September 17, 2026

UK Government Bonds: Are Gilts Worth Considering Now?

Nick Investing events, reviews, savings 0 Comments

UK government bonds – better known as gilts – have been attracting renewed attention from investors.

That is hardly surprising. After years when interest rates and bond yields were unusually low, gilt yields have risen substantially. In September 2026, the yield on 10-year UK government bonds recently climbed above 5.3%, its highest level since 2007. Even more strikingly, yields on 20- and 30-year gilts have reached their highest levels since 1998.

For investors looking for a relatively low-risk home for some of their money, this may look attractive.

But there is more to gilts than simply seeing a headline yield of 5% or more. Bond prices can fall as well as rise, and the return you actually receive depends on which gilt you buy, the price you pay and how long you hold it.

So, are gilts worth considering now – and what are the best ways for private investors to buy them?

What exactly is a gilt?

A gilt is essentially a loan to the UK Government.

When you buy a gilt, you are lending money to the government. In return, the government normally pays you interest (known as the coupon) twice a year and repays the face value of the gilt when it matures.

For example, suppose you buy a gilt with a nominal value of £1,000 and a 4% coupon.

You would normally receive £40 a year in interest, paid in two instalments of £20.

At maturity, assuming the gilt is held to redemption, you receive the £1,000 face value back.

Gilts are issued by HM Treasury and the UK Debt Management Office (DMO) manages the gilt issuance programme.

There are also index-linked gilts, where both the interest payments and redemption value are linked to inflation. These work somewhat differently from conventional gilts and can potentially provide useful protection against inflation.

Why have gilt yields risen so much?

Bond yields move around for several reasons, but interest-rate and inflation expectations are particularly important.

The recent rise has been driven by a combination of factors, including concerns about inflation, higher oil prices, expectations about future Bank of England interest rates and worries about government borrowing.

The latest move has been particularly pronounced at the long end of the market. On 8 September, for example, the UK Government sold 30-year gilts at a yield of 5.82%, the highest borrowing cost for a comparable issue since 1998.

This matters to investors because higher gilt yields generally mean lower gilt prices.

That may sound counter-intuitive. After all, wouldn’t a higher yield be good news?

It is – if you are buying the bond now.

But existing bonds have to adjust in price to compete with newly issued bonds offering higher yields.

Coupon versus yield – an important distinction

One of the easiest mistakes to make with gilts is to confuse the coupon with the yield.

Suppose a gilt has a 3% coupon but can currently be bought for £90 for every £100 of face value.

You still receive the coupon based on the £100 face value. But because you only paid £90, your overall return if you hold the gilt to maturity is higher than 3%.

This is where the yield to maturity comes in.

The yield to maturity takes account of:

the purchase price
the coupon payments
the time remaining until maturity
the £100 redemption value.

The DMO gives a useful example of this. A gilt bought for £90 and held to maturity can produce a yield significantly above its coupon because the investor also receives a £10 capital uplift when the government redeems it at £100.

This is why investors should generally compare gilts using their yield to maturity, rather than simply looking at the coupon.

The big attraction: relatively low credit risk

One of the main reasons people buy gilts is security.

The borrower is the UK Government, rather than a company or individual. Provided the gilt is held until maturity and the UK Government meets its obligations, the investor receives the promised interest and redemption payment.

That makes gilts considerably less risky from a credit perspective than shares or corporate bonds.

However, “low risk” does not mean “no risk”.

There are two particularly important risks to understand.

Risk 1: Gilt prices can fall

If you buy an individual gilt and hold it until maturity, short-term movements in its market price may not matter much.

But if you need to sell before maturity, they certainly do.

Suppose you buy a 20-year gilt paying a relatively attractive yield today. If interest rates subsequently rise further, newly issued bonds may offer higher yields.

Your gilt therefore becomes less attractive and its market price can fall.

The longer the maturity, the more sensitive a conventional gilt tends to be to changes in interest rates. A 20- or 30-year gilt can therefore experience quite substantial price movements.

The DMO itself warns that the market value of gilts can go down as well as up, potentially resulting in a loss if you sell before redemption.

This is one reason why investors approaching or in retirement should be cautious about automatically choosing the longest-dated gilt simply because it offers the highest yield.

Risk 2: Inflation

A gilt paying 5% might sound very attractive.

But if inflation is running at 4%, your real return is much less impressive.

And if inflation were to remain high for several years, a fixed-interest gilt could lose purchasing power.

Index-linked gilts are designed to address this particular problem because their payments and redemption value are linked to an inflation index.

They have their own complexities, though, and aren’t necessarily suitable for everyone.

So why consider gilts now?

There are several reasons why gilts may be worth a look.

1. Yields are much more attractive than they used to be

For much of the 2010s and early 2020s, investors had to accept extremely low yields on government bonds.

That situation has changed.

With longer-term gilt yields now around 5% or more, bonds can potentially make a meaningful contribution to portfolio income.

2. You can lock in a return for a known period

With an individual gilt, you know the maturity date and the payments that are due under its terms.

If you choose a gilt maturing in, say, five years and hold it to redemption, you don’t have to worry about what the market price is doing in the meantime.

That can be particularly useful for someone who knows they will need a particular amount of money at a particular time.

3. Gilts can diversify a share portfolio

Shares and government bonds behave differently.

They can both fall in value, particularly during periods of financial stress, but they are driven by different factors.

Holding some gilts alongside equities can therefore reduce the overall volatility of an investment portfolio.

4. There is a valuable tax advantage

One particularly attractive feature for UK investors is that capital gains on UK government gilts are exempt from Capital Gains Tax. HMRC confirms that gains on qualifying UK government gilts are exempt from CGT.

This can make certain gilts particularly interesting to investors who hold investments outside an ISA or pension.

For example, if you buy a gilt below its £100 redemption value and hold it until maturity, the difference between what you paid and the £100 you receive at redemption is normally a capital gain. With qualifying gilts, that gain is not subject to CGT.

There is an important catch, however: the interest you receive is still taxable income when gilts are held outside a tax wrapper.

For that reason, gilts can also be worth considering inside an ISA or pension/SIPP, where the investment income receives the relevant tax advantages of the wrapper.

How can you invest in gilts?

There are several routes.

Option 1: Buy individual gilts through an investment platform

For many private investors, this is probably the most straightforward approach.

Platforms such as Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell, Interactive Investor and others allow investors to buy individual gilts through their dealing services.

You can choose a particular gilt based on:

its maturity date
its current price
its coupon
its yield to maturity.

You can then hold it until maturity or sell it beforehand.

This approach gives you considerable control over exactly what you are investing in.

It can be especially useful if your objective is something like:

“I want to invest £20,000 and have it mature in approximately five years.”

You can select gilts with a suitable maturity date rather than leaving the timing to a bond fund manager.

Option 2: Buy gilts through the DMO’s retail service

The UK Debt Management Office also operates a Purchase and Sale Service for UK retail investors.

This provides access to gilts in the secondary market and is administered by Computershare.

However, it is an execution-only service and doesn’t offer the convenience or functionality of a modern investment platform.

For many investors, a mainstream investment platform will therefore be easier.

Option 3: Invest through a gilt fund or ETF

Instead of buying individual gilts, you can invest in a gilt fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF).

This has some important advantages.

A fund can hold dozens or even hundreds of government bonds, giving you diversification without having to select individual issues.

You also don’t have to worry about choosing a particular maturity date.

However, there is an important difference.

A gilt fund does not mature.

If you buy an individual gilt and hold it to maturity, you know that the government is scheduled to repay its face value at a specified date.

A bond fund continually buys and sells bonds as part of its management. Its value can therefore continue to rise and fall indefinitely.

This means a gilt fund can be more volatile than someone might expect from the phrase “government bonds”.

Funds and ETFs can nevertheless be an excellent choice for investors who want broad exposure to the UK government bond market rather than a specific maturity.

Which is better – individual gilts or a gilt fund?

It depends on what you are trying to achieve.

If your priority is…	You might consider…
Knowing exactly when your investment matures	Individual gilt
Locking in a yield to a particular date	Individual gilt
Creating a ladder of future maturities	Individual gilts
Diversifying across many bonds	Gilt fund/ETF
Simplicity	Gilt fund/ETF
Regularly adjusting the portfolio	Gilt fund/ETF
Avoiding the need to select individual issues	Gilt fund/ETF

For someone in or approaching retirement, I think the individual gilt approach is particularly interesting when you have a known future spending requirement.

For example, if you know that £10,000 will be needed in four years’ time, buying a suitable gilt maturing around then can potentially be a useful way of matching an investment with that future liability.

What about ISAs and SIPPs?

Gilts can be held within tax-efficient wrappers such as Stocks and Shares ISAs and SIPPs, subject to the rules of the particular platform.

This can be attractive because the interest and investment gains then benefit from the tax advantages of the wrapper.

However, remember that gilts already have the unusual advantage of being exempt from CGT when held outside a wrapper.

Consequently, the tax calculation isn’t always as straightforward as it is with shares or funds.

For someone with substantial taxable investment income, keeping interest-generating investments inside an ISA or pension can still be valuable.

And for investors who have already used their ISA allowance, the CGT exemption on qualifying gilts can make them worth considering in a taxable investment account.

What about short-dated gilts?

Don’t assume that longer-dated gilts are necessarily better.

If your main objective is protecting your capital over a relatively short period, a short-dated gilt may be more appropriate.

Shorter-term bonds are generally less sensitive to changes in interest rates than long-dated ones.

There is also a growing UK Treasury-bill market. Treasury bills are very short-term government securities and are intended primarily as liquidity and cash-management instruments rather than long-term investments. The government is also expanding the range of Treasury-bill maturities available.

For an investor who simply wants somewhere relatively low-risk to park money for a year or two, these shorter-duration instruments may be worth investigating alongside conventional gilts.

Should you buy now?

This is the difficult question.

The fact that gilt yields have risen sharply doesn’t mean they cannot rise further.

Indeed, recent events demonstrate how quickly bond markets can move. On 10 September, for example, the 10-year gilt yield reached 5.378%, while 30-year yields approached 5.95%.

If inflation remains stubbornly high or interest rates rise further, gilt prices could fall and yields could rise again.

On the other hand, if inflation subsides and interest rates eventually fall, today’s relatively high yields could prove attractive. Bond prices would also tend to rise, particularly for longer-dated gilts.

In other words, nobody knows whether today’s gilt yields represent the top of the market or merely another stage in a longer-term rise.

This is why I would be wary of trying to call the exact bottom or top of the gilt market.

Instead, investors could consider spreading purchases over time, particularly if investing a substantial lump sum.

A simple gilt strategy

One approach I particularly like for cautious investors is a gilt ladder.

Rather than putting £50,000 into one long-dated gilt, for example, you might divide the money between several gilts maturing at different dates.

You could have gilts maturing in approximately:

2027
2028
2029
2030
2031

As each gilt matures, you receive the capital back and can decide what to do with it.

You could spend the money, reinvest it in another gilt, or use it for another investment.

This reduces the risk of having to make one big bet on where interest rates will be five, ten or twenty years from now.

Don’t confuse gilts with savings accounts

There is one final point worth stressing.

A gilt is not the same thing as a fixed-rate savings account.

With a savings account, you normally know exactly how much interest you will receive and how much money you will get back at the end of the fixed term.

With a gilt, you can lose money if you sell it before maturity.

For example, if you buy a long-dated gilt and interest rates subsequently rise sharply, its market value could fall considerably.

If you are certain you will need the money before maturity, this matters.

If you can hold the gilt until redemption, the interim price fluctuations are much less important.

My verdict

For many UK investors, particularly those approaching or in retirement, gilts are worth another look now that yields are substantially higher.

They can offer:

relatively low credit risk
a potentially attractive income
known maturity dates
portfolio diversification
protection from CGT on qualifying gilts
the ability to match investments with future spending needs.

But they are not risk-free.

The biggest danger is buying a long-dated gilt without appreciating how much its price can fall if interest rates rise further. And a 5% yield isn’t necessarily a 5% real return if inflation remains high.

For investors who want simplicity and diversification, a gilt fund or ETF may be the better choice.

For those who want to know exactly when their money will be returned, buying individual gilts and holding them to maturity can be particularly appealing.

With yields now at levels rarely seen in recent decades, I think gilts deserve a place on the shortlist of options for cautious investors. But, as ever, the right choice depends on your timescale, tax position, need for income and willingness to accept fluctuations in value.

And perhaps the most important lesson is this: Don’t buy a gilt simply because the headline yield looks attractive. Look at the yield to maturity, the maturity date and the risks involved before investing.

NOTE: This article is for information and education only and does not constitute personal financial advice. Investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invest. If you are in any doubt how best to proceed, I strongly recommend speaking to a professional financial adviser or financial planner.

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August 30, 2026

My Investments Update – September 26

Nick Investing events, reviews 0 Comments

Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my August 2026 Investments Update here if you like.

I’ll begin as usual with my JP Morgan Personal Investing (previously Nutmeg) Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).

As regular readers will know, in June last year I transferred most of the money in my former Nutmeg Fully Managed portfolio (just under £25,000) to a new Nutmeg Income Portfolio. I discussed this in detail in this post, but basically money in this port is invested to generate an income from share dividends and other sources. This is then paid monthly. Capital appreciation is targeted as well, but these portfolios are aimed primarily at older people (and others) who want/need their investment to generate a regular cash income.

In August my JPM Investing income portfolio generated £157.02 of income, which was duly paid into my bank account on 24 August 2026. That means I have now received (tax-free) income of £894.41 in 2026 and a total of £1,365.87 since I opened the account in June last year. That’s a return on capital of around 5% to date. That is in line with JPM’s original projected annual return for income ports at my chosen risk level (five).

My income portfolio also increased in value in August. It’s now worth £29,010 compared with £28,447 at the start of August, a rise of £563. As the screen capture below shows, my income port is up by a respectable £3,406.67 (13.31%) after fees since I opened it in June 2025.

I still have a smaller, growth-oriented pot using JPM Investing’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,313 compared with £3,221 a month ago, a rise of £92. Here is a screen capture showing performance since I opened it in December 2020. As you may recall, I sold £2,000 worth of this portfolio in May this year to pay for some building work.

Finally, at the start of December 2023 I invested £500 in one of Nutmeg/JPM’s thematic portfolios (Resource Transformation). In March 2024 I also invested a further £200 from referral bonuses (something I no longer receive). As you can see from the YTD screen capture below, this portfolio is now worth £1,055 compared with £1,019 (rounded up) last month, a rise of £36.

Overall in August the value of my JPM investments rose by £691 or 2.12%. In addition, I did of course receive £157.02 in income from my income portfolio. In total, then, I am up by a respectable £848.02 for the month.

Excluding income generated (and allowing for the £2,000 I withdrew in May this year) the overall value of my JPM investments has risen by £3,716 since the start of September 2025. If you add to this the £1,365.87 of income generated by my Income portfolio since August 2025, that gives a total profit for the last 12 months of £5,081.87 – a pretty good return in these uncertain times. Another way of looking at this (which I like!) is that the £2,000 I withdrew in May this year has been comfortably covered by the growth in value of my JPM investments over the last year.

Obviously it’s important not to read too much into a single month’s performance. Ups and downs are very much to be expected with stock market investments. In the longer term they tend to even themselves out and typically outperform bank savings accounts (though that’s never guaranteed). In general the worst thing you can do is panic and sell up when downturns occur. You are then crystallizing your losses rather than giving the markets time to recover. That is something I had cause to discuss last year in this blog post.

You can read my full original Nutmeg/JPM review here. If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last nine years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs as well.

As mentioned, Nutmeg have rebranded as J.P. Morgan Personal Investing and their website is now at www.personalinvesting.jpmorgan.com.

Moving on, I also have investments with P2P property investment platform Housemartin. As discussed in this post, the company rebranded last year from Assetz Exchange.

My investments with Housemartin continue to generate steady returns. Housemartin focuses on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000.

Since I opened my account, my HM portfolio has generated a respectable £339.75 in revenue from rental income. I have made a small net loss of £17.60 on property disposals. Capital growth generally has slowed, in line with UK property values generally.

At the time of writing, 25 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 4 are breaking even, and the remaining 18 are showing losses. My portfolio of 47 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £56.92. That means that overall (rental income minus capital value decrease and loss on disposal) I am up by £265.23. That’s still a respectable return on my £1,000 and does illustrate the value of P2P property investments for diversifying your portfolio. And it doesn’t hurt that with Housemartin most projects are socially beneficial as well.

A further consideration is that property investments on Housemartin are less likely to be affected by stock market downturns, as happened in March this year due to events in the Middle East. This again demonstrates the potential value of such investments for diversifying your portfolio during challenging times.

The net fall in capital value of my Housemartin investments is obviously a little disappointing. But it’s important to remember that until/unless I choose to sell the investments in question, it is largely theoretical, based on the latest price at which shares in the property concerned have changed hands. The rental income, on the other hand, is real money (which in my case I’ve reinvested in other HM projects to further diversify my portfolio).

To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of Housemartin as far as i am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as £1 per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.

As I noted in this blog post, Housemartin is particularly good if you want to compound your returns by reinvesting rental income. This effectively boosts the interest rate you are receiving. Personally, once I have accrued a minimum of £10 in rental payments, I usually reinvest this money in either a new HM project or one I have already invested in (thus increasing my holding). Over time, even if I don’t invest any more capital, this will ensure my investment with Housemartin grows at an accelerating rate and becomes more diversified as well.

My investment on Housemartin is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Housemartin and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my original review of Assetz Exchange/Housemartin here and my article about the rebranding to Housemartin here. You can also sign up for an account directly via this link [affiliate].

In 2022 I set up an account with investment and trading platform eToro, using their popular ‘copy trader’ facility. I chose to invest $500 (then about £412) copying an experienced eToro trader called Aukie2008 (real name Mike Moest).

In January 2023 I added to this with another $500 investment in one of their thematic portfolios, Oil Worldwide. I also invested a small amount I had left over in Tesla shares.

In January this year, as Oil Worldwide hadn’t exactly been setting the world alight, I decided to switch my entire investment in this to another smart portfolio, InTheGame. This port, focusing on the computer gaming industry, had been the top performer for some time in my eToro virtual portfolio.

Unfortunately just as I switched away from Oil Worldwide, President Trump decided to invade Venezuela. This gave the oil industry a significant boost, which I would otherwise have benefited from. Meanwhile InTheGame went south, partly due to the war in the Middle East. At one point I was down by over 10% on this investment. Fortunately in the last few months InTheGame has made a recovery and is now in profit by 5.15%.

As you can see from the screen captures below, my original eToro investment (total value £888.36 in pounds sterling) is today worth £1,222.16, an overall increase of £333.80 or 37.57%.

Note: eToro now displays the value of investments in your native currency, although you can change this if you wish.

You can read my full review of eToro here. You may also like to check out my more in-depth look at eToro copy trading. I also discussed thematic investing with eToro using Smart Portfolios in this post.

As mentioned above, my new investment in InTheGame is currently up by 5.15%. And my copy trading investment with Aukie2008 is showing an impressive overall profit of 76.64%. Of course, I have held this investment for quite a bit longer.

My Tesla shares, which I purchased as an afterthought with some spare cash I had in my account, are also up this month. They are now showing an overall profit of over 213% since I bought them. If only I had put a bit more money into this!

You might also notice that I have small holdings in Prosus NV, a Dutch internet group, and South Bow, a Canadian energy infrastructure company. To be honest I don’t understand how I acquired these, but I assume they are some sort of bonus I was awarded. In any event, I am happy to have them in my portfolio.

If you would like more information about setting up an eToro account, please click on this no-obligation website link [refer-a-friend]. Don’t forget that you also get a free $100,000 virtual portfolio, which you can use to experiment with trading and investing strategies. I have certainly earned a lot from mine.

Moving on, I published several posts on Pounds and Sense in August. I have listed below those that are still relevant.

Caravan Fire Safety – How to Protect Your Holiday Home and Your Finances is a collaborative post with my friends at Compass, a specialist provider of caravan and leisure insurance. It concerns an important subject all caravan owners need to be aware of. This post was especially relevant during the hot, dry spell we have just gone through. But even when the weather is cooler it’s still very relevant. In the article – which applies to static as well as mobile caravans – I set out a number of tips to keep your holiday home safe from fire, and also some important insurance advice for caravan owners.

In My Short Break in Portmeirion I talked about my recent short visit to this beautiful Welsh village and tourist resort (famously the location in which 1960s TV series The Prisoner was shot). It was the first time I had stayed in Portmeirion, though I had visited many times before. In my article I discuss the accommodation, the dining facilities, the costs, things to do in (and around) Portmeirion, and whom (in my view) the location is most likely to appeal to.

Finally in Pounds and Sense – A Personal Update I set out some information about my personal circumstances and (in particular) my plans for Pounds and Sense going forward. I won’t say any more about this here, but I do urge you to read it if you haven’t already.

One other thing is that, if you’re looking to change your energy provider as autumn approaches, you can get a £50 bonus credited to your account if you sign up with EDF Energy via my referral link. I’ve been with EDF myself for some years now. In my experience they offer a reliable service along with prices that are generally very competitive. If you do choose to do this via my link I will receive a bonus as well, which is very much appreciated 🙂

I’ll close with my customary reminder that you can also follow Pounds and Sense on Facebook or Twitter (or X as it is now). Twitter/X is my number one social media platform and I post regularly there. I share the latest news and information on financial matters, and other things that interest, amuse or concern me. So if you aren’t following my PAS account on Twitter/X, you are definitely missing out!

I am also on the BlueSky social media network under the username poundsandsense.bsky.social. Twitter/X remains my primary social media platform, but I also post details of my latest blog posts, third-party articles and other financial news and resources on BlueSky for those who prefer to follow me there.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below. I am always delighted to hear from PAS readers

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Note also that posts on PAS may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered, but it does help support me in publishing PAS and paying my bills. Thank you!

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August 24, 2026

My Short Break in Portmeirion

Nick Everything Else reviews, travel, holidays 0 Comments

I recently enjoyed a three-night break in the lovely Welsh village/resort of Portmeirion. This is about two miles from Porthmadog in NW Wales. It was the first time I had stayed in Portmeirion, though I have visited many times before. Here’s a map from Google Maps.

Portmeirion is a beautiful Italianate village created by the architect Clough Williams Ellis. These days it’s probably best known as the location for the 1960s cult TV series The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan.

Portmeirion is privately owned and you have to pay a fee to enter during the day. Of course, if you are staying there, as I was, this is included in the price you pay.

You can also get free admission (in the afternoon) by booking a minimum two-course lunch at Castell Deudraeth; this is part of the Portmeirion estate, a short walk from the village itself. Free admission to the village is also available if you book a spa treatment or afternoon cream tea there.

Accommodation

There are various accommodation options in Portmeirion. You can stay in the main hotel in the village or at Castell Deudraeth. You can also stay in one of the many self-contained cottages and apartments in the village itself. I did the latter, staying in one called The Neptune Suite. This is in the heart of the village, directly over the ice cream parlour. Here’s a photo…

I was quite surprised how spacious The Neptune Suite was. The front door opened into a good-sized lounge with comfortable chairs and sofas and (of course) a TV. There was also a sink in the corner with an electric kettle, coffee and teabags, mugs and glasses, and so forth. There were no cooking facilities but there was a small fridge with complimentary bottled water and a bottle of champagne (definitely not complimentary). The fridge came in very useful for storing milk and snacks for the evening (see below).

Next to the lounge was a double bedroom, with a large bathroom off it. The latter had a separate bath and shower, which felt quite a luxury. A good selection of freebies such as bath/shower gel, shampoo and conditioner, soap, shower caps and even miniature shoeshines were provided.

I stayed on a bed-and-breakfast basis. Breakfast was provided in the hotel, which was about five minutes’ walk away. The hotel breakfasts were excellent, with a self-service buffet and a choice of cooked breakfasts, which were brought to you. During the day I ate at one of the cafes and restaurants in the village (I particularly recommend the Italian-themed Caffi Glas).

There are fewer options for eating in Portmeirion in the evening. Basically you can book a table at the hotel or Castell Deudraeth. These both have highly rated restaurants, with prices to match! They would be good if you were celebrating a special occasion, but a bit pricey to eat at every day. Personally, after a big hotel breakfast and lunch in the village (or out exploring) all I wanted in the evening was a light meal anyway. So I brought my own bread and cheese, fruit, biscuits and so on. Along with a cold drink or a pot of tea, that was fine for me! But otherwise you could always take a short drive into Porthmadog, which has plenty of shops and eateries.

The apartment had free wifi which worked perfectly during my stay (not always the case in my experience). The location was quiet and peaceful (there was a low-key buzz from the ice cream parlour during the day but that closed at 4 pm) and I slept very well during my stay.

Financials

As Pounds and Sense is primarily a money blog, I should say a word about this.

Portmeirion is a bit more expensive than most places I visit on short breaks. For my three-night stay with breakfast, I paid £640, which works out at around £213 per day. I thought that was actually quite reasonable bearing in mind the standard of the accommodation and the other amenities on offer. I got a 10% ‘Genius Discount’ from Booking.com, which may have reduced the cost a bit.

I did notice as well that prices vary somewhat from week to week, I assume due to supply and demand. A bit of trial and error here may pay dividends!

One other thing I should say is that I opted for a ‘Village Double Room’ and didn’t know exactly what accommodation I would get. I guess that’s like staying in a hotel, when you aren’t normally told your room number beforehand. If you have a particular preference you can always try asking, but there’s no guarantee you will receive it. I did email a few days before to ask where I would be staying and discovered then that it would be The Neptune Suite.

Things to Do

There are various things you can do in or around Portmeirion. On my first full day I stayed in the village itself. I enjoyed walking the coastal path from the village and back through the woodlands behind. I also spent some time enjoying the heated outdoor pool. This is available to residents only (not day visitors). I was lucky with the weather and made the most of this facility. The changing rooms are pretty basic, but as my accommodation was just a couple of minutes’ walk away that really wasn’t an issue for me.

On my other full day I took a five-minute drive to Porthmadog and enjoyed a trip on the Ffestiniog Railway.

This heritage steam railway has two separate lines, both of which run from Porthmadog. The Welsh Highland Railway takes you on a scenic two-and-a-quarter hour trip through the heart of Snowdonia to Caernarfon, while the original Ffestiniog Railway takes you on a one-hour trip to Blaenau Ffestiniog. On this occasion I took the shorter journey, but I have done the Welsh Highland Railway trip before and recommend it as well. You can get more info on both (and book in advance) via the Ffestiniog Railway website.

The harbour station in Porthmadog has a small car park for people with disabilities only, but there is a free car park for people travelling on the railway at the back of the public car park opposite (Llyn Bach). I used that myself on this occasion. There were plenty of spaces when I arrived at around 9.30 a.m. but I noticed it was full later. So my top tip if going by car is to book a ticket on a morning train rather than leaving it until the afternoon!

Final Thoughts

As you may gather, I enjoyed my short break in Portmeirion and am happy to recommend it for a relaxing short break (though not an especially cheap one!).

Portmeirion is a great place to kick back and chill out. It has good road and rail connections, and there are also other high-quality tourist attractions nearby, including the Ffestiniog Railway, Harlech and Criccieth Castles, and so on.

Portmeirion itself isn’t somewhere to go if you want to be ‘entertained’. The gardens and buildings are beautiful and highly photogenic, and there are some lovely little shops and cafes. You can also enjoy scenic walks alongside the estuary and through the woodlands. And, as mentioned above, there is an outdoor pool you can use (or sunbathe beside, weather permitting!).

To be honest, Portmeirion isn’t going to suit everyone. If you want a holiday with lots of activities and entertainment laid on, it won’t fit the bill. And children and teenagers (especially) might find it a bit limited. For older people and couples looking to relax and recharge their batteries, though, it might be just the thing. There are also some special events (e.g. The Prisoner Weekend) held there throughout the year.

One other point to note is that dogs (apart from guide dogs) are not allowed anywhere in the village. So if you normally take a canine companion on holiday with you, Portmeirion may not be the place for you.

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

August 2, 2026

My Investments Update – August 2026

Nick Investing events, reviews 0 Comments

Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my July 2026 Investments Update here if you like.

I’ll begin as usual with my JP Morgan Personal Investing (previously Nutmeg) Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).

As regular readers will know, in June last year I transferred most of the money in my former Nutmeg Fully Managed portfolio (just under £25,000) to a new Nutmeg Income Portfolio. I discussed this in detail in this post, but basically money in this port is invested to generate an income from share dividends and other sources. This is then paid monthly. Capital appreciation is targeted as well, but these portfolios are aimed primarily at older people (and others) who want/need their investment to generate a regular cash income.

In July my JPM Investing income portfolio generated £89.56 of income, which was duly paid into my bank account on 24 July 2026. That means I have now received tax-free income of £737.39 in 2026 and a total of £1,208.85 since I opened the account in June last year (just over a year ago). That’s a return on capital of a little over 4.90% to date. That is close to JPM’s original projected annual return of just under 5% per year for income ports at my chosen risk level (five).

My income portfolio decreased slightly in value in July. It’s now worth £28,447 compared with £28,465 (rounded up) at the start of July, a fall of £18. As the screen capture below shows, however, my income port is still up by a respectable £2,843 (11.11%) after fees since I opened it last June.

I still have a smaller, growth-oriented pot using JPM Investing’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,221 compared with £3,262 a month ago, a fall of £41. Here is a screen capture showing performance over the last month.

Finally, at the start of December 2023 I invested £500 in one of Nutmeg/JPM’s thematic portfolios (Resource Transformation). In March 2024 I also invested a further £200 from referral bonuses (something I no longer receive). As you can see from the YTD screen capture below, this portfolio is now worth £1,019 (rounded up) compared with £1,043 (rounded up) last month, a fall of £24.

Overall in July the value of my JPM investments fell by £83 or 0.25%. On the other hand, I did of course receive £89.56 in income from my income portfolio. In total, then, I am up by the princely sum of £6.56 for the month!

Excluding income generated (and allowing for the £2,000 I withdrew at the end of May this year) the overall value of my JPM investments has risen by £3,556 or 11.42% since the start of August 2025. If you add to this the £1,208.05 of income generated by my Income portfolio to date, that gives a total profit for the last 12 months of £4,764.05 – a pretty good return in these uncertain times.

The small drop in the value of my JPM investments in July is down mainly to the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. Obviously it’s disappointing, but some volatility is always to be expected with stock market investments. In the longer term they tend to even themselves out and typically outperform bank savings accounts (although that is never guaranteed). In general the worst thing you can do is panic and sell up when downturns occur. You are then crystallizing your losses rather than giving the markets time to recover. That is something I had cause to discuss last year in this blog post.

You can read my full original Nutmeg/JPM review here. If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last nine years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs as well.

As mentioned, Nutmeg have rebranded as J.P. Morgan Personal Investing and their website is now at www.personalinvesting.jpmorgan.com.

Moving on, I also have investments with P2P property investment platform Housemartin. As discussed in this post, the company rebranded last year from Assetz Exchange.

My investments with Housemartin continue to generate steady returns. Housemartin focuses on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000.

Since I opened my account, my HM portfolio has generated a respectable £334.80 in revenue from rental income. I have made a small net loss of £17.60 on property disposals. Capital growth generally has slowed, in line with UK property values generally.

At the time of writing, 23 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 6 are breaking even, and the remaining 18 are showing losses. My portfolio of 47 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £56.96. That means that overall (rental income minus capital value decrease and loss on disposal) I am up by £260.24. That’s still a respectable return on my £1,000 and does illustrate the value of P2P property investments for diversifying your portfolio. And it doesn’t hurt that with Housemartin most projects are socially beneficial as well.

A further consideration is that property investments on Housemartin are less likely to be affected by stock market downturns, as happened in March this year due to events in the Middle East. This again demonstrates the potential value of such investments for diversifying your portfolio during challenging times.

The net fall in capital value of my Housemartin investments is obviously a little disappointing. But it’s important to remember that until/unless I choose to sell the investments in question, it is largely theoretical, based on the latest price at which shares in the property concerned have changed hands. The rental income, on the other hand, is real money (which in my case I’ve reinvested in other HM projects to further diversify my portfolio).

To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of Housemartin as far as i am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as £1 per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.

As I noted in this blog post, Housemartin is particularly good if you want to compound your returns by reinvesting rental income. This effectively boosts the interest rate you are receiving. Personally, once I have accrued a minimum of £10 in rental payments, I usually reinvest this money in either a new HM project or one I have already invested in (thus increasing my holding). Over time, even if I don’t invest any more capital, this will ensure my investment with Housemartin grows at an accelerating rate and becomes more diversified as well.

My investment on Housemartin is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Housemartin and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my original review of Assetz Exchange/Housemartin here and my article about the rebranding to Housemartin here. You can also sign up for an account directly via this link [affiliate].

In 2022 I set up an account with investment and trading platform eToro, using their popular ‘copy trader’ facility. I chose to invest $500 (then about £412) copying an experienced eToro trader called Aukie2008 (real name Mike Moest).

In January 2023 I added to this with another $500 investment in one of their thematic portfolios, Oil Worldwide. I also invested a small amount I had left over in Tesla shares.

In January this year, as Oil Worldwide hadn’t exactly been setting the world alight, I decided to switch my entire investment in this to another smart portfolio, InTheGame. This port, focusing on the computer gaming industry, had been the top performer for some time in my eToro virtual portfolio.

Unfortunately just as I switched away from Oil Worldwide, President Trump decided to invade Venezuela. This gave the oil industry a significant boost, which I would otherwise have benefited from. Meanwhile InTheGame went south, partly due to the war in the Middle East. At one point I was down by over 10% on this investment. Fortunately in the last four months InTheGame has made a recovery and is now in profit by 3.84%.

As you can see from the screen captures below, my original eToro investment (total value £888.36 in pounds sterling) is today worth £1,192.96, an overall increase of £304.60 or 34.29%.

Note: eToro now displays the value of investments in your native currency, although you can change this if you wish.

You can read my full review of eToro here. You may also like to check out my more in-depth look at eToro copy trading. I also discussed thematic investing with eToro using Smart Portfolios in this post.

As mentioned above, my new investment in InTheGame is currently up by 3.84%. And my copy trading investment with Aukie2008 is showing an impressive overall profit of 70.49%. Of course, I have held this investment for quite a bit longer.

My Tesla shares, which I purchased as an afterthought with some spare cash I had in my account, are down a bit this month, but still showing an overall profit of over 180% since I bought them. If only I had put a bit more money into this!

You might also notice that I have small holdings in Prosus NV, a Dutch internet group, and South Bow, a Canadian energy infrastructure company. To be honest I don’t understand how I acquired these, but I assume they are some sort of bonus I was awarded. In any event, I am happy to have them in my portfolio.

If you would like more information about setting up an eToro account, please click on this no-obligation website link [affiliate]. Don’t forget that you also get a free $100,000 virtual portfolio, which you can use to experiment with trading and investing strategies. I have certainly earned a lot from mine.

Moving on, I published various posts on Pounds and Sense in July. I have listed below those that are still relevant.

In Small Changes That Could Save UK Households £1,000 a Year I set out some easy, everyday changes that could potentially have a big impact on your finances over the course of a year. As the article says, save a few pounds here and there, and before you know it you’ve kept an extra £1,000 in your pocket!

How to Know When Fruit and Veg Are Still Safe to Eat – And When They Should be Binned is a syndicated guest post by Primrose Freestone, whose work I have featured in Pounds and Sense before. Dr Freestone’s article concerns a subject that many older people (and others) on tight budgets may find of interest. It’s certainly something I have wondered about myself in the past.

And in Why Every Older Adult Should Consider the Shingles Vaccine (Shingrix) I look at an important subject every older adult should be aware of. Shingles is essentially a recurrence of a common childhood disease, chicken pox, but in older adults it can be a lot more serious. I recently had the new shingles vaccine (Shingrix) myself. In this article I explain why I felt it was important to do so, the side effects I experienced, and a potential beneficial side effect of the vaccine that has only quite recently come to light.

Finally, my cover image this month is a view of the lovely Welsh village/resort of Portmeirion (probably still best known as the venue for 1960s cult TV series The Prisoner starring Patrick McGoohan). I have visited Portmeirion many times before, but in July I fulfilled a long-standing ambition and actually stayed there for a few days. It wasn’t exactly a cheap break but well worth it. I may post an article/review in due course if there is sufficient interest.

I’ll close with my customary reminder that you can also follow Pounds and Sense on Facebook or Twitter (or X as it is now). Twitter/X is my number one social media platform and I post regularly there. I share the latest news and information on financial matters, and other things that interest, amuse or concern me. So if you aren’t following my PAS account on Twitter/X, you are definitely missing out!

I am also on the BlueSky social media network under the username poundsandsense.bsky.social. Twitter/X remains my primary social media platform, but I also post details of my latest blog posts, third-party articles and other financial news and resources on BlueSky for those who prefer to follow me there.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below. I am always delighted to hear from PAS readers

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Note also that posts on PAS may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered, but it does help support me in publishing PAS and paying my bills. Thank you!

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

July 2, 2026

My Investments Update – July 2026

Nick Investing events, reviews, property 0 Comments

Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my June 2026 Investments Update here if you like.

I’ll begin as usual with my JP Morgan Personal Investing (previously Nutmeg) Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).

As regular readers will know, in June last year I transferred most of the money in my former Nutmeg Fully Managed portfolio (just under £25,000) to a new Nutmeg Income Portfolio. I discussed this in detail in this post, but basically money in this port is invested to generate an income from share dividends and other sources. This is then paid monthly. Capital appreciation is targeted as well, but these portfolios are aimed primarily at older people (and others) who want/need their investment to generate a regular cash income.

In June my JPM Investing income portfolio generated a respectable £222.45 of income, which was duly paid into my bank account on 24 June 2026. That means I have now received tax-free income of £647.83 in 2026 and a total of £1,119.29 since I opened the account in June last year. That’s a return on capital of a little over 4.48% to date. That is pretty much in line with JPM’s original projected annual return of just under 5% for income ports at my chosen risk level (five).

My income portfolio increased in value again in June. It’s now worth £28,465 (rounded up) compared with £28,282 at the start of June, a rise of £183. As the screen capture below shows, my income port is up by a respectable £2,861 (11.18%) after fees since I opened it last June (about a year ago).

I still have a smaller, growth-oriented pot using JPM Investing’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,262 compared with £5,239 a month ago. As I mentioned last month, in early June I withdrew £2,000 from this portfolio to pay for some building work, so if you deduct this the value of the port has actually risen by £23. Here is a screen capture showing performance over the last month.

Finally, at the start of December 2023 I invested £500 in one of Nutmeg/JPM’s thematic portfolios (Resource Transformation). In March 2024 I also invested a further £200 from referral bonuses (something I no longer receive). As you can see from the YTD screen capture below, this portfolio is now worth £1,043 (rounded up) compared with £1,038 last month, a small rise of £5.

Overall in June (and allowing for the £2,000 I withdrew) the value of my JPM investments rose by £220 or 0.65%. In addition I did, of course, receive £222.45 in income from my income portfolio. In total, then, I am £442.45 up for the month.

Excluding income generated (and again allowing for the £2,000 withdrawal) the overall value of my JPM investments is up by £3,997 or 12.99% since the start of July 2025. If you add to this the £1,119.29 of income generated by my Income portfolio to date, that gives a total profit for the last 12 months of £5,272.84 – a pretty good return in these uncertain times.

Some volatility is always to be expected with stock market investments, but in the longer term they tend to even themselves out (and typically outperform bank savings accounts, although that is never guaranteed). In general the worst thing you can do is panic and sell up when downturns occur (as happened in March due to events in the Middle East). You are then crystallizing your losses rather than giving the markets time to recover. That is something I discussed last year in this blog post.

You can read my full original Nutmeg/JPM review here. If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last nine years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs as well.

As mentioned, Nutmeg have rebranded as J.P. Morgan Personal Investing and their website is now at www.personalinvesting.jpmorgan.com.

Moving on, I also have investments with P2P property investment platform Housemartin. As discussed in this post, the company rebranded last year from Assetz Exchange.

My investments with Housemartin continue to generate steady returns. Housemartin focuses on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000.

Since I opened my account, my HM portfolio has generated a respectable £328.30 in revenue from rental income. I have made a small net loss of £17.60 on property disposals. Capital growth generally has slowed, in line with UK property values generally.

At the time of writing, 21 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 5 are breaking even, and the remaining 18 are showing losses. My portfolio of 44 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £64.57. That means that overall (rental income minus capital value decrease and loss on disposal) I am up by £246.13. That’s still a respectable return on my £1,000 and does illustrate the value of P2P property investments for diversifying your portfolio. And it doesn’t hurt that with Housemartin most projects are socially beneficial as well.

A further consideration is that property investments on Housemartin are less likely to be affected by stock market downturns, as happened in March due to events in the Middle East. This again demonstrates the potential value of such investments for diversifying your portfolio during challenging times.

The net fall in capital value of my Housemartin investments is obviously a little disappointing. But it’s important to remember that until/unless I choose to sell the investments in question, it is largely theoretical, based on the latest price at which shares in the property concerned have changed hands. The rental income, on the other hand, is real money (which in my case I’ve reinvested in other HM projects to further diversify my portfolio).

To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of Housemartin as far as i am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as £1 per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.

As I noted in this blog post, Housemartin is particularly good if you want to compound your returns by reinvesting rental income. This effectively boosts the interest rate you are receiving. Personally, once I have accrued a minimum of £10 in rental payments, I usually reinvest this money in either a new HM project or one I have already invested in (thus increasing my holding). Over time, even if I don’t invest any more capital, this will ensure my investment with Housemartin grows at an accelerating rate and becomes more diversified as well.

My investment on Housemartin is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Housemartin and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my original review of Assetz Exchange/Housemartin here and my article about the rebranding to Housemartin here. You can also sign up for an account directly via this link [affiliate].

In 2022 I set up an account with investment and trading platform eToro, using their popular ‘copy trader’ facility. I chose to invest $500 (then about £412) copying an experienced eToro trader called Aukie2008 (real name Mike Moest).

In January 2023 I added to this with another $500 investment in one of their thematic portfolios, Oil Worldwide. I also invested a small amount I had left over in Tesla shares.

In January this year, as Oil Worldwide hadn’t exactly been setting the world alight, I decided to switch my entire investment in this to another smart portfolio, InTheGame. This port, focusing on the computer gaming industry, had been the top performer for some time in my eToro virtual portfolio.

Unfortunately just as I switched away from Oil Worldwide, President Trump decided to invade Venezuela. This gave the oil industry a significant boost, which I would otherwise have benefited from. Meanwhile InTheGame went south, partly due to the war in the Middle East. At one point I was down by over 10% on this investment. Fortunately in the last three months InTheGame has made a good recovery and is now in profit by 12.45%.

As you can see from the screen captures below, my original eToro investment (total value £888.36 in pounds sterling) is today worth £1,264.92, an overall increase of £376.56 or 42.39%.

Note: eToro now displays the value of investments in your native currency, although you can change this if you wish.

You can read my full review of eToro here. You may also like to check out my more in-depth look at eToro copy trading. I also discussed thematic investing with eToro using Smart Portfolios in this post.

As mentioned above, my new investment in InTheGame is currently up by 12.45%. And my copy trading investment with Aukie2008 is showing an impressive overall profit of 69.49%. Of course, I have held this investment for quite a bit longer.

My Tesla shares, which I purchased as an afterthought with some spare cash I had in my account, are down marginally this month but still showing an overall profit of over 288% since I bought them. If only I had put a bit more money into this!

You might also notice that I have small holdings in Prosus NV, a Dutch internet group, and South Bow, a Canadian energy infrastructure company. To be honest I don’t understand how I acquired these, but I assume they are some sort of bonus I was awarded. In any event, I am happy to have them in my portfolio.

If you would like more information about setting up an eToro account, please click on this no-obligation website link [affiliate]. Don’t forget that you also get a free $100,000 virtual portfolio, which you can use to experiment with trading and investing strategies. I have certainly earned a lot from mine.

Moving on, I published various posts on Pounds and Sense in June. I have listed below those that are still relevant.

In Get a Free Share Worth up to £100 With Trading 212, I revealed that this promotional offer had reopened. If you haven’t done it before, you can get a free share worth up to £100 just by signing up to this popular share trading platform. My own free share in AMD is now worth £361.04! This offer closes on 9th July 2026. Learn more and sign up via my blog post.

And in The Best Realistic Side Hustles for Over-50s, I set out some easy side hustles that can work well for people in their fifties, sixties and beyond. If you’re looking for some simple, flexible ways to supplement your pension, build up a holiday fund, help cover rising household bills, or just earn some extra spending money, you’ll find a range of realistic ideas here.

Finally, I should mention that EDF Energy have enhanced their switching offer. Until 13th July 2026 you can get a FREE £75 (increased from £50) credited to your energy account when you switch to EDF via my referral link. Terms and conditions apply.

I’ll close with my customary reminder that you can also follow Pounds and Sense on Facebook or Twitter (or X as it is now). Twitter/X is my number one social media platform and I post regularly there. I share the latest news and information on financial matters, and other things that interest, amuse or concern me. So if you aren’t following my PAS account on Twitter/X, you are definitely missing out!

I am also on the BlueSky social media network under the username poundsandsense.bsky.social. Twitter/X remains my primary social media platform, but I also post details of my latest blog posts, third-party articles and other financial news and resources on BlueSky for those who prefer to follow me there.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below. I am always delighted to hear from PAS readers

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Note also that posts on PAS may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered, but it does help support me in publishing PAS and paying my bills. Thank you!

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

June 24, 2026

The Best Realistic UK Side Hustles for Over-50s

Nick Making Money reviews, writing, retirement, side hustles 0 Comments

If you’ve ever searched online for side hustle ideas, you’ll know that many articles seem aimed at people in their twenties who want to become social media influencers, crypto traders or e-commerce millionaires overnight.

As someone firmly in the over-50 category myself, I know that most of us are looking for something rather different.

We may want to supplement our pension, build up a holiday fund, cover rising household bills, or simply earn some extra spending money. But we generally don’t want to spend every waking hour chasing the latest internet fad.

With that in mind, here are some realistic side hustles that can work well for people in their fifties, sixties and beyond.

1. Prolific Academic

My number one recommendation is undoubtedly Prolific Academic.

If you haven’t come across it before, Prolific is an online platform that connects researchers with members of the public willing to take part in studies. These may involve surveys, opinion polls, memory tests, behavioural experiments and other research activities. Participants are paid for taking part. Prolific has built a strong reputation for fair treatment of participants and reasonable rates of pay.

One reason I particularly like Prolific is that the studies are often genuinely interesting. You’re not just answering endless marketing questionnaires. Many studies are linked to real academic research and can be surprisingly thought-provoking. As an added bonus, they help keep your brain active.

There are no fixed hours or targets. You simply log in when you wish and complete any studies available to you. That flexibility makes it ideal for retirees and semi-retirees.

I’ve written a full article about this platform here: Here’s Why Prolific Academic Could Be the Ideal Side Hustle for Seniors.

2. Selling Unwanted Items Online

Most of us accumulate a surprising amount of clutter over the years.

Books, DVDs, collectibles, tools, kitchen gadgets, hobby equipment and even old furniture can all be sold online through platforms such as eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Vinted.

Many people start simply by decluttering their homes and discover they have hundreds of pounds’ worth of unwanted possessions gathering dust.

While this may not provide a permanent income stream, it can be an excellent way to generate some quick extra cash.

3. Freelance Writing

If you enjoy writing and have expertise in a particular subject, freelance writing can be a rewarding sideline.

Many businesses, websites and magazines are constantly looking for content. Experience often counts for more than formal qualifications, and older writers can bring a depth of knowledge that younger freelancers may lack.

You don’t need to become a full-time professional writer. Even a handful of commissions each month can generate a valuable supplementary income. For more tips, check out my article 10 Tips for Making Money as a Freelance Writer.

4. Tutoring and Coaching

Years of work and life experience can be valuable assets.

Whether you have a background in teaching, management, finance, engineering, IT, languages or another specialist field, there may be opportunities to tutor students or coach others.

Online platforms have made it easier than ever to connect with people seeking help and advice.

This is one side hustle where experience genuinely becomes a competitive advantage.

5. Website and App Testing

Companies are constantly developing websites, apps and online services and need feedback from ordinary users.

Website testing typically involves carrying out a series of tasks while explaining your thoughts aloud. Sessions often last between 10 and 30 minutes.

No specialist technical knowledge is usually required. Companies want feedback from typical users, and older participants are often actively sought because their perspectives can differ from those of younger people.

UserTesting is a well-known platform in this field.

6. Pet Sitting and Dog Walking

If you enjoy spending time with animals, this can be both enjoyable and profitable.

Many pet owners need help when they are working, travelling or unable to care for their pets temporarily.

This is particularly attractive for active retirees who want a side hustle that gets them out of the house and provides some gentle exercise. Pawshake is one platform where you can sign up for this type of work.

7. Market Research and Focus Groups

Focus groups can be especially lucrative.

Researchers frequently seek participants from specific age groups and backgrounds. As an older adult, you may qualify for studies that younger people cannot join.

Sessions can take place online or in person and often pay significantly more than standard surveys.

One agency always looking for new participants to join its consumer panel is People for Research. See my blog post about PfR here.

8. Blogging

Naturally, I have to mention blogging!

Starting a blog won’t make you rich overnight, and it can take time to build an audience. However, it offers the opportunity to share your knowledge, experiences and opinions while potentially generating income through advertising, affiliate marketing and sponsored content. Blogging also combines very well with freelance writing (mentioned above).

Many successful bloggers have found that their life experience gives them a distinctive voice that readers appreciate.

What Makes a Good Side Hustle for Over-50s?

In my view, the best side hustles for older people have four key characteristics:

Flexible working hours
Low start-up costs
Minimal financial risk
The ability to make use of existing skills and experience

That’s why I tend to be sceptical of highly promoted schemes promising huge profits with little effort. Most are either unrealistic or require far more time and money than the advertisements suggest.

A modest but reliable side income is usually a much better goal.

Final Thoughts

There has probably never been a better time to earn extra money on the side. The internet has opened up opportunities that simply didn’t exist a generation ago.

For most over-50s, however, the key is finding something realistic, flexible and enjoyable.

Whether it’s taking part in research studies through Prolific Academic, selling unwanted items, tutoring, freelance writing or another activity entirely, a side hustle can provide extra income, mental stimulation and a welcome sense of purpose.

And if it helps pay for a few holidays, meals out or treats for the grandchildren along the way, so much the better!

What side hustles have worked best for you? I’d love to hear your experiences and recommendations. Please leave a comment below as usual.

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June 8, 2026

Get a Free Share Worth Up To £100 With Trading 212

Nick Making Money, Investing reviews 6 Comments

Offer Reopened!

Today I’m featuring a way you can get a free fractional share worth up to £100 by signing up (for the first time) with an online share trading platform called Trading 212.

Trading 212 is unusual in that it offers commission-free and fee-free share trading. As a special offer, until Tuesday 3rd November 2026 they are offering people new to the platform a free fractional share just for signing up via a referral link (such as the links in this post). The share you will get is chosen at random, but could be worth up to £100. You can either keep this share or sell it.

How to Sign Up

Signing up with Trading 212 is pretty straightforward. Just visit the Trading 212 website via any of the (referral) links in this post and follow the on-screen instructions to register. Note that you will be required to provide various items of information, including your date of birth, National Insurance number, annual income, employment status, and contact details. I understand that this is to meet their legal ‘Know Your Customer’ duty.

You will also need to indicate the type of account you want from the options available (see screen capture below).

As you will see, the four account types on Trading 212 are Invest, CFD, Stocks ISA and Cash ISA. You can apply for any or all of these if you like.

CFD stands for Contract for Difference. CFDs are quite complex financial instruments and unless you know what you’re doing I recommend giving them a wide berth.

If you just want the free share my suggestion would be to tick the Stocks ISA box. An ISA is, of course, a tax-exempt Individual Savings Account. As from April 2024 you can open any number of ISA accounts in a year as long as you don’t exceed your annual £20,000 allowance.

If you have already used up your entire £20,000 this year, you should choose Invest instead to open a general investment account without any tax benefits. Obviously if you don’t want a Stocks ISA with Trading 212 for any other reason, you can choose this option as well.

For more information about the Trading 212 Cash ISA, see my review here. Be aware that you must open either an Invest account or a Stocks ISA account to qualify for a free share. Of course, there is nothing to stop you opening a Cash ISA account as well, but my recommendation would be to open an Invest or Stocks ISA account first.

Getting Your Free Share

There is one more step you will need to take in order to get your free share. You will need to deposit a minimum of £1 into your account. There are various ways you can do this, but i just used my debit card. There is no obligation to invest the £1 (or whatever you choose to deposit) and if you wish you can withdraw it once your free share has been credited.

The next business day you should receive an email confirming that a free fractional share has been added to your account. As mentioned above, this is allotted at random. If you’re lucky you might get one worth up to £100. Even if you get a less valuable one, though, it’s still a share for free. If you choose to keep it, it may rise in value. There may also be dividends payable in future (and credited to your account).

Selling Your Share

You can’t sell your share immediately. You have to wait three business days before doing so, but it is then just a matter of clicking the Sell button on your member’s dashboard.

The money will be credited to your Trading 212 account but you will have to wait 30 days before withdrawing it. So there may be a case for waiting to see if your share’s value goes up in that time. Of course, it could also go down!

In my case, I received a free share in the Ford Motor Company worth just under £8 at the time. Obviously this wasn’t as exciting as I might have hoped, but it was still – in effect – free money for almost no time or effort 😀

How Safe Is Trading 212?

Trading 212 is registered in England and Wales and authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. In addition, all clients’ funds are kept separately in segregated bank accounts which are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. So even if the company itself were to go broke, any cash in your account would be protected up to a value of £120,000.

Of course, the FSCS guarantee doesn’t apply to the value of your stocks and shares, which can go down as well as up. All investments carry a risk of loss, although in the case of your free share you can never lose any more than the original cost, which was of course zero!

Referral Scheme

Any Trading 212 member can also refer new members while this offer is on. In that case, both you and the person concerned will receive one free fractional share worth up to £100. Obviously, the links in this blog post include my referral code – so if you register and get a free share, I will receive one also. Under the terms of the current offer you can get up to five free shares in this way. Five is the limit per person. Although you can still refer new members who will get a free share after this, as a referrer you won’t receive one as well. If and when the offer reopens in future, you will be able to refer more new members and get free shares again.

Final Thoughts

I first heard about Trading 212 a while ago, but wasn’t initially sure whether it was legit and here for the long term. And I thought the free share offer was, frankly, too good to be true. However, my own experiences have been entirely positive. My original free share in the Ford Motor Company was credited the next business day as promised and I received an email notifying me about it.

I can log in to my Trading 212 account any time to see how my Ford share is doing. I have also collected a few other shares from referrals. These include a share in AMD (the semiconductor company), which is currently worth an impressive £361.04, and one in Nike, which is worth £58.34. I still have my original Ford Motor Company share and it has risen in value to £11.19. I have also received several dividend payments from them. I haven’t sold any of my free shares yet but could of course do so any time I choose. I am not in any rush, as Trading 212 do not impose any platform or inactivity fees.

Although in this post I have focused on the free share offer, Trading 212 is worth considering as a share-dealing platform too. In particular, the fact that it’s fee-free and commission-free means it is well suited for people who are dipping a toe in stocks and shares investment for the first time. By contrast, the dealing fees and commissions charged by some other share-trading platforms can make small share purchases prohibitively expensive. This review by Money Savvy Daddy looks at the pros and cons of Trading 212 as a share-dealing platform in a bit more detail.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that Trading 212 pays interest on any uninvested funds in your ISA or Invest account, currently at a rate of 3.80% AER. You can also make money allowing your shares to be lent out. Rates on offer for this vary according to investor demand, with the process handled automatically by Trading 212 once authorized. You can read more about share lending on Trading 212, including the risks and safeguards provided, here.

In conclusion, I hope this post has inspired you to consider registering with Trading 212 to claim your free share. If you do, I hope you get a valuable one! Please let me know what share you receive in a comment below. And, as always, any other comments or questions are very welcome too.

Don’t forget, the current free share offer ends on Tuesday 3rd November 2026.

Disclosure: The links in this post include my referral code. If you click through and register as described above, I will receive a free share (as will you). Please note also that I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this post should be construed as individual financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek advice from a qualified financial adviser if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investment carries a risk of loss (although not in the case of free shares, obviously).

This is an update of my original post about this special offer.

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June 1, 2026

My Investments Update – June 2026

Nick Investing events, reviews 0 Comments

Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my May 2026 Investments Update here if you like.

I’ll begin as usual with my JP Morgan Personal Investing (previously Nutmeg) Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).

As regular readers will know, in June last year I transferred most of the money in my former Nutmeg Fully Managed portfolio (just under £25,000) to a new Nutmeg Income Portfolio. I discussed this in detail in this post, but basically money in this port is invested to generate an income from share dividends and other sources. This is then paid monthly. Capital appreciation is targeted as well, but these portfolios are aimed primarily at older people (and others) who want/need their investment to generate a regular cash income.

In May my JPM Investing income portfolio generated £85.59 of income, which was duly paid into my bank account on 24 May 2026. That means I have now received tax-free income of £425.38 in 2026 and a total of £896.84 since I opened the account in June last year. That’s a return on capital of a little over 3% to date. That is a bit less than I would have hoped based on JPM’s original projected annual return of just under 5% for income ports at my chosen risk level (five).

The better news is that my income portfolio increased in value again in May. It’s now worth £28,282 compared with £27,852 at the start of last month, a rise of £430. As the screen capture below shows, my income port is up by a respectable £2,679 (10.46%) after fees since I opened it last June (almost a year ago).

I still have a smaller, growth-oriented pot using JPM Investing’s Smart Alpha option. This is now nominally worth worth £5,239 (rounded up) compared with £5,017 a month ago, a rise of £222. I say nominally because I have just arranged to withdraw £2,000 from this pot to pay for some essential building work. The value shown in the screen capture reflects this, although the funds in question haven’t actually been sold yet. Here is a screen capture showing performance over the year to date.

Finally, at the start of December 2023 I invested £500 in one of Nutmeg/JPM’s thematic portfolios (Resource Transformation). In March 2024 I also invested a further £200 from referral bonuses (something I no longer receive). As you can see from the YTD screen capture below, this portfolio is now worth £1,038 compared with £998 last month, a rise of £40.

Overall in May the value of my JPM investments rose by £692 or 2.05%. In addition I did, of course, receive £85.59 in income from my income portfolio. In total, then, I am £777.59 up for the month.

Excluding income generated, the overall value of my JPM investments is up by £4,373 or 14.49% since the start of June 2025. If you add to this the £896.84 of income generated by my Income portfolio to date, that gives a total profit for the last 12 months of £5,269.84 – a pretty good return in these uncertain times.

Some volatility is always to be expected with stock market investments, but in the longer term they tend to even themselves out (and typically outperform bank savings accounts, although that is never guaranteed). In general the worst thing you can do is panic and sell up when downturns occur (as happened in March due to events in the Middle East). You are then crystallizing your losses rather than giving the markets time to recover. That is something I discussed last year in this blog post.

You can read my full original Nutmeg/JPM review here. If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last nine years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs as well.

As mentioned, Nutmeg have rebranded as J.P. Morgan Personal Investing and their website is now at www.personalinvesting.jpmorgan.com.

Moving on, I also have investments with P2P property investment platform Housemartin. As discussed in this post, the company rebranded last year from Assetz Exchange.

My investments with Housemartin continue to generate steady returns. Housemartin focuses on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000.

Since I opened my account, my HM portfolio has generated a respectable £320.71 in revenue from rental income. I have made a small net loss of £17.60 on property disposals. Capital growth generally has slowed, in line with UK property values generally.

At the time of writing, 18 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 7 are breaking even, and the remaining 21 are showing losses. My portfolio of 46 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £72.64. That means that overall (rental income minus capital value decrease and loss on disposal) I am up by £230.47. That’s still a respectable return on my £1,000 and does illustrate the value of P2P property investments for diversifying your portfolio. And it doesn’t hurt that with Housemartin most projects are socially beneficial as well.

A further consideration is that property investments on Housemartin are less likely to be affected by stock market downturns, as happened in March due to events in the Middle East. This again demonstrates the potential value of such investments for diversifying your portfolio during challenging times.

The net fall in capital value of my Housemartin investments is obviously a little disappointing. But it’s important to remember that until/unless I choose to sell the investments in question, it is largely theoretical, based on the latest price at which shares in the property concerned have changed hands. The rental income, on the other hand, is real money (which in my case I’ve reinvested in other HM projects to further diversify my portfolio).

To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of Housemartin as far as i am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as £1 per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.

As I noted in this blog post, Housemartin is particularly good if you want to compound your returns by reinvesting rental income. This effectively boosts the interest rate you are receiving. Personally, once I have accrued a minimum of £10 in rental payments, I usually reinvest this money in either a new HM project or one I have already invested in (thus increasing my holding). Over time, even if I don’t invest any more capital, this will ensure my investment with Housemartin grows at an accelerating rate and becomes more diversified as well.

My investment on Housemartin is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Housemartin and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my original review of Assetz Exchange/Housemartin here and my article about the rebranding to Housemartin here. You can also sign up for an account directly via this link [affiliate].

In 2022 I set up an account with investment and trading platform eToro, using their popular ‘copy trader’ facility. I chose to invest $500 (then about £412) copying an experienced eToro trader called Aukie2008 (real name Mike Moest).

In January 2023 I added to this with another $500 investment in one of their thematic portfolios, Oil Worldwide. I also invested a small amount I had left over in Tesla shares.

In January this year, as Oil Worldwide hadn’t exactly been setting the world alight, I decided to switch my entire investment in this to another smart portfolio, InTheGame. This port, focusing on the computer gaming industry, had been the top performer for some time in my eToro virtual portfolio.

Unfortunately just as I switched away from Oil Worldwide, President Trump decided to invade Venezuela. This gave the oil industry a significant boost, which I would otherwise have benefited from. Meanwhile InTheGame went south, partly due to the war in the Middle East. At one point I was down by over 10% on this investment. Fortunately in the last two months InTheGame has made an impressive recovery and is now in profit by 11.87%.

As you can see from the screen captures below, my original eToro investment (total value £888.36 in pounds sterling) is today worth £1,264.50, an overall increase of £376.14 or 42.34%.

Note: eToro now displays the value of investments in your native currency, although you can change this if you wish.

You can read my full review of eToro here. You may also like to check out my more in-depth look at eToro copy trading. I also discussed thematic investing with eToro using Smart Portfolios in this post.

As mentioned above, my new investment in InTheGame is currently up by 11.87%. My copy trading investment with Aukie2008 also rose in value in May and is showing an impressive overall profit of 75.87%. Of course, I have held this investment for quite a bit longer.

My Tesla shares, which I purchased as an afterthought with some spare cash I had in my account, are also up this month and showing an overall profit of over 292% since I bought them. If only I had put a bit more money into this!

You might also notice that I have small holdings in Prosus NV, a Dutch internet group, and South Bow, a Canadian energy infrastructure company. To be honest I don’t understand how I acquired these, but I assume they are some sort of bonus I was awarded. In any event, I am happy to have them in my portfolio.

If you would like more information about setting up an eToro account, please click on this no-obligation website link [affiliate]. Don’t forget that you also get a free $100,000 virtual portfolio, which you can use to experiment with trading and investing strategies. I have certainly earned a lot from mine.

As an experiment, at the start of April 2025 I put £50 into an investment ISA with Trading 212. As mentioned in my blog post about dividend investing, I put it into the (Almost) Daily Dividends Portfolio, a ready-made portfolio or ‘pie’ on Trading 212. As you can see from the screen capture below, my portfolio is now worth £59.98. That’s a rise of £0.41 since last month and an increase of £10.39 or 20.7% since I opened it just over a year ago. It has even accrued a grand total of £1.20 in dividends, most of which has now been (automatically) reinvested.

I am quite impressed with how this investment has been faring, despite the small amount I put in (which means I may be missing out on some smaller dividends). If I increased my investment I would almost certainly become eligible for more dividends, and even more the longer I remain invested. Of course, I do now have an income-focused portfolio with JPM Investing as well (see above), so realistically it’s unlikely I shall be investing any more in this account for the foreseeable future. I have therefore decided to stop including it in my monthly updates from now on.

Moving on, I published various posts on Pounds and Sense in May. I have listed below those that are still relevant.

In Moneysaving Perks and Discounts for Retired People I set out a variety of perks and discounts available specifically for retired and older people in the UK. Some are well known, while others fly under the radar. Either way, taking advantage of them can make a real difference to your finances over the course of a year. Find out more in the article.

And in Here’s Why Prolific Academic Could be the Ideal Side Hustle for Seniors I discussed this online platform that connects researchers – mainly from universities and other academic institutions – with members of the public willing to take part in research studies. I explained why I think this sideline-earning opportunity is ideally suited to older people. As the article says, it’s flexible, straightforward, low-pressure and genuinely interesting. You can do as much or as little as you like, earn a bit of extra money, help academic research and keep mentally active at the same time. Prolific Academic is my personal favourite side hustle these days!

Finally, in case you’re wondering, my cover image this month shows the lovely Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. It’s probably still best known as the setting for 1960s cult TV show ‘The Prisoner’. I have just booked a short break in the village for later in the summer, fulfilling a long-standing ambition not just to visit Portmeirion but actually stay there. I wonder if I will be summoned to Number 2’s house during my visit!

I’ll close with my customary reminder that you can also follow Pounds and Sense on Facebook or Twitter (or X as it is now). Twitter/X is my number one social media platform and I post regularly there. I share the latest news and information on financial matters, and other things that interest, amuse or concern me. So if you aren’t following my PAS account on Twitter/X, you are definitely missing out!

I am also on the BlueSky social media network under the username poundsandsense.bsky.social. Twitter/X remains my primary social media platform, but I also post details of my latest blog posts, third-party articles and other financial news and resources on BlueSky for those who prefer to follow me there.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below. I am always delighted to hear from PAS readers

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Note also that posts on PAS may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered, but it does help support me in publishing PAS and paying my bills. Thank you!

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May 25, 2026

Money-Saving Perks and Discounts for Retired People in the UK

Nick Saving Money savings, reviews, pensions, holidays 0 Comments

Retirement can be a wonderful stage of life, bringing more freedom and time to enjoy yourself. But for many people, it can also mean adjusting to a lower income and watching the pennies more carefully than before.

The good news is that there are plenty of money-saving perks and discounts available specifically for retired and older people in the UK. Some are well known, while others fly under the radar. Either way, taking advantage of them can make a real difference to your finances over the course of a year.

Here are some of the best perks and discounts worth knowing about.

Free Bus Passes

One of the best-known benefits for older people is the free bus pass.

In England, you can currently apply for an older person’s bus pass when you reach State Pension age. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the rules differ slightly, and eligibility may begin earlier.

A bus pass allows free off-peak travel on local buses and can save regular users hundreds of pounds a year. Even if you only use it occasionally, it can still be very handy for shopping trips, appointments or days out.

You can apply via your local council or transport authority website. You can find out more on this government website.

If you’re 60 or over and live in London, you can get free travel on buses, trains and other modes of transport in and around London with a 60+ London Oyster photocard.

Senior Railcards

If you travel by train even a few times a year, a Senior Railcard can easily pay for itself.

Available to people aged 60 and over, the card gives one-third off most rail fares across Britain. The annual fee is modest (£35 a year or £80 for three years), and discounts apply to both standard and first-class tickets. You can opt for either a physical card or a digital one to keep on your phone. Unfortunately you can’t have both.

You can buy a Senior Railcard at any staffed station, by phone, or via this website.

Discounts at Restaurants and Cafés

Some restaurant chains, cafés and garden centres offer senior discounts, although they are not always widely advertised.

Examples can include:

Reduced-price meals on certain days
Smaller “senior portions”
Discounted tea-and-cake deals
Special offers linked to pensioner clubs or loyalty cards

Independent cafés and local businesses may also offer discounts for older customers, so it never hurts to ask politely.

Cinema Discounts

Cinema trips can become much cheaper once you reach retirement age.

Major cinema chains including Odeon, Vue and Cineworld often offer reduced-price tickets for seniors, especially for daytime screenings. Some cinemas also run dedicated “silver screen” events that include tea, coffee or biscuits in the ticket price.

These can provide both affordable entertainment and a good social outing.

Savings on Prescriptions and Healthcare

In England, prescriptions become free once you reach the age of 60. Prescriptions are already free for everyone in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

You may also qualify for:

Free NHS eye tests
Help with dental costs
Discounts on glasses and hearing aids

Many opticians additionally offer special deals for pensioners. The Age UK website has more information about this

Council Tax Discounts

This is an area many people overlook.

While there is no general “pensioner discount” for council tax, some retired people may qualify for reductions depending on their circumstances.

Examples include:

Single person discount (25%)
Council Tax Reduction schemes for people on low incomes
Discounts linked to disability adaptations in the home

Rules vary between councils, so it is worth checking your local authority’s website.

Discounts on Leisure Activities

Retired people can often save money on:

Gym memberships
Swimming sessions
Golf clubs
Museums and heritage attractions
Theatre tickets

For example, Better Leisure Centres offer reduced-price Better Health Senior membership for people aged 66 and over. Members enjoy access to swimming pools and fitness classes, and can also take part in dedicated activities for senior members, from walking football to aqua aerobics. More info can be found here.

Many local councils run discounted leisure schemes for older residents, particularly during off-peak hours.

If you enjoy keeping active in retirement, these savings can add up quickly.

National Trust and English Heritage Memberships

If you enjoy visiting historic houses, gardens and beauty spots, memberships in these organizations can represent excellent value.

Both offer senior membership options, and members receive free entry to hundreds of attractions around the country. Note that in the case of the National Trust you will need to have been a member for at least three years before applying and will have to phone them on 0344 800 1895 and ask (there is no online application form). You will then get 25% off standard membership. With English Heritage the discount is available immediately and worth around 15% for individuals and 22% for joint members.

For keen visitors to historic attractions and gardens, the savings can easily outweigh the annual membership fee.

Retail Discounts for Older Shoppers

Some retailers offer occasional “senior discount days” or loyalty perks for older customers.

These are less common than they once were, but discounts can still sometimes be found at:

Department stores
Hairdressers
Garden centres
Charity shops
Independent retailers

For example, frozen food specialists Iceland offer senior citizens 10% off on Tuesdays. To be eligible you must be 60 or over. There is no minimum purchase. You just have to show proof of age – e.g. a bus pass – at the till.

Another example is the Boots Over 60s Rewards Scheme. If you’re over 60 and have a Boots Advantage Card, you can get a range of extra benefits, including 8 points for every pound you spend on Boots’ own brands and selected others (normally card-holders only get 4 points per pound spent). You can also get 300 Advantage Card points when you take a free Boots Hearing Health Check. Each Advantage Card point is worth 1p, so 1000 points would be worth £10. You can spend your points online or in store. For more info and to apply, visit Boots’ Over 60s web page.

At other stores, again, it is often worth asking discreetly whether any discounts are available.

Travel Insurance Savings

Travel insurance can become more expensive as we get older, but prices vary enormously between providers.

Shopping around is essential. Specialist insurers aimed at older travellers (e.g. SAGA Travel Insurance and AllClear Travel) can sometimes offer much better value than mainstream companies.

Annual multi-trip policies may also work out cheaper if you take several holidays a year.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask

One important point is that many discounts for older people are not heavily promoted. Businesses may offer them quietly or only at certain times.

There is absolutely no harm in politely asking:

“Do you offer a senior discount?”

The worst they can say is no — and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Final Thoughts

Retirement does not have to mean giving up the things you enjoy. By making the most of the discounts and perks available to older people, you can stretch your income further while still maintaining a good quality of life.

Even small savings can add up over time. A discounted rail ticket here, a cheaper cinema trip there, and reduced council tax or free prescriptions can collectively save hundreds of pounds a year.

And of course, every pound saved is a pound that can be spent on something you truly value!

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Prolific Academic - Ideal Side Hustle for Seniors

May 16, 2026

Here’s Why Prolific Academic Could Be the Ideal Side Hustle for Seniors

Nick Making Money reviews, side hustles 0 Comments

If you’re retired or semi-retired and looking for a flexible way to earn a little extra money from home, Prolific Academic could be the answer you are seeking.

I first wrote about Prolific a while ago in my article Make Money Helping University Researchers with Prolific Academic, and I still believe it’s one of the best side hustles around – especially for older people.

No, you’re not going to make a fortune from it. But you can earn a useful extra income in your spare time, while helping genuine academic researchers and keeping your brain active into the bargain.

What Is Prolific Academic?

Prolific Academic is an online platform that connects researchers – mainly from universities and other academic institutions – with members of the public willing to take part in research studies.

Most studies involve answering questionnaires or surveys, though some include simple games, memory tests, opinion polls, or short interactive tasks. Researchers are generally looking for honest responses from people of all ages and backgrounds, and seniors are often especially valued because they are under-represented in many studies.

Unlike some survey sites, Prolific has built a strong reputation for treating participants fairly. Studies are normally well designed, interesting and clearly explained. You can also see in advance how long each study should take and how much you’ll be paid (see below).

Flexible and Easy to Fit Around Your Life

One of the biggest advantages of Prolific for seniors is the flexibility.

There are no fixed hours, targets or commitments. You simply log in when you want to and choose from whatever studies are available. If you’re busy with holidays, family commitments, gardening, golf, volunteering, or anything else, you can ignore it for days or weeks without any problem.

Equally, if you have a quiet afternoon and fancy earning a few pounds, you can complete several studies in one sitting.

That makes Prolific ideal for retirees who want a side hustle that fits around their lifestyle rather than the other way round.

The Studies Are Often Genuinely Interesting

This is another reason I particularly like Prolific.

Many studies are linked to real academic research in subjects such as psychology, health, behaviour, finance, education, politics, memory, and technology. Some are thought-provoking and even fun.

You may be asked your opinion on current issues, to test a new app or website, or to take part in experiments exploring how people make decisions. I’ve personally found many studies surprisingly engaging.

Of course, there are occasional dull ones too – but because you can pick and choose, you’re free to skip anything that doesn’t appeal.

A Useful Extra Income Stream

Let’s keep expectations realistic: Prolific isn’t a replacement for a salary or pension.

But it can provide a worthwhile supplementary income. Rates typically work out between £8 and £12 per hour, with bonuses sometimes awarded as well. Many users earn enough to cover treats, hobbies, meals out, subscription services, or part of a holiday budget.

Payments are made without any deductions via the online payment platform PayPal. You can request a payout any time your earnings reach £6 or more. Payments are reliable and prompt, which is another reason the platform has developed such a loyal following. And because you decide how much time to devote to it, you remain completely in control.

Good for Keeping Your Brain Active

One thing many retirees discover is that mental stimulation matters just as much as physical activity.

The variety of tasks on Prolific can help keep your brain engaged and alert. Memory exercises, problem-solving tasks, reading comprehension studies, and opinion-based questionnaires all encourage active thinking.

I’m certainly not claiming Prolific is some sort of miracle anti-ageing treatment! But regularly engaging with new ideas and challenges can only be a positive thing.

The Tax Advantage for Small Earners

Another point worth mentioning is the UK government’s £1,000 Trading Allowance.

Under current HMRC rules, if your total income from casual self-employed or side-hustle activities is under £1,000 a year, you generally do not need to declare it or pay tax on it.

That means many casual Prolific users may fall comfortably within this limit.

Obviously everyone’s tax situation is different, and tax rules can change – so if you expect to earn more than this or are unsure about your position, it’s sensible to check the latest HMRC guidance or seek professional advice.

How to Sign Up

If you like the idea of earning a sideline income as a Prolific Academic member, all you need do is visit the Prolific website and click on the Get Paid to Participate box (don’t click the box to sign up as a researcher, obviously!).

An application form will then open requesting various items of information from you, most importantly the PayPal email address via which you want to be paid 💰

Final Thoughts

There are countless so-called “side hustles” being promoted online these days. Many are unrealistic, risky or simply exhausting.

Prolific is refreshingly different.

It’s flexible, straightforward, low-pressure and genuinely interesting. You can do as much or as little as you like, earn a bit of extra money, help academic research and keep mentally active at the same time.

For many seniors, that combination makes it close to the ideal side hustle.

Have you tried Prolific Academic yourself and would you recommend it? Or do you have another favourite side hassle you would like to share? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below as usual 🙂

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