[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images A big thing that puts people off the stock market is the chance it could crash. But while worrying about that is understandable, it’s not as bad as it might seem. As long as investors are properly prepared for the possibility of falling share prices, there’s no need to worry. So what should you do to make sure you give yourself the best chance? Investment returns Over the last 10 years, the FTSE 100 has returned an average of 8.5% a year. That’s far better than what cash savings have been offering and that makes…
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[ad_1] 2026 has just begun, and investors may be wondering how they can start to make passive income this year. One great way to achieve this is to consider investing in stocks, especially dividend stocks, with high and reliable yields. Through a Stocks and Shares ISA, this can be achieved in a tax-efficient manner. Up to £20,000 a year can be invested into this type of account. What’s so sweet about it is that the dividends received are exempt from tax. Furthermore, if you decide to sell your stocks, the gains are exempt from capital gains tax. Let’s see how…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images I think it’s fair to say that UK shares are often overlooked in favour of some of their more glamorous contemporaries on the other side of the Atlantic. But despite the hype surrounding US tech stocks, the FTSE 100 outperformed the S&P 500 in 2025. Here’s why I think it could happen again over the next 12 months. 1. Attractive valuations By historical standards, UK shares appear to offer better value at the moment (3 January). One way of measuring this is to look at the so-called Buffett indicator. Expressed as a percentage, it measures…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Lloyds‘ (LSE:LLOY) shares have enjoyed a strong run. Earnings have recovered, dividends are flowing, and investors have rewarded the bank for its operational discipline and exposure to a stabilising UK economy. My weighted position is up over 150%. But success has its price. Lloyds is simply no longer the bargain stock it was. It trades at 12.8 times forward earnings with that figure falling to 9.9 times in 2026. Growth’s strong, but that’s unlikely to continue throughout the medium term. The dividend yield now sits at 3.8% with strong coverage. However, that’s down from near…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images The FTSE 100 has just enjoyed its best year since the great financial crash. Rising almost 18% over the course of 2025, it’s delivered a return that’s supercharged many a Stocks and Shares ISA. As a holder of many Footsie shares myself, I’ve benefitted too from last year’s stratospheric price rises. HSBC, Games Workshop, and Coca-Cola HBC are just a few blue chips I own whose share prices took off in 2025. Some of these have been millionaire-maker material. A £500 a month investment in Games Workshop shares 10 years ago would have generated £1,005,378,…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images I invest most of my retirement savings in high-quality assets (eg index funds and blue-chip growth stocks such as Alphabet, Amazon, and Apple). However, I do allocate a small amount of capital to what I call ‘moonshot’ growth stocks. These are stocks that are high up on the risk spectrum but have a chance of generating exceptionally large returns over the next decade. Here’s a look at the two moonshots I own right now. A play on self-driving vehicles and humanoid robotics First up, we have Hesai (NASDAQ: HSAI). It’s a Chinese company that specialises…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images 2025 was a decent year for my Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP). For the year, my investment return was over 20%. Here, I’ll reveal how I generated that return. I’ll also discuss my strategy for 2026. My growth focus paid off Within my SIPP, I own a mix of passive index trackers, actively-managed funds, thematic exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and individual stocks. My mind is predominantly on growth-focused investments as I have plenty of time until retirement (I’m still in my mid-40s). This diversified growth focus paid off in 2025. In terms of individual stocks, the star…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images The tax-free advantages of the Stocks and Shares ISA make it perfect for those hunting top-class dividend stocks. Investors can lose as much as 39% of dividend payments due to tax reasons. But in an ISA, that figure is 0%. Of course, there is a huge difference between the kind of stocks that pay dividends that increase for years and decades and other kinds that slash theirs at the first sign of trouble. That’s why I recruited everyone’s favourite incorporeal buddy, ChatGPT. I gave the 21st-century Oracle a simple request: “Build me a Stocks and…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images The FTSE 100 hitting 10,000 is a psychological milestone rather than a fundamental turning point. Still, it says plenty about the market backdrop. After years of lagging the US market, the UK’s blue-chip index has benefited from easing inflation, falling interest rate expectations, and a steady recovery in risk appetite. It’s also worth remembering what the FTSE 100 actually represents. The index is dominated by global businesses in energy, mining, consumer goods, and financials, with the majority of revenues earned overseas. A weaker pound over time, combined with resilient commodity prices and strong cash generation,…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Is 2026 a great year to start building passive income? A new year means new resolutions. And what better resolution could there be than building the kind of reliable passive income of thousands of pounds that might last for the rest of my days? In the spirit of the year of 2026, let’s take a look at an income of £2,026 monthly. Is it realistic for an average saver to build such an income? And what kind of sum would be needed in an ISA to achieve it? Worth it? When talking about creating passive…