Money guides
Money, explained in plain English
No jargon, no filler, no pretending things are simpler than they are. Just clear answers to the questions people actually search for.
The £100k childcare cliffThe trap nobody calculates: cross £100k with young children and you can be thousands worse off. Work out your exact number.The £24 billion nobody claimsSeven million households are missing money. What goes unclaimed, and the five wrong assumptions that cause it.Marriage Allowance£252 a year, backdatable four years — and never pay anyone to claim it.Attendance AllowanceUp to £114.60 a week, ignoring income and savings. 1.1 million people miss it.Universal Credit explainedEvery element, the 55% taper, the abolished two-child limit — and whether extra hours pay.National Insurance explainedThe rates, what you’re actually buying, and the Child Benefit trap that costs pension years.Student loan repaymentsPlans 1, 2, 4 and 5 — and why overpaying is usually the wrong move.How much to pay into a pensionWhat a contribution really costs your take-home, and the half-your-age rule.What does my tax code mean?1257L, BR, 0T, K codes and emergency codes — and the one to actually check.Salary sacrifice, explained properlyPensions, electric cars, and when sacrificing is a bad idea.The 60% tax trapWhy £100k–£125,140 is taxed so brutally, and the move that fixes it.Self-employed taxWhat to set aside, what you can claim, and the January shock nobody warns you about.What is a good salary in the UK?A more useful test than any national average.