Stephanie Hawthorne
@stephawthorne.bsky.social
Freelance journalist: ex editor, Pensions World; FTAdviser columnist, People's Friend money correspondent, Mail on Sunday writer. Tennis and arts' fan.
I'm trapped in a retirement flat with a £20k service charge. I fear I'll never sell www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I'm trapped in a retirement flat with a £20k service charge. I fear I'll never sell
Hundreds of people contacted BBC News after a report found families were being left with service charge debts after inheriting properties.
bbc.co.uk
Do you think the times is supporting Burnham or Starmer, judging by its editorial choice of front page pictures over the past week? And why?
Possibly an aggressive pricing policy by the Daily Mail at just £1.30 compared to the Daily Mirror & Express at £2. Haven't a clue what is the actual cost these days of producing a print paper but in other retail there is not such a massive difference. Why?
Who’s talking PENSIONS?! Please share the starter pack and encourage more debate here! @stevewebb1.bsky.social @sarabenwell.bsky.social @stephawthorne.bsky.social @henrytapper.bsky.social @marymcd.bsky.social @daviesofbrixton.bsky.social @josephinecumbo.bsky.social @prospectpension.bsky.social
mol.im/a/15281239 Some great suggestions to beat the budget by Jeff Prestridge
How to stop Reeves' Budget wrecking your finances: JEFF PRESTRIDGE
Now is the moment to ensure your household finances and long-term investments are sufficiently robust to withstand Rachel Reeves' attack.
mol.im
www.ftadviser.com/budget/2025/... Article by me for @ftadviser.com @moorgatemermaid.bsky.social - Chancellor -don't just 'firefight' but plan for the years, decades and even the century ahead - pensions is an 80 year project-not 'a back of an envelope' Budget gimmick.
Long-term thinking needed for any Budget reforms
Government borrowing is the highest since 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics.
ftadviser.com
Calling all King's College London Students & Alumni tennis fans. Don't miss next yr's KCL Tennis Day -this Sept some 40 players, (incl me) gave their best shot(s) in a mixed doubles tournament at Redbridge preceded by a dinner at Queen's @suesearle @KCLalumni @stscsport @the_LTA
As we say a sad farewell to Summer, Autumn brings its own fruitful joys too: pictures taken yesterday from Telegraph Track in the London Borough of Sutton
Heard about another possible duty for pension trustees to consider yesterday on BBC R4 - a very wide interpretation of ESG for pension property investors to include building aesthetically pleasing dwellings and public buildings. For me, build homes at least with enough storage space!
Djokovic now playing mixed doubles - US Open - now on Sky Tennis
Can we help the burgeoning army of UK gig workers from journos to gardeners? A simple automatic deduction of expenses by HMRC based on average earnings rather than completing long tax returns may be better, I write today #tax #freelance www.ftadviser.com/tax/2025/8/7...
A ‘deemed expense’ system could better help HMRC close the tax gap
Around half of working-age people in the UK have the numeracy skills of a primary schoolchild, according to the charity National Numeracy. Yet the UK tax code is more than 22,000 pages long.
ftadviser.com
UK homeowners may be “millionaires on paper” yet unable to afford to pay council tax and while their adult children can't afford to buy a home My latest The People's Friend Money Page features Lifetime Mortgages. Is raiding the "piggy bank" that is your home advisable?
A great book by former Pensions World and Cambridge University alumnus Mic Wright
Mic Wright@brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · last yr.My book came out last week. My author copies just arrived today. My small study now looks like a very egotistical warehouse. You too can join the craze for owning this book geni.us/BreakingMicW...
My book came out last week. My author copies just arrived today. My small study now looks like a very egotistical warehouse. You too can join the craze for owning this book geni.us/BreakingMicW...
Deer in Bushey Park in South West London today. Now on my way to the WTW Media awards party tonight.
Are there tooo many isa types. They need reform and simplification. Few journalists can sum up every option and caveat in 600 words - pity the poor consumer navigating this' minefield' with Pooh traps a plenty. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Does anyone have a telephone number of the LTA tennis as I think my friend may have landed on a clone bogus site. We tried the LTA number ending in 7000 but just got a recorded message. #pensionscams
Britain’s MI6 spy agency promotes ‘Q’ to be first female head - a another splinter in the glass ceiling
Our brains love the colour gradation in rainbows, maybe due to our ancestors searching for sources of water. Looking at plants helps us recover from stress & looking at something we think is beautiful causes dopamine release. I've posted this photo to alter your brain biochemistry for the better 🌿
Here is my June Op Ed for @ftadviser.com - hope it produces a few fireworks! @moorgatemermaid.bsky.social I am already working on the July op Ed with some interesting tax angles - I welcome input from tax specialists: www.ftadviser.com/pensions/202...
‘Is Britain ready for a large cohort of workers in their 60s and beyond?’
The retirement age in Denmark will be a record-breaking 70 from 2040. Estonia, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden are also all set to raise their state pension age to 70 according to new OECD research....
ftadviser.com
France is ready to fight pension reforms for its long retirement www.thetimes.com/article/ac78...
France is ready to fight pension reforms for its long retirement
The Council on Retirement Policy has warned that the country’s state pension system could collapse unless the pension age from 64 to 66
thetimes.com
For anyone interested in longevity, later life or why we age: 'Why we die' is a highly readable book - its first 250 pages makes complex science accessible to the layman. The 2nd half (for nerds) are sources. Author Nobel Prize winner Venki Ramakrishnan deserves every accolade.
1 in 5 people save in current a/cs and have no deposit a/cs at all and £300bn languishes in a/cs earns less than 2% interest. Read my latest @TheFriendMag double page spread on online savings platforms (7 June issue) to make the most of your funds. Out in all good superstores and WH Smith now
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... one answer would be flexible easy access workplace savings vehicles aka savings sidecars linked to auto enrolment pensions. Check out my article for @profpensions.bsky.social on this @jonstapleton.bsky.social @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social
One in 10 Britons have no savings, UK financial regulator says
Stress and anxiety among those with debts remains high but help is available, a major survey finds.
bbc.co.uk
City wrangles over plan to get pension funds to invest more in the UK www.thetimes.com/article/419a...
City wrangles over plan to get pension funds to invest more in the UK
Landmark agreement has been delayed amid concerns over ambition for pension funds to invest 10 per cent of their assets in fast-growing companies
thetimes.com
www.ftadviser.com/pension-dash... - my monthly column for @ftadviser.com is published today. The pensions dashboard must be pitch perfect else American giants Apple or Amazon will muscle in on the UK's £3 trillion pensions industry @moorgatemermaid.bsky.social
‘Dashboard needs huge ad campaign to succeed as pensions poster child’
This week marks a minor milestone, with 20 volunteer major pension players now connected to the MoneyHelper pensions dashboard.
ftadviser.com
