Today I’m spotlighting a lesser-known government scheme which, if you’re eligible, can give your finances a valuable boost.
Help to Save is an initiative aimed at helping people on low incomes build up their savings. Offering generous tax-free bonuses, this scheme can provide significant benefits for qualifying individuals.
Here’s everything you need to know.
What is Help to Save?
Help to Save is a government savings scheme designed for people on Universal Credit.
For every £1 you save into your account, the government adds a 50p bonus, effectively giving you a 50% return. You can save up to £50 a month, with bonuses paid out at two key points over the four-year scheme.
How do the Bonuses Work?
Year 2 Bonus: After the first two years, you’ll receive a bonus worth 50% of your highest balance during that period.
Year 4 Bonus: At the end of the four years, you’ll receive a second 50% bonus based on the difference between your highest balance in years 3-4 and years 1-2.
So if, for example, you save the maximum £50 a month for two years, you’ll have £1,200 in your account. The government will then pay you a 50% bonus of £600.
If you continue saving £50 a month for the next two years, your balance excluding bonuses will be £2,400. You will then receive another £600, bringing your total bonuses to £1,200.
Putting it another way, in four years your investment of £2,400 will have accrued £1,200 in tax-free bonuses, giving you a total savings pot of £3,600. No bank savings account will offer you a guaranteed return anywhere near that!
Key Benefits of Help to Save
High returns: As mentioned above, a 50% bonus is significantly higher than any bank savings account interest rate
Flexibility: You can save as little or as much (up to £50 a month) as you like.
No risk: The scheme is government-backed, so there’s no chance of it going bust.
Tax-free: The bonuses are tax-free, and they aren’t treated as income for benefits purposes.
Easy withdrawals: You can withdraw savings any time if you need them (though frequent withdrawals may reduce your future bonuses).
No strings: The scheme is completely free and won’t affect your credit score. In addition, once you have been accepted on Help to Save, it doesn’t matter if your circumstances change.
Who is Eligible?
Recent changes have expanded eligibility for Help to Save to include all working Universal Credit claimants who earned £1 or more in their previous assessment period. The former minimum earnings threshold of £793 per month has been removed.
You must also live in the UK (or meet specific conditions if you live abroad as a Crown servant or member of the armed forces). You must also have a UK bank account.
The Help to Save scheme deadline has also been extended. You can now open an account until April 2027.
Are There Any Age Limits?
There are no specific age restrictions for opening a Help to Save account provided you meet the criteria above. Once you have qualified for the state pension, however, you will not be eligible to receive Universal Credit. That means if you’re coming up to retirement age (currently 66, gradually rising to 67 from 6 May 2026), it’s important to apply for the scheme before you reach that age.
How to Apply
Opening a Help to Save account is straightforward. You can apply online via the official government website or using the HMRC app.
Note that you will need a Government Gateway User ID and password. If you don’t have one of these already, you can create one during the application process.
Closing Thoughts
For those eligible Help to Save offers a valuable opportunity to build a savings pot, with the added advantage of tax-free government bonuses.
The scheme is designed to be simple and flexible, making it easy for individuals to develop a habit of saving and improve their financial security. If you qualify, it’s well worth considering as a step towards achieving a more stable financial future.
For more information and to apply, visit the government website. Don’t miss this chance to turn small, regular savings into a significant financial boost, before the scheme closes to new applicants in April 2027.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this article, please do leave them below.
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Whether you’re just starting, mid-career, or approaching retirement age, getting the right pension advice is crucial to ensure a secure and comfortable future.
Fortunately, there are many places in the UK (both free and paid) that offer pension guidance and tailored advice. In this blog post, we’ll explore reasons why you need pension advice, the best places to get help, and answer some frequently asked questions about pension advisers.
Why Would You Need Pension Advice?
Pensions are a vital part of your financial future, yet many people don’t fully understand how to approach pension problems or what investment options are available. Before we look at where you can find pension advice, here are a few common situations where seeking advice might be a smart move:
Near Retirement – As you approach retirement age, you’ll have to make important decisions such as when to access your pension, how to take your benefits, and how to minimise tax. Professional advice can help you make the most of your savings.
Multiple Pension Pots – If you have changed jobs frequently in the past, you might have multiple pension pots. Getting expert advice can help you trace and consolidate them efficiently, ensuring you don’t lose track of valuable funds.
Pension Transfers – Transferring pensions, especially from defined benefit (DB) schemes, can be risky if not handled carefully. Expert advice is essential to assess the risks and avoid losing valuable benefits.
Investment Choices – If you have a defined contribution (DC) pension, you can choose where your pension contributions are invested. Advice can help match your investment risk profile with your long-term goals.
Places To Get Pension Advice in the UK
Many organisations and platforms in the UK offer pension guidance and advice. Some are free and impartial, while others are professional financial advice services that may charge a fee.
Here’s a breakdown of some places where you can get pension advice:
1. Pension Wise
Pension Wise is a government-backed service offered through MoneyHelper. It offers free and impartial guidance to people aged 50 or over with a defined contribution pension. If you’re unsure about what type of pension pot you have, they have a service that helps determine whether or not you have a defined contribution pension. You can book a free appointment online or over the phone with a pension specialist who will explain how each pension option works, what tax you could pay, and how to identify scams. It also offers a helpline and webchat open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm.
Pros
Government-backed service
Free online and phone appointments
Suitable for people aged 50 or over with a defined contribution pension pot
Cons
You may not be able to get an appointment if you are under 50 or only have a defined benefit pension
Citizens Advice is an independent organisation in the UK that provides free and confidential guidance on a wide range of financial issues, including pensions. They have a network of local charities in around 1,600 locations across England and Wales with 14,000 volunteers and 8,843 staff. You can contact a guidance specialist online, on the phone, or by visiting your local Citizens Advice branch. Their website is also a helpful resource for general information about state pensions, workplace pensions, personal pensions, and more.
Pros
Around 1,600 locations across the UK
Free face-to-face and phone appointments
A great resource for general pension information
Cons
You may not be able to get an appointment if you are under 50 or only have a defined benefit pension
FinancialAdvisers.co.uk is an online platform with a database of over 60,000 FCA-approved financial advisers and 15,000 firms across the UK. It works by connecting people with a range of financial advisers based on their postcode. Users can enter their postcode in the directory and filter the results by pension and retirement advice to find a list of pension advisers nearby.
In addition, they also offer a ‘Get Matched’ service that matches you with a suitable adviser. By answering a few questions and entering your personal details, it allows you to find an FCA-regulated adviser in your local area and request a guaranteed call back.
Pros
Free directory to find pension advisers near you
Free ‘Get Matched’ service
Most pension advisers listed offer a free initial consultation
Cons
You have to make contact with advisers unless you get matched
As a part of the Chartered Insurance Institute group, the Personal Finance Society (PFS) serves as the UK’s professional body dedicated to the financial planning sector. This organisation is committed to elevating standards and fostering professionalism across the sector, primarily aiming to enhance public trust and confidence.
The Personal Finance Society provides a free search tool on their website, enabling individuals to locate qualified advisers nearby. By inputting their location, users can refine their search based on their specialty, such as retirement pensions and annuities. The tool also allows for filtering options to show only chartered financial planners, specialists in later life and retirement planning, or advisers who can be contacted by email or telephone.
Pros
Free search tool to find advisers in your local area
All listed advisers are qualified and members of the PFS
Most advisers listed offer a free initial consultation
Age UK is a leading charity federation designed to provide support and guidance to older people on a wide range of topics, including pensions. They offer a free and confidential helpline and have specialist advisers at over 120 locations across the UK. The Age UK website provides general information on pension pots, state pensions, workplace pensions, finding old pensions, annuities, how to spot pension scams, and more.
Pros
Free and impartial guidance
Free helpline open 8 am to 7 pm, 365 days a year
Specialist advisers in over 120 locations across the UK
NEST (National Employment Savings Trust) is a popular workplace pension scheme in the UK designed to make automatic enrolment as easy as possible. The scheme was set up by the government and introduced by the Pensions Act 2008. Under the act, all employers in the UK are legally required to put eligible staff into a pension scheme and contribute towards the pension pot. This is to help staff save as much as possible for retirement.
Whatever pension provider you are with, it is worth seeking advice from them. If you’ve been auto-enrolled into a NEST pension scheme, they offer guidance and support on their website in a range of areas, such as how to grow your pension, transfers, contributions, pension tax, and more.
What is the Difference Between Pension Guidance and Advice?
Pension guidance helps you understand your options and make informed decisions, but it doesn’t recommend specific financial products or tell you what to do. It’s usually free and impartial and offered by services like Pension Wise and Citizens Advice. Pension advice, on the other hand, is provided by regulated financial advisers. They assess your financial situation and recommend specific actions or products for a fee.
Is It Worth Paying a Pension Adviser?
It depends on your circumstances. If you’re close to retirement or have multiple pension pots, paying for tailored advice can be a smart investment. A good adviser can help you avoid costly mistakes, optimise your tax position, and choose suitable investments.
How Much Does a Pension Adviser Charge?
Most pension advisers offer a free initial consultation and charge a fee for their services. These fees vary depending on the complexity of your situation and how the adviser charges. Typical fee structures include fixed, percentage-based (0.5% to 2% of the pension value managed), or hourly. Before working with an adviser, it is recommended that you ask about fee disclosure to avoid hidden costs.
Where to Go From Here for Pension Advice
Getting the right pension advice can mean the difference between a comfortable retirement and financial uncertainty. Whether you’re just starting to save, consolidating old pension pots, or deciding how to access your pension funds, it pays to seek help.
Start with free, impartial guidance services to understand your options. If your situation is more complex or you want advice tailored to your retirement goals, consider hiring a regulated financial adviser. With a wealth of resources available, planning for retirement doesn’t have to be daunting.
This is a collaborative post.
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I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).
As the screenshot below for the year to date shows, my main Nutmeg portfolio is currently valued at £24,532. Last month it stood at £25,065, so that is a fall of £533.
Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,934 compared with £4,027 a month ago, a fall of £93. Here is a screen capture showing performance for the year to date.
Finally, at the start of December 2023 I invested £500 in one of Nutmeg’s new thematic portfolios (Resource Transformation). In March I also invested a further £200 from referral bonuses. As you can see from the YTD screen capture below, this portfolio is now worth £770 compared with £783 last month, a fall of £13.
As you can see, April was a roller-coaster month for my Nutmeg investments. There were some big dips in the early part of the month, followed by a partial but nonetheless welcome recovery. Overall I am down by £639 over the month. This is mostly due to the continuing instability in world markets, caused by the trade tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump and other economic factors.
Nonetheless, the value of my Nutmeg investments is still up £838 in the last twelve months. And their value has increased by £2,920 or 11.10% since the start of January 2024. So the recent falls do need to be taken in context. Ups and downs are always to be expected with stock market investments, and over time they tend to even themselves out. In general the worst thing you can do is panic and sell up when downturns occur, as you are then crystallizing your losses. This is something I had cause to discuss recently in this blog post.
You can read my full Nutmeg review here. If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last eight years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs as well.
Moving on, I also have investments with P2P property investment platform Assetz Exchange. As discussed in this recent post, the company recently rebranded as Housemartin.
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 £245.97 in revenue from rental income. I have also made a profit of £4.78 on property disposals. Capital growth has slowed, though, in line with UK property values generally.
At the time of writing, 18 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 1 is breaking even, and the remaining 18 are showing losses. My portfolio of 37 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £54.67. That means that overall (rental income and profit on disposal minus capital value decrease) I am up by £196.08. That’s still a decent 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.
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 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.
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.
As you can see from the screen captures below, my original investment (total value £888.36 in pounds sterling) is today worth £975.36, an overall increase of £87 or 9.79%.
Note: eToro now displays the value of investments in your native currency, although you can change this if you wish.
As you can see, my Oil WorldWide investment has seen a downturn in April and is actually worth marginally less than when I invested. That’s clearly disappointing after last month’s improvement, but reflects the global economic turmoil caused largely by US President Trump’s tariffs.
Thankfully my copy trading investment with Aukie2008 has been doing better, with an overall 33.82% profit. To be fair, I have held this investment a little longer.
My Tesla shares, which I bought as an afterthought with a bit of spare cash I had in my account, have done particularly well since I bought them, with an overall profit of 158.24%. 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!
eToro also offer the free eToro Money app. This allows you to deposit money to your eToro account without paying any currency conversion fees, saving you up to £5 for every £1,000 you deposit. You can also use the app to withdraw funds from your eToro account instantly to your bank account. I tried this myself and was impressed with how quickly and seamlessly it worked. You can read my blog post about eToro Money here. Note that it can also serve as a cryptocurrency wallet, allowing you to send and receive crypto from any other wallet address in the world.
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, as I said last time, I am no longer writing for the Mouthy Money website, as they have decided to take their content creation in-house. From a personal perspective I am obviously disappointed about this, but I had a good run with them and wish them every success going forward. You can still read all the articles I contributed to Mouthy Money over the years by visiting my profile page on the website. How long they will keep this in place I really can’t say!
In April I did have a guest post on my friend Sally Jenkins’ writing blog. Sally asked me some questions about my writing career for a regular feature she runs on her blog. I enjoyed answering the questions, which included “What are the most important qualities required by a writer?” and “What writing resources have you found most useful?” If you have any interest in writing, hopefully you may find this of interest.
I also published several posts on Pounds and Sense in April. I have listed below those that are still relevant
In Why Now Could Be the Ideal Time to Take Advantage of Your New Tax-Free ISA Allowance, I pointed out that everyone received a new £20,000 ISA allowance from the start of the new tax year on 6 April 2025. My article sets out some good reasons for taking advantage of the new allowance sooner rather than later, especially in light of persistent rumours that the government plans to restrict the allowance (for cash ISAs at any rate) in the autumn budget.
Why Has My Bank Abandoned Me? is an opinion piece by a writer friend who has asked to be known at SD. In it she laments the changes at UK banks in recent years that have hit older customers (in particular) hard. I could certainly relate to some of the experiences she describes in her article. Take a look and see if you agree.
I’ve already mentioned my post about Why UK Retirees Shouldn’t Panic Over Trump’s Tariffs and Market Wobbles. In this I pointed out that whilst the recent downturn is disappointing for investors, the worst thing you can do is panic and sell up, as this will crystallize your losses. In this post I draw a parallel with the Covid crash and point out that this was followed by a sustained rise in stock market values. Of course, nobody knows how current events will play out, but hopefully the upward trend seen over the last couple of weeks will continue. In any event, historically stocks and shares have delivered better returns than savings accounts over most periods of five years or longer.
Tow Like a Pro – Caravan Safety Tips From the Experts was a guest post from my friends at Compass, who are specialist leisure and caravan insurers. The post reveals the most common causes of accidents with caravans and sets out some top tips for staying safe when towing one.
Finally, How to Publish Your Book (and Earn Royalties) was a guest post from my writing friend Sally Jenkins (as mentioned earlier I had a guest post published myself on Sally’s blog in April). In her article, which generated a lot of interest, Sally set out the main options for getting a book published and making money from it. She also revealed some resources she has used herself in her successful freelance writing career.
I’ll close with a reminder that you can also follow Pounds and Sense on Facebook or Twitter (or X as we have to call it 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. For the time being anyway, Twitter/X will remain my primary social media platform, but I will 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:
Here is my latest monthly update about my investments (slightly earlier than usual due to other commitments). You can read my March 2025 Investments Update here if you like.
I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).
As the screenshot below for the year to date shows, my main Nutmeg portfolio is currently valued at £25,065. Last month it stood at £25,850, so that is a drop of £785.
Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £4,027 compared with £4,151 a month ago, a fall of £124. Here is a screen capture showing performance for the year to date.
Finally, at the start of December 2023 I invested £500 in one of Nutmeg’s new thematic portfolios (Resource Transformation). In March I also invested a further £200 from referral bonuses. As you can see from the YTD screen capture below, this portfolio is now worth £783 compared with £803 last month, a fall of £20.
As you can see, March has been another disappointing month for my Nutmeg investments. Overall I am down by £929. This is mostly due to the continuing instability in world markets, caused by the the trade tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump and other economic and social factors.
Nonetheless, the value of my Nutmeg investments is still up £1,477 in the last twelve months. And their value has increased by £3,559 or 13.52% since the start of January 2024. So the recent falls do need to be taken in context. Ups and downs are always to be expected with stock market investments, and over time they tend to even themselves out. In general the worst thing you can do is panic and sell up when downturns occur, as you are then crystallizing your losses. Indeed, I am considering topping up some of my investments now while values are depressed. That’s just how I’m thinking, of course, and doesn’t constitute investment advice!
You can read my full Nutmeg review here. If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last eight years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs as well.
Moving on, I also have investments with P2P property investment platform Assetz Exchange. As discussed in this recent post, the company recently rebranded as Housemartin.
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 £238.70 in revenue from rental income. Capital growth has slowed, though, in line with UK property values generally.
At the time of writing, 15 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 2 are breaking even, and the remaining 19 are showing losses. My portfolio of 36 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £52.78, meaning that overall (rental income minus capital value decrease) I am up by £185.92. That’s still a decent 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.
The overall 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 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.
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.
As you can see from the screen captures below, my original investment (total value £888.36 in pounds sterling) is today worth £1,072.80, an overall increase of £184.44 or 20.76%.
Note: eToro now displays the value of investments in your native currency, although you can change this if you wish.
As you can see, my Oil WorldWide investment is currently showing a profit of 12.31%. That’s a welcome improvement since the portfolio was rebalanced by eToro. The investment team at eToro periodically rebalance all smart portfolios to ensure that the mix of investments remains aligned with the portfolio’s goals, and to take advantage of any new opportunities that may present themselves.
My copy trading investment with Aukie2008 has been doing better, with an overall 32.06% profit. To be fair, I have held the latter investment a bit longer.
My Tesla shares, which I bought as an afterthought with a bit of spare cash I had in my account, have done particularly well since I bought them, with an overall profit of 144.84%. 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!
eToro also offer the free eToro Money app. This allows you to deposit money to your eToro account without paying any currency conversion fees, saving you up to £5 for every £1,000 you deposit. You can also use the app to withdraw funds from your eToro account instantly to your bank account. I tried this myself and was impressed with how quickly and seamlessly it worked. You can read my blog post about eToro Money here. Note that it can also serve as a cryptocurrency wallet, allowing you to send and receive crypto from any other wallet address in the world.
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, as I said last time, I am no longer writing for the Mouthy Money website, as they have decided to take their content creation in-house. From a personal perspective I am obviously disappointed about this, but I had a good run with them and wish them every success going forward. You can still read all the articles I contributed to Mouthy Money over the years by visiting my profile page on the website. How long they will keep this in place I really can’t say!
I also published several posts on Pounds and Sense in March. Some are no longer relevant, but I have listed the others below.
In Beat the Postage Stamp Price Rise!, I pointed out that stamp prices are rising again on 7th April 2025. This will actually be the the SIXTH rise in the price of first class stamps in just three years. See what prices are going up, along with my recommendations for mitigating the effects of the increases.
And in From Saving to Spending – The Retirement Mindset Shift I discussed a subject that has been on my mind recently as I enter my 70th year. This is how to negotiate the mindset shirt from saving to spending in retirement, and how (hopefully) to get the balance right.
The Pros and Cons of Investing for Dividends discusses a strategy that has been growing in popularity with older investors particularly. Dividend investing offers the potential for generating income combined with capital appreciation. In this post I examine the pros and cons of a dividend investing strategy and set out a few tips and guidelines for those new to this.
Finally, in Spotlight: The Mintos P2P European Investing Platform I take a closer look at Mintos, Europe’s largest P2P investment platform. As well as the ability to generate above-average returns by investing in loans to businesses world-wide, they have added new diversification options, including bonds, ETFs and real estate. And until the end of April they have a bonus offer for anyone investing €1,500 or above on the platform. In my blog post I look at the pros and cons of investing with Mintos and provide more details about their April bonus offer.
One other thing is that we’re currently just over a week away from the end of the 2024/25 financial year. If you still haven’t used all of your 2024/25 £20,000 tax-free ISA allowance, you have just a few days left before it’s gone. It is more important than ever to use all your tax-free allowances while you can, as the government looks set to reduce some of these allowances later in the year. See my recent blog post for more information.
I’ll close with a reminder that you can also follow Pounds and Sense on Facebook or Twitter (or X as we have to call it 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. For the time being anyway, Twitter/X will remain my primary social media platform, but I will 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:
I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).
As the screenshot below for the last twelve months shows, my main Nutmeg portfolio is currently valued at £25,850. Last month it stood at £26,528, so that is a decrease of £678.
Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £4,151 compared with £4,267 a month ago, a fall of £116. Here is a screen capture showing performance over the last twelve months.
Finally, at the start of December 2023 I invested £500 in one of Nutmeg’s new thematic portfolios (Resource Transformation). In March I also invested a further £200 from referral bonuses. As you can see from the screen capture below, this portfolio is now worth £803 (rounded up) compared with £832 last month, a fall of £29.
As you can see, February has been a disappointing month for my Nutmeg investments. Overall I am down by £823. This is mostly due to a general decrease in share values in the second half of the month.
Nonetheless, the value of my Nutmeg investments is still up £390 since the start of the year. And their value has increased by £3,441 or 12.67% in the twelve months since the end of February 2024.
You can read my full Nutmeg review here. If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last eight years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs as well.
Moving on, I also have investments with P2P property investment platform Assetz Exchange. As discussed in this recent post, the company recently rebranded as Housemartin.
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 £235.31 in revenue from rental income. Capital growth has slowed, though, in line with UK property values generally.
At the time of writing, 17 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 1 is breaking even, and the remaining 19 are showing losses. My portfolio of 37 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £50.24, meaning that overall (rental income minus capital value decrease) I am up by £185.07. That’s still a decent 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.
The overall 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 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 full review of Assetz Exchange/Housemartin here. You can also sign up for an account directly via this link [affiliate]. Bear in mind that, as from the current financial year (2024/25), you can open more than one IFISA per year.
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.
As you can see from the screen captures below, my original investment (total value £888.36 in pounds sterling) is today worth £1,056.29, an overall increase of £167.93 or 18.90%.
Note: eToro now displays the value of investments in your native currency, although you can change this if you wish.
As you can see, my Oil WorldWide investment is showing a profit of 8.77%. That’s a small but nonetheless welcome improvement since the portfolio was rebalanced by eToro. The investment team at eToro periodically rebalance all smart portfolios to ensure that the mix of investments remains aligned with the portfolio’s goals, and to take advantage of any new opportunities that may present themselves.
My copy trading investment with Aukie2008 has been doing better, with an overall 31.18% profit. To be fair, I have held the latter investment a bit longer.
My Tesla shares, which I bought as an afterthought with a bit of spare cash I had in my account, have done particularly well since I bought them, with an overall profit of 163.81%. 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!
eToro also offer the free eToro Money app. This allows you to deposit money to your eToro account without paying any currency conversion fees, saving you up to £5 for every £1,000 you deposit. You can also use the app to withdraw funds from your eToro account instantly to your bank account. I tried this myself and was impressed with how quickly and seamlessly it worked. You can read my blog post about eToro Money here. Note that it can also serve as a cryptocurrency wallet, allowing you to send and receive crypto from any other wallet address in the world.
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.
I had six more articles published in February on the excellent Mouthy Money website. The first is titled Travelling to Europe This Year? Here’s Why You Need a GHIC Card. If you’re unfamiliar with the GHIC or how it differs from the previous European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), this article reveals everything you need to know, from how to apply to why it’s so important for your travels.
Also in February Mouthy Money published How to Check Your Tax Code and Correct it if Necessary. Understanding your tax code and ensuring its accuracy can prevent you from overpaying (or underpaying) tax. In this article I explained everything you need in order to check and understand the code you have been allocated.
And in Make Extra Money Renting a Room I turned the spotlight on this traditional (but none the worse for that) method for making some extra money. If your circumstances allow it, letting a room in your home can be a great way of generating a sideline income. It will provide a regular, ongoing income stream, which could prove a lifeline in these financially challenging times. And you can choose between getting a full-time lodger or offering short-term lets. Better still, under the Rent a Room Scheme you can make up to £7,500 a year this way entirely tax free!
In What is the Trading Allowance and How Can You Profit From It? I discussed this valuable allowance for UK residents looking to earn extra income from trading or side hustles. Even if you have a full-time job already, under the Trading Allowance you can earn up to £1,000 a year without having to declare that income to the taxman or paying tax on it. Read my article for the full lowdown!
And in Could You Benefit From the Help to Save Scheme? I discussed this lesser-known government initiative which, if you’re eligible, can give your finances a valuable boost. The Help to Save scheme aims to help people on lower incomes build up their savings. Offering generous tax-free bonuses, Help to Save can provide significant benefits for qualifying individuals.
Finally, in Could a Smart Thermostat Save You Money?, I revealed how these clever devices can save you money on your energy bills. I recently had one fitted myself. In this article I reveal which I chose (and why) and share some tips based on my own experiences. My heating engineer Dave, who installed it for me, also gets an honourable mention!
As I’ve said before, Mouthy Money is a great resource for anyone interested in money-making and money-saving. From the range of articles published in February, I particularly enjoyed Where to Find the Best Money-Saving Resources in 2025 by regular MM contributor Shoestring Jane. Jane writes mainly about money saving and frugal living. You can see all of her articles for Mouthy Money via this web page.
The not-so-good news about Mouthy Money is that due to a change in their business strategy they will no longer be commissioning external content writers such as me and Jane. From a personal perspective I am obviously disappointed about this, but I have had a good run with them and wish them every success going forward. I will continue to follow Mouthy Money with interest and recommend PAS readers do the same. I am also available for other writing work in the personal finance sphere if anyone else should need me!
I also published several posts on Pounds and Sense in February. Some are no longer relevant, but I have listed the others below.
Debunking Common Myths About Over-50 Life Insurance is a guest post on behalf of my friends at British Seniors Insurance Services. It sets out seven common myths about life insurance for over-50s, including ‘I’m too old to get life insurance’ and ‘Life insurance for over-50s is too expensive’, and explains why these commonly-held beliefs are incorrect.
Marriage in Later Life – A Guide to the Financial and Legal Implications is another guest post, this time by my colleagues at HCR Law. In this eye-opening article, their family law specialist, Victoria Fellows, sets out some important considerations to take into account if you are thinking of marrying (or remarrying) in later life.
In How to Make Money From Stoozing, I discuss this method of making extra income by taking advantage of interest-free offer periods on credit cards. If you are well organized you can make hundreds of pounds by doing this, but there are certain pitfalls to avoid. My article sets out everything you need to know and shares some useful resources.
Don’t Miss Out! Use Your £20,000 ISA Allowance Before It’s Too Late is a reminder that the current tax year ends on 5 April 2025 – and if you don’t use your 2024/25 tax-free ISA allowance before that date, it will be gone forever. In my article I explain the main types of ISA and reveal the ones I invest in myself. I also reveal why using your ISA allowance may be especially important in the current tax year if certain rumours are to be believed.
Finally, in Get Your Will Written Free of Charge in March, I discuss Free Wills Month, which actually starts today (3rd March 2025). This event brings together a group of well-respected charities to offer members of the public aged 55 and over the chance to have their wills written (or updated) free using participating solicitors across the UK. If you don’t currently have a will, this no-obligation opportunity is well worth checking out.
I’ll close with a reminder that you can also follow Pounds and Sense on Facebook or Twitter (or X as we have to call it 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. For the time being anyway, Twitter/X will remain my primary social media platform, but I will 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:
I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).
As the screenshot below for the last twelve months shows, my main Nutmeg portfolio is currently valued at £26,528. Last month it stood at £25,513, so that is an impressive rise of £1,015.
Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £4,267 compared with £4,103 a month ago, a rise of £164. Here is a screen capture showing performance over the last twelve months.
Finally, at the start of December 2023 I invested £500 in one of Nutmeg’s new thematic portfolios (Resource Transformation). In March I also invested a further £200 from referral bonuses. As you can see from the screen capture below, this portfolio is now worth £832 compared with £798 last month, a rise of £34.
January has clearly been a good month for my Nutmeg investments. Their overall value has grown by £1,213 or 3.94% since the start of the year. And their value has increased by £5,193 or 19.65% in the twelve months since 31st January 2024.
You can read my full Nutmeg review here. If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last eight years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs as well.
Moving on, I also have investments with P2P property investment platform Assetz Exchange. As discussed in this recent post, the company has just rebranded as Housemartin.
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 £229.98 in revenue from rental income. Capital growth has slowed, though, in line with UK property values generally.
At the time of writing, 15 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 2 are breaking even, and the remaining 18 are showing losses. My portfolio of 35 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £55.21, meaning that overall (rental income minus capital value decrease) I am up by £174.77. That’s still a decent 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.
The overall 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 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 full review of Assetz Exchange/Housemartin here. You can also sign up for an account directly via this link [affiliate]. Bear in mind that, as from the current financial year (2024/25), you can open more than one IFISA per year.
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.
As you can see from the screen captures below, my original investment (total value £888.36 in pounds sterling) is today worth £1,081.19, an overall increase of £192.16 or 21.71%.
Note: eToro now displays the value of investments in your native currency, although you can change this if you wish.
As you can see, my Oil WorldWide investment is showing a profit of 8.43%. That’s not overly exciting but the portfolio has just been rebalanced by eToro, so hopefully that will improve its performance going forward. The investment team at eToro periodically rebalance all smart portfolios to ensure that the mix of investments remains aligned with the portfolio’s goals, and to take advantage of any new opportunities that may present themselves.
My copy trading investment with Aukie2008 has been doing better, with an overall 26.56% profit. To be fair, I have held the latter investment a bit longer.
My Tesla shares, which I bought as an afterthought with a bit of spare cash I had in my account, have done particularly well in recent months. 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 have been awarded. In any event, I am happy to have them in my portfolio!
eToro also offer the free eToro Money app. This allows you to deposit money to your eToro account without paying any currency conversion fees, saving you up to £5 for every £1,000 you deposit. You can also use the app to withdraw funds from your eToro account instantly to your bank account. I tried this myself and was impressed with how quickly and seamlessly it worked. You can read my blog post about eToro Money here. Note that it can also serve as a cryptocurrency wallet, allowing you to send and receive crypto from any other wallet address in the world.
If you would like more information about setting up an eToro account, please click on this no-obligation website link (affiliate).
I had another article published in January on the excellent Mouthy Money website. This is How to Make Money Through Bank Account Switching. In this article I discussed an easy method for generating handy lump sums by taking advantage of switching incentives offered by some UK banks. The banks are currently battling one another for your custom, and they are offering some enticing cash bonuses (and sometimes other freebies/benefits as well) to get you to sign up.
As I’ve said before, Mouthy Money is a great resource for anyone interested in money-making and money-saving. From the range of articles published in January, I particularly enjoyed 16 Ways to Be More Frugal and Save Money in 2025 by regular MM contributor Shoestring Jane. Jane writes mainly about money saving and frugal living. You can see all of her articles for Mouthy Money via this web page.
I also published several posts on Pounds and Sense in January. Some are no longer relevant, but I have listed the others below.
As mentioned earlier, I published a post titled P2P Property Investment Platform Assetz Exchange Rebrands as Housemartin. In this I discussed the recent rebrand of this P2P property investment platform, which I invest through myself. The post also discusses how the platform has changed since I first featured it here on Pounds and Sense.
In Here’s Why Most Over-50s Need More Protein in Their Diet I discussed a subject that will be relevant to many readers of this blog (which is of course aimed especially at over-50s). I must admit I hadn’t realised just how important this was until I saw the topic being discussed on GB News last month. I wanted to learn more and researched the subject with the aid of AI program ChatGPT. This blog post was the result.
In Take the Plum 52-Week Saving Challenge, I shared a method you can use to set aside a handy lump sum of up to £1,378 in a year. As you may gather, the method involves using the smart money app Plum [affiliate link]. This automates the whole process for you, making saving as easy and painless as possible. Read the article for full details!
Also in January I published a guest post on the subject Dos and Don’ts for Divorce in 2025. Written by an experienced divorce lawyer, this article sets out tips and guidelines to make the divorce process as pain-free as possible if, sadly, your marriage has run its course.
Finally, on a happier note, I published Planning a UK Holiday This Year? Here Are Some Ideas For You. In this article (which I update and republish annually) I set out a range of suggestions for short break (or longer) holidays in the UK, along with links to blog posts I have written about the destinations concerned.
Lastly, a reminder that you can also follow Pounds and Sense on Facebook or Twitter (or X as we have to call it 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. For the time being anyway, Twitter/X will remain my primary social media platform, but I will also post details of my latest blog posts, third-party articles and other financial news and resources on BlueSky for those who may prefer to follow me there.
That’s all for today. 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:
As regular readers of Pounds and Sense will know, I’m a fan of P2P property investment platform Assetz Exchange and have invested through them myself. AE have recently rebranded as Housemartin, so I thought I should write an update about this.
You can read my original detailed review of Assetz Exchange (as it was then) in this post. Much of this info still applies – so I won’t reproduce it all here – but certain things (as well as the name!) have changed.
Assetz Exchange began as a ‘traditional’ property crowdfunding platform, with investors coming together to buy a property. They then shared in the rental income received – and any profit if the property was subsequently sold – in proportion to the size of their investment. When I first wrote about Assetz Exchange they offered a variety of investment opportunities, including former show homes and development projects.
Nowadays, though, the company focuses on supported housing, working closely with charities and other organizations that assist people with physical and cognitive disabilities. These have generally proven the most reliable and hassle-free investments, so Housemartin have understandably chosen to concentrate on this.
Properties are generally let on long leases, with the charities taking responsibility for day-to-day management and maintenance. As mentioned, investors receive a share of the monthly rental received and any profits if/when the properties are sold (you can also potentially sell your holdings online at any time via the exchange, which serves as a secondary market). That puts these investments at the lower-risk end of the property investment spectrum (though there are, of course, still risks involved, and you should ensure you understand these and are comfortable with them before investing).
Assetz Exchange was originally part of the Assetz group of property investment companies that included Assetz Capital. In December 2023 Assetz announced it was withdrawing from the retail marketplace to work with institutional investors only. Partly as a consequence of this, the team behind Housemartin took the decision to part ways with the Assetz group and are no longer affiliated with them. Although they always operated separately from Assetz Capital, Housemartin is now an entirely independent P2P property investment platform. Regarding the name change, the company says:
“The name Housemartin reflects the company’s commitment to delivering robust, hassle-free, quality residential property investment opportunities that reward investors with monthly inflation-linked income. Just as the house martin bird is known for its sociability and adaptability, Housemartin aims to provide investors with an opportunity to pool funds with fellow investors to create much needed quality homes for people requiring support.”
Future Plans
In its new guise as Housemartin, the company has big plans for 2025 and further into the future. They intend to stick to their strategy of working with partners in the supported housing sector, including (for example) Golden Lane Housing, Lets For Life and Halo Housing. A typical current opportunity from the website is shown below.
Peter Read, the MD of Housemartin, points out that with interest rates currently falling, this makes the returns of around 7% they can typically offer investors increasingly attractive (and of course there is the potential for capital growth as well). He also points out that rentals are raised every year in line with inflation.
Housemartin are currently launching a fundraising round on the investment platform Crowdcube. They are looking to raise additional capital which will be used to help the company expand and improve its offering. Anyone is welcome to invest via Crowdcube, though as this is a share offer it’s almost certainly riskier than investing via the platform itself, with no clearly defined exit route. Personally I do not plan to invest in Housemartin this way, but you can find out more if you wish by registering on the Crowdcube site.
My Own Experience
I put an initial £100 into the platform 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 portfolio has generated a respectable £227.35 in revenue from rental income. Capital growth has slowed, though, in line with UK property values generally.
At the time of writing, 12 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 3 are breaking even, and the remaining 20 are showing losses. My portfolio of 35 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £62.22, meaning that overall (rental income minus capital value decrease) I am up by £165.13. That’s still a decent 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 Assetz Exchange the projects are socially beneficial as well.
The overall fall in capital value of my AE investments is obviously a bit disappointing. But it’s important to remember that until/unless I choose to sell the investments in question, it is 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 HM 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 getting. Personally, once I have accrued a minimum of £10 in rental payments, I reinvest this money in either a new Housemartin 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 HM 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. If you wish you can also sign up for a no-obligation account on Housemartin directly via this link [affiliate]. Bear in mind that, as from this financial year (2024/25), you can open more than one IFISA per year so long as you don’t exceed your overall £20,000 ISA allowance.
Closing Thoughts
As I said earlier, I am a fan of Housemartin and have been investing with them for several years now. I have also spoken to their MD, Peter Read, on various occasions, and always found him open and honest.
My HM investments have performed well; and as far as I’m aware no investor has ever lost money through the platform. Obviously there are never any guarantees with investing – but if you like the idea of earning higher rates of interest than available from banks while helping vulnerable people secure a much-needed roof over their heads, Housemartin is certainly worth a look.
As always, if you have any queries about this blog post or Housemartin more generally, do leave a comment as usual.
Disclosure: As stated in this post, I am an investor with Housemartin and also an affiliate for them. If you click through my link and sign up, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect in any way the service you receive or the terms you are offered.
Please be aware also that I am not a professional financial adviser. You should always do your own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek advice from a qualified adviser if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.
If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:
I have written about Plum a few times on Pounds and Sense. Today I am spotlighting their new Plum52-Week Saving Challenge. This is designed to help you set aside a handy lump sum of up to £1,378 in a year, while making the whole process as quick and easy as possible 🙂
Let’s start with the basics for those who may be new to Plum, though…
What is Plum?
Plum is a smart money app designed to help you automate setting money aside for any purpose – from holidays to major purchases or simply for a ‘rainy day’ fund. It uses AI to analyze your spending and then makes suggestions about saving and investing.
NOTE: Capital is at risk if you invest. The value of investments can go down as well as up.
Plum is one of a range of apps that make use of Open Banking. This allows third-party apps to access your financial information – as long as you provide the necessary authorization, of course – and perform certain transactions on your behalf (if you choose to set up a direct debit). Plum uses Open Banking to access your financial information with your authorization. Ensure you are comfortable with this before proceeding.
Plum offers three levels of account. These are the free Plum Basic and paid-for Pro and Premium.
The Basic account is (as stated) free of charges. Fees apply for Pro and Premium accounts. Plum Pro costs £2.99 a month and Premium costs £9.99 a month. The Pro and Premium accounts offer a wider range of features and higher interest rates in interest-bearing ‘Pockets’. It’s important to note that these are not traditional savings accounts. This is further discussed on the main Plum website.
The current challenge is specifically for people who have a Pro or Premium account
The 52-Week Saving Challenge
The Plum 52-Week Saving Challenge is designed to help you set aside up to £1.378 in one year. Here’s how it works.
You start by setting aside £1 in the first week. Then each week you add £1 more than the previous week. So in the second week, you set aside £2, in the third week £3, and so on.
Week 1: £1
Week 2: £2
Week 3: £3 . . .
Week 51: £51
Week 52: £52
By the end of the challenge year, you will have set aside a total of £1,378. Before you start you can check out a special calendar in the app that shows exactly how much money you’ll be setting aside each week.
How to Get Started
As mentioned above, holders of Plum Pro or Premium accounts have access to a built-in feature that makes the whole challenge as easy and painless as possible. Just follow these few simple steps below…
Open the Plum app and find the Brain.
Tap on the 52-week challenge to activate it.
You can turn it on or off like a light switch. Before you turn it on, you’ll be able to see the calendar mentioned above, which shows exactly how much money you’ll be saving each week.
Plum say that if they aren’t able to create a deposit for a specific week, the amount for that week won’t be skipped. They will deposit that amount the following week instead, so you won’t miss out.
Closing Thoughts
In my view the Plum 52-Week Savings Challenge represents a great opportunity to save a handy lump over a 12-month period. You could use this to pay for a well-deserved holiday or other one-off purchase, or even put it towards Christmas 2025!
Using the app automates the whole process, making it as quick and painless as possible. But of course you can switch it off any time if your circumstances change.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this blog post, please do leave them below.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. If you click through any of my links and set up an account with Plum, I may receive a modest commission for introducing you. This will not affect in any way the terms you are offered.
Plum is the trading name of Plum Fintech Limited, which is registered with the FCA (FRN 836158) to carry out payment services activities as a Registered Account Information Service Provider, to carry out payment services activities. Plum is a distributor of Modulr FS Ltd and an agent of PayrNet Ltd for the purposes of the Plum Card. Modulr (FRN 900573) and PayrNet (FRN 900594) are regulated and authorised as Electronic Money Institutions by the FCA. Plum Money is the trading name of Saveable Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the FCA (FRN 739214) to carry out investment and credit broking services. T&Cs apply. Visitwww.withplum.com.
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I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).
As the screenshot below for the year to date shows, my main Nutmeg portfolio is currently valued at £25,513. Last month it stood at £25,822, so that is a fall of £309.
Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £4,103 compared with £4,157 a month ago, a fall of £54. 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’s new thematic portfolios (Resource Transformation). In March I also invested a further £200 from referral bonuses. As you can see from the YTD screen capture below, this portfolio is now worth £798 (rounded up) compared with £818 last month, a fall of £20.
As you will note, following a very good month in November, December saw the value of my Nutmeg investments fall back somewhat. Their overall value dropped by £383 or 1.24% since the start of December. Sadly there was no sign of a Santa rally this year…
Overall, 2024 has still been a good year for my Nutmeg investments though. They are up in value by £4,098 or 15.57% since January 1st 2024.
You can read my full Nutmeg review here. If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last eight years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs as well.
Moving on, I also have investments with P2P property investment platform Assetz Exchange. This has now renamed itself as Housemartin. There have been a few other changes as well, so I shall be writing a separate blog post about this soon.
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 £225.17 in revenue from rental income. Capital growth has slowed, though, in line with UK property values generally.
At the time of writing, 14 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 2 are breaking even, and the remaining 18 are showing losses. My portfolio of 34 properties is currently showing a net decrease in value of £48.60, meaning that overall (rental income minus capital value decrease) I am up by £176.57. That’s still a decent 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.
The overall 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 80p 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 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 full review of Assetz Exchange/Housemartin here. You can also sign up for an account directly via this link [affiliate]. Bear in mind that, as from this financial year (2024/25), you can open more than one IFISA per year.
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.
As you can see from the screen captures below, my original investment totalling $1,022.26 is today worth $1,289.44, an overall increase of $266.98 or 26.14%.
As you can see, my Oil WorldWide investment is showing a modest profit of 5.32%. That’s a bit underwhelming but the portfolio has just been rebalanced by eToro, so hopefully that will improve its performance going forward. The investment team at eToro periodically rebalance all smart portfolios to ensure that the mix of investments remains aligned with the portfolio’s goals, and to take advantage of any new opportunities that may present themselves.
My copy trading investment with Aukie2008 has been doing better, with an overall 23.92% profit. To be fair, I have held the latter investment a bit longer.
My Tesla shares, which I bought as an afterthought with a bit of spare cash I had in my account, have done particularly well in recent weeks. 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 have been awarded. In any event, I am happy to have them in my portfolio!
eToro also offer the free eToro Money app. This allows you to deposit money to your eToro account without paying any currency conversion fees, saving you up to £5 for every £1,000 you deposit. You can also use the app to withdraw funds from your eToro account instantly to your bank account. I tried this myself and was impressed with how quickly and seamlessly it worked. You can read my blog post about eToro Money here. Note that it can also serve as a cryptocurrency wallet, allowing you to send and receive crypto from any other wallet address in the world.
I had two more articles published in December on the excellent Mouthy Money website. The first is How to Save Money on Rail Fares With Split Ticketing. In this article I discussed a money-saving hack called ‘split ticketing’ that savvy travellers can use to reduce their fare costs, often by a substantial amount. Split ticketing involves breaking a journey into two or more smaller segments, purchasing separate tickets for each segment rather than one through-ticket. In my article I discussed how to apply this method and revealed my favourite split-ticketing app.
Also in December Mouthy Money published my article How to Check and Improve Your Credit Score. In this article I shone a spotlight on a vital aspect of our financial health. Your credit score affects everything from loan approvals to mortgage rates. It’s a measure of how reliably you handle credit and debt, and lenders use it to assess risk. My article reveals everything you need to understand, check and improve your credit score.
As I’ve said before, Mouthy Money is a great resource for anyone interested in money-making and money-saving. If you haven’t checked it out yet, why not get the new year off to a good start by visiting their website. Besides a wide range of interesting articles by me and other writers, currently you can enter a free competition to win one of five copies of How to Retire by Christine Benz.
I also published several posts on Pounds and Sense in December. Some are no longer relevant, but I have listed the others below.
With flu and other seasonal viruses (although not Covid) currently surging, in Stay Healthy This Winter: The Best Supplements for Cold and Flu Season I set out eight of the best supplements to support your immune system during the colder months. This post was researched and written with the assistance of AI (ChatGPT).
And in My Top Twenty Posts of 2024 I listed the top twenty posts on Pounds and Sense in 2024, based on comments, page-views and social media shares (excluding any posts that are no longer relevant). I hope you will enjoy revisiting these posts, or seeing them for the first time if you are new to PAS.
Lastly, a reminder that you can also follow Pounds and Sense on Facebook or Twitter (or X as we have to call it 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 have also just joined the new BlueSky social media network. My username there is poundsandsense.bsky.social. For the time being at least, Twitter/X will remain my main social media platform, but I will 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.
That’s all for today. Once again, I should like to wish you a very happy and prosperous new year. 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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As is customary for bloggers at this time of year, here are the top twenty posts on Pounds and Sense in 2024, based on comments, page-views and social media shares. They are in no particular order. I have excluded any posts that are no longer relevant.
I hope you will enjoy revisiting these posts, or seeing them for the first time if you are new to PAS.
All posts in the list below should open in a new tab/window when you click on the link concerned.
Thank you for being a valued Pounds and Sense reader. Just a reminder that you can get notifications every time the blog is updated via the Subscribe box on the right (or scroll down on mobile devices). You can also follow PAS on X/Twitter and Facebook and now on BlueSky as well 🙂
If you have any comments or questions about this post, of course, feel free to leave them below as usual.
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I also published several posts on 
