Outside of my time at Scottish Friendly, I have the very great privilege of being Vice Chair on the board of Save the Children UK. Save the Children helps improve the lives of children across the world in a range of ways. From working to ensure children in the UK leave primary school reading competently and able to fulfil their full potential, to significantly reducing…
In the past, long before the advent of ISAs, the closest many people got to investing in the stock market was through a with-profits policy. They were encouraged by a system involving the prospect of annual with-profits bonuses that promised to smooth out fluctuations in share prices and there was also the prospect of a final bonus at the end of the term. In the…
It’s Christmas jumper day today at Scottish Friendly. As per the last couple of years, Scottish Friendly staff have donned their winter woollies to raise funds for Save the Children. It’s been great fun and we’ve raised some cash for this good cause into the bargain. Congratulations to Ross MacLeod (1st Place) and Mark Rennie (2nd Place) who won the prizes for best jumpers!
It’s that time of year. Christmas is almost upon us and the festive season, with all of its financial trappings, is in full swing. It would be difficult to argue against the fact that the season has become a hugely commercial enterprise. Indeed, for many households the Christmas period is a time when finances are put under enormous strain, with already tight monthly budgets being…
Unless you had your head buried in a really good book, you may have seen or heard the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, give his traditional Autumn Statement this week; a mid-year assessment of the state of the current economy and the Government’s strategy on future economic policy. In it, Mr Osborne spoke of the current strength of the UK economy and how economic…
Black Friday. The term sounds too similar to Black Monday and Black Wednesday for my liking. The latter two are dates guaranteed to give palpitations to those who work in financial services. That’s because these names refer to Monday October 19 1987 when world stock markets crashed and Wednesday 16 September 1992 when the UK government was forced with withdraw from the European Union Exchange…
With our Children’s Book Tour we have seen well over 6,000 children across the UK aged between four and 15, and introduced them to a range of authors. One was Jonathan Meres who delighted pupils with his madcap events and accessible stories had even the most reluctant readers reaching for a book. Read how authors have enthused and inspired young people at the events, covering…
The Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour visited secondary schools in Falkirk, East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire this November with the fantastic young adult author Phil Earle. Fuelled by Tunnocks caramel wafers and 90s dance classics, we kicked off the week in Ayrshire, visiting schools in Ayr, Kilmarnock, Stewarton, Auchinleck and Cumnock, before heading back East for two days with schools in Falkirk. Over the course…
On the Scottish Friendly blog we have written long and often on saving and investing money. However one area we haven’t touched upon is actually making money, specifically in the form of a residual income. Speaking from experience, I hope to give you a crash course in just this and take you through the steps from start to finish on how to set up a…
This week is the third anniversary of the Junior ISA (JISA). Designed as a way for parents – and family and friends – to save for their children’s future in a tax efficient way, the JISA was introduced in November 2011 to replace the Child Trust Fund (CTF). The JISA has proven very popular. Currently, nearly four out of every five parents are actively putting…
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