive all-round and rewards customers on their day-to-day spending with cashback. Those who keep a bit of cash in the account will earn an inflation-busting interest rate.”

Are you eligible for a FlexDirect account?

To be eligible for a FlexDirect account, you need to be aged 18 or over and be a UK resident.

To keep the account active, you will need to pay in at least £1,500 every month. This would most likely come from your monthly salary, but could also come from other sources like savings.

You must also agree that your FlexDirect account is for personal use only, and you must hold no more than three existing sole or joint Nationwide current accounts.

When geopolitical shocks occur, like the conflict in Iran that has shaken markets since late February, knowing where to put your money to protect your wealth is key.

The Association of Investment Companies (AIC), an industry body representing the UK’s investment trusts, has identified the closed-ended funds that have shown the greatest resilience during the conflict’s duration.

Technology-focused investment trusts have led the way, with the continued demand for artificial intelligence (AI) stocks and funds lifting the sector in spite of global turbulence.

“Investment trusts in the technology sector have continued to power ahead as the AI investment boom goes on,” said Annabel Brodie-Smith, director of the AIC. “And the growth capital sector has thrived due to its big holdings in fast-growing private companies and potential IPOs such as Anthropic, ByteDance and Revolut.”

So which investment trust sectors proved the most resilient – and which ones have delivered the greatest returns for shareholders over the course of the conflict?

The investment trust sectors that have been most resilient

It wasn’t all about tech and growth sectors. Some of the other top-performing investment trusts since the start of the Iran conflict have come from less obvious sectors – particularly renewable energy.

^{Source: theaic.co.uk / Morningstar. Share price total return in % from 02/03/2026 to 31/08/2026. Excludes VCTs. See AIC sector definitions.}

“Shares across the [renewable energy infrastructure] sector have bounced as investors have warmed to renewable energy during a war that has exposed the weaknesses of our oil and gas supply chains,” said the AIC’s Brodie-Smith.

Commenting on the outperformance of the renewable energy infrastructure sector, Charlie Wright, co-lead investment manager of Foresight Environmental Infrastructure (LON:FGEN), said “Iran conflict has perhaps prompted investors to reassess the strategic value of renewables and environmental infrastructure, reminding investors that an overreliance on volatile imported fuels is not a wise position to take.”

Which investment trust sectors have outperformed since the start of the Iran war?

Foresight Environmental Infrastructure was one of two renewable energy infrastructure investment trusts to make the top-five in terms of share price total return since the start of the Iran conflict.

Growth capital trust Molten Ventures (LON:GROW), which holds stakes in Revolut and Finnish space economy start-up ICEYE, took the top spot, while the Biotech Growth Trust (LON:BIOG) took second and Allianz Technology Trust (LON:ATT) came third.

^{Source: theaic.co.uk / Morningstar. Share price total return in % from 02/03/2026 to 31/08/2026. Excludes VCTs and trusts in liquidation.}

Stephen Packwood, co-manager of Greencoat UK Wind (LON:UKW) said “investor interest in renewables has picked up since the start of the war given security of supply and cost of energy concerns” but that the trust’s “strong performance in terms of power and net cash generation” had been the main driver behind its outperformance, covering its dividend payout in the first six months of 2026 and providing further capital to grow the business.

“Renewables, in particular wind, are well placed to take advantage of the forecasted increase in electricity demand over the coming years,” he added.

While Andy Burnham's government will be left looking at ways to cut its spending as costs continue to rise, one quick win could be to remove the triple lock pensions system which could save the Treasury £3.3 billion.

The triple lock pension system promises to increase state pension payments each year in line with either inflation, wage growth or 2.5% – whichever is higher.

The system was introduced back in 2010 by the Lib-Dem coalition government, and successive governments have since promised to keep it in place.

But, 16 years on, it is considered one of the most expensive measures in place, draining government finances.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which represents more than 50,000 businesses in the UK, said the mechanism should instead rise in line with Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation each year.

The BCC is calling on the chancellor to address it in the Autumn Budget, arguing that the policy should be scrapped to fund a cut to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) for businesses taking on younger workers.

Why should the government remove the triple lock?

The BCC said ditching the triple lock and uprating the state pension in line with the CPI would raise £3.3 billion for the Treasury over two years.

This money could instead be used to extend the existing zero rate of employer NICs to workers aged 21 to 24-years-old. This would lower costs for businesses employing entry-level staff and could get more young people into work.

Calculations by retirement firm Standard Life suggest had the state pension risen in line with inflation instead of wages in April 2026, those on a full new state pension would be £120 a year worse off.

In his first speech as chancellor, John Healey addressed the NEET crisis, which is young people ‘not in education, employment or training’.

With over one million young people labelled as NEETS, he acknowledged that the government and businesses had a moral duty to get young people into work.

Though, when asked about whether he would consider an alternative for the triple lock, Healey simply said he agreed that youth unemployment was an issue.

“We will outline our plans based on the outcomes and recommendations made by Alan Milburn," he said.

He made no comment about replacing the triple lock.

In a snapshot poll, 74% of MoneyWeek readers said they believed the triple lock was vital for pensioners while 22% agreed it was unfair and expensive.

In its submission to the Treasury, the BCC also proposed lowering energy costs and business rates for businesses while increasing support for firms wanting to export globally.

Shevaun Haviland, director general of the BCC, said: “Pro-growth choices have never been more important. The chancellor must use his first budget to cut the cost of doing business, allowing everyone to reap the economic benefits.

“Piling more taxes on firms, would be a road to ruin. The quickest way to destroy business confidence.”

Triple lock under pressure

The triple lock has been called into question by numerous think tanks in recent years, and now the BCC, due to its ever-increasing cost.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) projects the state pension will cost 9% of GDP by 2075/76, up from 5% now, in part due to an ageing population but also the cost of the triple lock.

But despite the soaring costs, policymakers are hesitant to touch the mechanism because it is so popular among voters, namely older ones.

Speaking on the recent MoneyWeek Talks podcast, Steve Webb, the former pension minister who was in place when the triple lock system was introduced, strongly defended the triple lock, saying it was there to do a job.

“The problem with that is if you earn and earn and then stop earning, then the thing you fall onto when you stop earning needs to be connected to some proportion of what you were earning. Otherwise, you just fall off a cliff and your standard of living crashes," Webb said.

"So, the state pension needs to be pegged to a proportion of what people are earning and for 30 years, [prior to the triple lock] that had not happened."

You can watch the full interview here - or listen to it on any podcast platform.

New chancellor John Healey has laid out the principles of his economic policy, saying he will stick to the existing fiscal rules and seek to control public spending while trying to boost growth in Britain.

Healey emphasised his commitment to fiscal discipline and stimulating growth in his first major speech in his new position, delivered at a manufacturing plant in Coventry on 7 September.

The cost of borrowing was a major focus. Gilt yields reached record highs last week with the yield on 10-year UK government bonds (gilts) rising above 5.29% on 2 September, the highest level for 19 years.

"Staying true to our values means being honest about the need to control government spending,” Healey said.

He noted that government debt as a share of GDP has soared from 64% in 2009 to almost 100% today and placed the blame at the foot of successive Conservative governments.

He said borrowing costs were around the G7 average until the Truss budget “crashed the economy [...] Since 2022 we have been paying that Truss penalty as we battle to re-establish belief in Britain.”

“There's nothing progressive about the government spending £1 in £10 on debt interest,” he added.

Healey also sought to reassure markets that he will not let borrowing get out of control or ignore Britain’s self-imposed fiscal rules, saying: “On my first day in the Treasury I said fiscal discipline was my first priority as chancellor.

“It underwrites every promise this government makes and the Prime Minister and I are in lockstep in our commitment to meeting the fiscal rules at the upcoming budget: to balancing the books, with a buffer to protect against uncertainty, to controlling borrowing to bear down on inflation and reducing long term pressures on our public finances.

“This isn’t about lines on a graph, or numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s a matter of values.”

What will happen in the Budget?

As Healey’s speech was mostly in broad strokes, he did not provide specifics on what new policies may be announced in the Budget and refused to answer any questions about it.

Responding to questions from journalists on the subject, Healey said: “If I respond to speculation now that will only fuel more speculation. Every chancellor would say ‘that’s for the Budget’, and I will set out my plans and the future route for the government for this country at that Budget.”

Although we will have to wait for a full economic plan, Healey did make some broad announcements.

On devolution he said: “At the Budget, I will set out a roadmap to fiscal devolution, a permanent transfer of power and resources from Whitehall to our regions, with greater business rates retention for local councils and strategic authorities, grants from central government replaced by a share of local income tax for every mayoral strategic authority beginning in 2028.”

He also made a new commitment to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses by 25% before the end of this parliament in 2029 by taking “an axe to the thicket of consultation, litigation and administration that has a stranglehold too often on private investment.”

The chancellor also said he will make changes to the Treasury Green Book, the guidance on how to evaluate public spending, to skew investment into projects with “more long-term potential.”

Meanwhile, the way the government decides where to invest will start to include “economic potential analysis” in business case decisions to judge regions not on their current state, but on what they could become in the future.

Will taxes rise in the Autumn Budget?

Although Healey did not directly address whether or not taxes will be hiked in his first budget, he stood by the 2024 Labour manifesto which he said made “very strong, very clear, very specific" commitments on tax.

That manifesto pledged that none of the ‘big three’ taxes – income tax, national insurance, and VAT – would be raised on ‘working people’, ruling out the possibility that these taxes will rise.

However, these commitments still leave the door open for alternative tax hikes. For example, Rachel Reeves emphasised this same commitment in her first two budgets but still raised taxes in alternative ways.

Average UK house prices fell 0.4% in the year to August 2026, with prices down 0.2% over the previous month, according to Lloyds Bank.

The average UK property price dropped from £299,569 a year ago to £298,468, according to Lloyds’ latest house price index (HPI).

Prices fell during the month of August from an average of £299,153 in July.

It is the first time annual house price growth has trended negatively since November 2023, according to Lloyds’ data, and comes amid rising mortgage rates and lack of demand in the market.

Mortgage rates have ticked up in recent months as lenders have passed on higher wholesale costs to consumers due to the conflict in the Middle East.

The average two-year fixed-rate deal is 5.63% as of 7 September, up from 4.83% on 27 February, according to data firm Moneyfacts, the day before the US first launched airstrikes on Iran.

Andrew Assam, mortgages director at Lloyds, said the housing market was being stifled by these higher mortgage costs and sellers holding out for higher offers.

“The housing market has faced a more difficult backdrop in recent months, with the impact of global events on inflation and borrowing costs creating greater economic uncertainty,” said Assam.

“What we're not seeing is a rush of homeowners cutting prices. But more are choosing to sit tight, with sellers reluctant to accept offers they feel are too low, while some buyers are waiting to see how conditions develop. As a result, fewer homes are changing hands.”

North-South divide remains

There continues to be a strong regional divide when it comes to how well house prices are performing, according to Lloyds.

House prices in Northern Ireland were up 6.9% in the year to August, with the average property price now sitting at £231,245.

Scotland also continues to see strong growth, with prices rising 3.5% to an average of £223,437. Property values in Wales rose by 0.6% in the year to August to £230,282.

The North East and North West regions of England also saw positive movement, recording respective annual rises of 2.7% (£184,370) and 2.0% (£248,675).

In contrast, the story is much less positive across southern England and London.

The average house price in the South East fell by 1.6% in the year to August to £381,729, followed by Greater London where the average property value dropped by 1.5% to £534,177 over the same time period.

The South West and Eastern England both recorded annual house price declines of 1.2%, with average house prices now sitting at £298,807 and £331,410, respectively.

Jonathan Hopper, chief executive officer of search agent Garrington Property Finders, said a glut of supply in London and the South East of England was “attracting too few serious buyers” which was dragging prices down.

Hopper added: “High property values in these areas mean that many buyers need a large mortgage in order to afford the home they want, and the jump in interest rates over recent months has squeezed the amount they can afford.

“This has made buyers highly price-sensitive. As a result many are asking for, and getting, reductions on the prices of properties that have been on the market for a while.”

In contrast, the market was more “free-flowing” in northern England and Scotland, Hopper said, “with prices there still ticking up amid more balanced supply and demand”.

What could come next for house prices?

Activity in the housing market tends to slow in the summer and tick back up in the autumn, increasing demand and sellers’ opportunity to drive a higher asking price.

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at estate agent Knight Frank, said that whether or not that trend played out this year will depend on any pre-Budget speculation and how the conflict in the Middle East, and any possible inflationary impact, unfolds.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at investment platform AJ Bell, added: “If the market grinds to a halt and prices remain depressed, it will make life even tougher.

“It’s difficult to muster enthusiasm for a purchase when you’re faced with having to pay higher monthly mortgage costs for a house that could lose value. It means more buyers are likely to sit tight.

“At that point there’s a decent chance that the market could suffer even more. We could see more widespread falls, as sellers are forced to cut prices. Alternatively, we could see the property market stall entirely, as nobody is prepared to blink.”

Bonds are central to the global financial system, and when their yields rise it can have a significant impact on your finances.

Bond yields – the amount that bonds pay in interest as a percentage of their price – are reaching all-time highs.

In August, yields on 30-year US government bonds (Treasuries) rose to over 5.3% , the highest level since June 2007. The yield on 10-year UK government bonds (gilts) rose above 5.29% on 2 September, the highest level for 19 years.

While higher yields might sound l positive, they actually reflect falling bond prices and a lack of confidence in the bond’s issuer’s ability to meet payment obligations.

In the case of gilts, when yields rise, the market price of existing gilts fall, making them less attractive for investors. Rising bond yields will also make any debt you hold more expensive, and could lead to tax hikes.

That said, from a macroeconomic standpoint, it could be argued that higher bond yields are necessary.

“One argument is that the rise in bond yields is not bad news, but good news, because it is a logical result of healthy economic growth rates,” said Russ Mould, investment director at investment platform AJ Bell. “It may also represent a return to normality after the crazy days of the 2010s and early 2020s, when headline interest rates and benchmark bond yields were near zero. That implied a cost of money, and time, of almost zero, which made little real sense.”

Why are bond yields rising

The current bond sell-off is being driven by several factors: in part including the threat of higher inflation due to the ongoing Middle East conflict, as well as the increased likelihood of central banks hiking interest rates in order to combat this inflation.

“Markets are now pricing in three hikes from the Bank of England over the next year,” said Matthew Amis, investment director, rates management at Aberdeen Investments. “Gilt yields look elevated here but until oil and gas start freely moving in the Straits of Hormuz, gilt yields are going to struggle.”

At the same time, bond markets are spooked by escalating levels of government debt. US government debt recently passed $40 trillion; in 2025, US government debt was already over 123% of the country’s GDP.

Oliver Faizallah, head of fixed income research at wealth manager Raymond James, attributes the bond yield spike specifically to US Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Kevin Warsh’s recent comments at the central bank’s Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on 28 August.

“We received no new information in the form of new macroeconomic data points, however a firmly hawkish tone from Warsh was enough to move markets,” said Faizallah. Warsh pointed to the strength of the US economy as well as his commitment to bringing inflation below the Fed’s 2% target.

“This resulted in markets pricing in more than two hikes by the Fed over the next 12 months,” said Faizallah.

How are bond prices, inflation and interest rates linked?

Bonds are sensitive to inflation. The amount that a bond pays to its holder is fixed in nominal terms (which is why bonds are referred to as ‘fixed income’), so if inflation rises, the real value of the bond to its holder falls. When bond prices fall, yields rise.

Bonds are also sensitive to interest rates – the rate of interest that central banks, like the Bank of England, pay to banks and other financial institutions that deposit money with them. Higher rates typically mean lower bond prices and higher yields, particularly on short-dated bonds, and these are the ones that have the biggest impact on mortgage and cash savings rates.

When anyone borrows money – be it the government or a couple buying a property – they have to offer the lender a better return than they would get by depositing their money at the central bank. So interest rates directly impact bond prices; when they rise, the cost of borrowing rises for everyone – governments, businesses and individuals.

What higher bond yields mean for your personal finances

Higher borrowing costs will have impacts across your finances.

“Credit card, mortgage and auto loan interest rates will rise if bond yields rise, as the lenders seek to preserve loan book margins and manage their risk,” said AJ Bell’s Mould.

Worryingly, higher bond yields could also lead, indirectly, to higher taxes. High gilt yields mean that the UK government is paying more interest on its debt. That will limit what chancellor John Healey can do when he announces the Autumn Budget in October.

The government’s fiscal rules prevent it from borrowing money to pay for day-to-day spending, and require debt to be falling as a share of the economy by 2030; any increase in current borrowing costs will have to be made up for with higher tax take.

On the other hand, higher interest rates would mean that you earned more money as interest on savings and cash.

How do higher bond yields impact the stock market?

Higher bond yields can also have a large impact on the stock market.

When professional (and some more sophisticated amateur) investors estimate the present value of an investment, they will do so by comparing the future returns they expect from it to current bond yields (in other words, the alternative ‘safe’ investment they could make instead). This is known as a discounted cash flow model.

The higher bond (and especially gilt) yields rise, the less appealing, in relative terms, a stock whose price is based on years worth of future returns becomes. Why take the risk on a company which could fail if you can make good returns with less risk in the bond market?

Higher bond yields could therefore mean “lower theoretical equity valuations, especially for companies whose strongest years of profit and cash generation may be some time in the future, such as technology and biotechnology companies”, said Mould.

“For now, higher bond yields are not unduly inconveniencing the FTSE 100, which still trades close to all-time highs, within touching distance of the 11,000 mark and up by more than 100% from the Covid-19 lows of March 2020,” Mould continued. “But in the end, weight stops trains and racehorses and higher returns on cash and fixed-income securities slow down stock markets – it is a matter of degree.”

Mould added that if the Bank of England hikes interest rates or if bond yields rise further, the UK’s stock market could start to struggle. “In a worst case: earnings growth could take a hit if higher borrowing costs cool consumer spending and corporate investment; takeovers could dry up if the cost of any debt used to fund them means such deals are no longer attractive; and higher yields on bonds make the yield on equities look less appealing.”

Should you invest in bonds?

Bond prices are falling; the returns you’re making on them (the yield) is rising, so is this a good time to buy bonds?

The issue is always one of risk. With corporate bonds, the risk is that the company you’re buying the bond from might default.

Government bonds in a developed economy like the UK would almost certainly never default on its debt. It is more likely to print money – thereby devaluing the currency – in order to meet its obligations. That means the main risk with government bonds is inflation.

Raymond James’s Faizallah believes that, while the recent bond sell-off isn’t unwarranted, it means the risks to bonds are now priced in.

“As it stands, bond yields are priced for higher and prolonged second round inflation, consequent central bank hikes, and further government spending driven by an increase in bond sales,” he said. “With the bad news in the price, there is a limitation to how much further bond yields can keep climbing.”

Investors pumped £278 million into funds in July, but sold off billions of pounds of equities amid domestic political uncertainty and global volatility.

While some investors were spooked, fund flows narrowly remained positive according to the latest data from the Investment Association, an industry body representing the UK’s investment managers.

Although on balance investors were confident in July, with more money invested than cashed out, the month’s figures are a sharp drop from the £3.6 billion inflow recorded in June.

In particular, investors continued to sell off their equities in July, with the asset class having outflows of £2.1 billion amid the continuing war between the US and Iran.

The UK saw the largest fund outflows in July as retail investors took a collective £1.6 billion out of British equities, the highest figure since January 2025. Overall net outflows from the UK were £1.3 billion across all asset classes.

This was likely a result of political uncertainty at home as Andy Burnham ousted Keir Starmer as prime minister, leading investors to take a more cautious stance as they waited to see the new premier’s plans for the country.

While equities fell out of vogue in July, more retail investors turned to fixed income amid the global and domestic uncertainty, with net flows in the month reaching £863 million, the fourth consecutive month of inflows for the asset class.

Miranda Seath, director of market insight & fund sectors at the Investment Association, said: “As domestic and geopolitical uncertainty grows, July saw modest net retail sales of £278 million and a six-month low for gross sales at £30.1 billion, a sharp decline to the inflows experienced in H1.

“The composition of flows points to more cautious positioning, with investors continuing to favour fixed income and mixed asset funds while stepping back from equities.

“While July’s uncertainty has led to muted flows, this month’s data suggests that many investors are not withdrawing from markets altogether, but are remaining selective and continuing to seek diversified, lower-cost exposure alongside more defensive allocations.”

What did Brits invest in in July?

The asset class with the largest inflows in July was fixed income, with £863 million placed in it.

Government bonds were the most popular fixed income investment (£333 million), followed by strategic bonds (£319 million), mixed bonds (£181 million), and specialist bonds (£122 million).

Mixed asset investments had the second-largest inflows of £733 million, followed by miscellaneous other investments (£589 million), and money markets (£206 million).

On the other hand, property saw minor outflows of £0.05 million, while equities saw the highest outflows of £2.1 billion.

While British retail investors sold off investments in their home country, they kept investing in America.

North America funds had the largest retail inflows during July, as Brits poured £192 million into them. This was followed by global funds (£50 million), and Europe funds (£23 million).

UK funds saw the largest outflows, as a massive £1.6 billion was taken out of British funds. Seath suggested the outflows were a result of the political uncertainty in Britain.

“Investors will be looking ahead to the new Government’s first Autumn Budget and the forthcoming 10-year plan for Britain in order to inform investment decisions based on the direction of economic, tax and investment policy, particularly in light of renewed inflationary pressure further tightening the UK’s fiscal headroom.”

Overall Asia funds had the second-largest outflows of £97 million, followed by Japan funds with outflows of £81 million.

Will net inflows turn to net outflows?

While investor sentiment has been buoyant so far this year, with net flows not turning negative for all of 2026 despite geopolitical headwinds, how long will the optimism last?

Not for long, seems to be the answer as investor confidence fell sharply in August, according to Boring Money’s index.

The index fell 12% from 52 to 46 in August as investors became increasingly pessimistic about both the UK and global economy after an optimistic June and July.

Meanwhile, 29% of investors say they are planning to move more investments into cash over the next six months, according to the research, indicating we could see more money taken out of the stock market in the remainder of 2026.

Holly Mackay, CEO of Boring Money, said: “June and July were positive months as investors reacted well to the memo of understanding ending the Iran conflict and closer to home, Burnham enjoyed a brief honeymoon period. However August’s data show a less positive mindset as investors exhibit lower confidence in both local and global economies and report plans to move more to cash and to invest less.

“Continued geopolitical turmoil, higher energy bills, early thoughts on the upcoming October Budget, and assumed tax hikes coupled with looming higher interest rates are weighing on investors who are a lot more bearish than they were in the summer.”

High earners can now get £500 when switching to one of NatWest’s premier current accounts, which are tailored to the wealthy.

While the offer is one of the best bank switching deals on the market, it is only open to high earners and those with large savings or investments with NatWest.

You need either a minimum income of £100,000 a year (or £120,000 for a joint account), savings and investments of at least £100,000, or a NatWest mortgage of at least £500,000 to qualify for the Premier account.

The new switching offer runs from 2 September and has no fixed end date, but NatWest says it can be pulled at any time.

Tamara van den Ban, managing director of NatWest Premier Banking, said: “We’re here to help our customers feel confident about their money, so they can make the most of the lives they’ve worked hard to build – whether that’s planning for the future, protecting what matters most or experiencing more from life today.

“Our £500 welcome bonus is an invitation for new customers to experience the help and support we can provide.”

What is the NatWest Premier account?

There are three tiers of Premier accounts. The £500 bonus applies when an eligible person switches to any of them.

Customers on all tiers get access to a support service from NatWest’s financial experts who can provide guidance on managing your finances, including on starting investing, tax planning, and mortgages. You may need to pay additional fees for specialist and targeted guidance.

The lowest, free tier is Premier Select. It gives access to 24/7 support from NatWest, fee-free transactions in foreign currencies, and you pay no interest on the first £500 of an arranged overdraft.

The middle-tier Premier Reward account costs £2 a month and gives all the benefits above, along with some extras.

You can get £9 a month in rewards if you pay at least two direct debits per month of at least £4.50 each. You can also earn £1 a month when you log into the NatWest mobile app, and at least 1% cashback at selected retailers when using your NatWest debit card.

The highest and most expensive tier is the Premier Reward Black account.

It costs £36 a month and gives you the benefits of all the previous tiers as well as access to airport lounges, travel insurance, mobile phone insurance, breakdown cover, 25% cashback on tickets to concerts and shows, and discounts at cinemas, and more.

From 1 October, the monthly fee for this account will increase to £39 per month.

Who is eligible for the NatWest £500 welcome bonus?

To be eligible for NatWest’s switching offer, you must meet the following criteria:

• You must have an income of at least £100,000 (£120,000 for joint accounts), or at least £100,000 in savings/investments, or at least a £500,000 mortgage with NatWest
• You must not currently have a NatWest current account as of 2 September
• You must not have already redeemed a different NatWest switching offer
• You must complete a full switch using the Current Account Switch Service (CASS)
• You must pay at least £15,000 into your NatWest Premier account within 90 days of opening the account. This can be done in any number of payments and each payment must stay in your account for at least 24 hours.

If you have met the above criteria, your £500 bonus will be paid within 30 calendar days.

Should you switch to NatWest Premier?

Just because you are wealthy enough to qualify for the NatWest Premier account, it doesn’t mean it is necessarily the best option for you.

Consider which, if any, tier of Premier fits your needs and whether the benefits justify the monthly fee. You could also look at alternative packaged accounts from other banks and compare their benefits.

For example, HSBC is also offering a £500 welcome bonus to switchers who open a Premier Account. This account includes benefits like free travel insurance, preferential rates on loans, digital GP appointments, and more for no monthly fee.

Caitlyn Eastell, personal finance analyst at Moneyfacts said: “NatWest’s new £500 premier switching incentive is a significant move in the battle for affluent current account customers. The headline bonus puts NatWest firmly alongside the most generous premier switching offers.

“For consumers who qualify, the offer makes switching considerably more attractive, particularly because NatWest also bundles in dedicated premier support and financial planning.”

However, Eastell warned the welcome bonus “should be viewed as a sweetener rather than the main reason to switch. Customers should compare the ongoing benefits, eligibility requirements and any fees against their existing bank.”

SpaceX’s initial public offering (IPO) was a landmark moment for many investors, opening up a new galaxy of opportunities.

Its historic June debut saw the space exploration company valued at $1.77 trillion at its IPO and its share price surging by 50% in the first three days of trading. .

SpaceX’s (NASDAQ:SPCX) share price has fallen back since, but the appetite for space investing is only ramping up, with investors having more ways to access the sector than ever before.

Opportunities to invest in space are being fuelled by the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

“Old space put humans on the Moon. New space is building the commercial infrastructure of the global economy,” said Mark Boggett, CEO of space tech investment firm Seraphim Space. “The convergence of AI and space tech, together with rising demand for connectivity, defence and sovereign capability, is creating one of the most compelling investment opportunities of the coming decade.”

How SpaceX and Nvidia are joining space and AI

It’s tempting to think of artificial intelligence (AI) and space as two separate themes, but they are increasingly closely linked.

SpaceX, for example, is largely an AI company since it merged with xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company and maker of the Grok LLM suite, earlier this year. SpaceX identified a $28.5 trillion total addressable market in its IPO prospectus, of which $26.5 trillion was attributed to AI – compared to $1.6 trillion for satellite connectivity and $370 billion for space launch services, which have historically been the pillars of SpaceX’s business.

One of the most visible crossovers between the space and AI themes is the concept of the orbital data centre – essentially, a data centre in space. These don’t exist yet, but they may not be far away: Starcloud, a start-up dedicated to making orbital data centres a reality, raised $250 million at a $2.3 billion valuation in August.

Among the list of investors in Starcloud’s latest investment round are tech hardware giants Nvidia and Cisco.

“Orbital data centres have gone from science fair to a funded race in a matter of months, with Nvidia neatly hedging both sides by backing Starcloud and SpaceX's rival Starmind,” said James Lockyer, research analyst at investment bank Peel Hunt said.

Nvidia especially is increasingly central to the space industry’s designs. Colette Kress, the company’s chief financial officer, confirmed at Nvidia’s Q2 earnings call that SpaceX is among a number of leading partners that the firm’s latest generation of chip, Vera CPU, is being shipped to.

Nvidia also holds a stake in SpaceX via an earlier investment into xAI.

“The chip cycle and the space cycle are fusing,” said Lockyer. “Nvidia funding, supplying, and holding equity in SpaceX ties the single most valuable name in AI to the most valuable name in space, and for investors it makes SpaceX a compute story as much as a launch one.”

How to invest in the new space economy

As the space industry develops, investors have greater access than ever before. While SpaceX is the largest company in the space sector and is readily available to buy since its IPO, other stocks such as Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) and AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) offer space exposure too.

Companies like these can be accessed through thematic exchange-traded funds (ETF), such as the WisdomTree Space Economy UCITS ETF (LON:WSPG) or the Seraphim New Space UCITS ETF (LON:SERA), which launched on 2 September.

Seraphim New Space UCITS ETF is based on the Seraphim New Space Index, which identifies and weights companies across various components of the space investment ecosystem. Its representative holdings include SpaceX, as well as companies like space infrastructure company Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) or BlackSky (NYSE:BKSY) which offers “space-based intelligence” by using AI and machine learning to instantly analyse imagery captured from satellites.

The ETF also holds a position in Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LON:SSIT), which gained 56% in 2026 through to 28 August. Unlike the ETF, which will mostly hold publicly-listed companies, Seraphim’s investment trust mostly holds private companies related to the space economy.

Santander has launched a new bank switching bonus which is currently the highest-paying deal on the market.

The high-street lender is offering new and existing customers £240 to move banks, but you will need to open both a current account and a regular saver with the bank to qualify.

There are currently six bank switching deals on the market, and Santander’s offer is the highest-paying for non-Premier accounts.

Santander’s switching deal – what’s on offer?

Santander’s £240 bonus is available to new and existing customers. To be eligible, you must do the following:

• Request to switch your account before 7 October using the Current Account Switch Service.
• Pay in at least £1,500, which can be done through one or more payments, within 60 days of requesting the switch.
• Set up at least two qualifying household direct debits.
• Fund a Santander Regular Saver with at least £200. You can either open a new account or fund an existing one, if you have one.

You must do this within 60 days of the initial switch request. You are not eligible if you held a Santander current account on 1 January 2026.

If you qualify, you will receive the cash bonus within 90 days of requesting the switch.

Is Santander’s switching deal worth it?

Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk, says: “Santander’s new current account switching offer of £240 could be an enticing choice for customers who might need a financial boost after the summer holidays. It is one of the highest free cash payments available on a fee-free account, ideal for those who want a simple, straightforward account for their everyday banking.”

Currently, there are six bank switching deals on the market.

HSBC’s switch offer pays £500 and another £290 in cashback, but it is only available for higher earners (£100,000+ salary) or those with at least £100,000 in savings or investments. This means Santander offers the best deal for most customers.

Santander’s regular saver pays the most on the market, a top rate of 8% that comes with a fixed 5% bonus for 12 months. You can save up to £200 each month, and the rate is variable. Springall adds: “Unlike some other regular savers on the market that revert to a flexible saver earning a much poorer return, Santander’s account will continue for another year, paying 3% AER.”

You can also access Santander’s inflation-beating fixed-rate ISAs and its new cashback credit card that returns 3% on eligible everyday spending in the first year.

Santander has also promised to keep its Santander and TSB bank branches open for at least two years, following a significant round of closures which took place earlier this year.

If your local branch is affected, another option is Nationwide Building Society, which is currently paying £175 to customers. While that doesn’t make it a market-leading deal, the building society has pledged not to close any more of its branches until 2030.

Plus, Nationwide ranks as one of the best current account providers in the country, and is well-known for its £100 Fairer Share Payment that it has offered for four consecutive years.

Ultimately, you should pick a bank account that offers you more than just a switching bonus and can actually meet your current account needs.

A Premium Bonds holder has won a £1 million jackpot prize with a bond bought just nine months ago.

The saver, from London, bought the winning bond in January 2026 and has a total holding of £45,500. The winning bond number is 659VC982054.

The second jackpot winner is from Norwich and bagged the £1 million with a bond bought in January 2022. Their winning bond number is 484QT130447 and they hold the maximum total of £50,000 in Premium Bonds.

How many prizes will be issued in September’s Premium Bonds draw?

As well as the two £1 million jackpot payout, almost 100 Premium Bonds prizes worth £100,000 will be handed out in the September draw by NS&I. There will also be 192 £50,000 prizes and 381 £25,000 prizes.

More than 6.5 million prizes worth £497 million will be distributed in the September draw.

A total of 858 million prizes worth £42.8 billion have been awarded since the first Premium Bonds draw in 1957.

Here is the breakdown of all the prizes that will be shared out this month:

Source: NS&I

How to check if you've won in September’s prize draw

The two £1 million winners are notified in person by NS&I’s Agent Million each month.

Winners of the £100,000 and lower Premium Bonds prizes can check if they have won the day after the first working day of each month. For September 2026, that date is 2 September.

You can do this by using the Premium Bonds prize checker app, visiting the NS&I website or via Amazon Alexa.

The prize checker app and website will show you prizes you’ve won that month, anything you’ve won in the previous six draws and any older prizes you haven’t claimed yet.

Make sure you have your bond number or NS&I number so you can access your account.

There is no time limit to claim a Premium Bonds prize so you should check if you’ve won anything before and didn’t realise, even if you bought the Premium Bonds years ago.

NS&I says over 99% of prizes have been paid to winners since draws began in 1957, but there are still 2.8 million left unclaimed.

Average asking prices for homes in Glasgow and Manchester’s commuter hubs have soared in the past year, new research shows.

Property portal Rightmove analysed asking price growth in commuter towns linked to six of Britain's largest cities: London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow and Cardiff.

Of the cities analysed, the strongest asking price growth is concentrated in commuter locations by Glasgow and Manchester, with 10 of the top 15 fastest-growing hotspots located here.

Asking prices are rising fastest in more affordable commuter areas, Rightmove said, but falling in some higher-priced locations.