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Having no savings at 40 isn’t the end of the world, but it’s not ideal. Saving enough to ensure a comfortable retirement is a long-term job, so it makes sense to start early in life.

There are good reasons why someone may have no savings at this age. Incomes have stagnated. The financial crisis and pandemic have added to the squeeze. Young people have other responsibilities, such as paying off debt or saving for a property deposit.

Also, retirement can seem a long way off, in your 20s and early 30s. For many, the urgency starts hitting home around 40. At which point, it should be all systems go.

I’d buy FTSE 100 stocks

Most people are likely to have some savings at 40, though. Especially in future, as the auto-enrolment company pension scheme gives millions a workplace pension for the first time.

I’m in my early 50s now, but … Read more

With the much anticipated return of a dividend (albeit only 15 cents per share for the interim period) failing to ignite the HSBC (LSE:HSBA) share price, the bank still trades for below book value. As of late February, HSBC shares trade for a price-to-book ratio of around 0.63. Here is one potential event I think that could send shares higher.

The importance of interest rates to HSBC

Due to the pandemic, central banks around the world have lowered interest rates to ultra-low levels. This has acted as a headwind for the bank. According to CEO Noel Quinn, HSBC “lost around $5.3 billion of net interest income” due to the lower rates. That has translated into an over 2 percentage point decrease in the bank’s return on tangible equity (RoTE).

The low rate environment is one of the reasons why management has focused more on the bank’s non-interest income … Read more

HSBC (LSE:HSBA) recently reported its much anticipated annual results for 2020. Many investors were keen to see how the bank did during the challenging pandemic and whether management would pay a dividend again given the improved economic conditions. I think it’s fair to say the bank answered some of those questions. With the results, here are some key points and what I’d do given the current HSBC share price.

Annual 2020 result

Like many other banks, HSBC’s 2020 results weren’t that great due to the pandemic. For the year, HSBC reported a profit before tax of $8.78bn, beating the analyst estimates of $8.33bn, but still lower by 34% year-over-year. Sales also fell 10% to $50.43bn.

Due to the pandemic, the bank suffered from increased credit losses. Given that many central banks cut rates in response to the pandemic, HSBC also made less in some interest rate sensitive areas of … Read more

The Unilever (LSE:ULVR) share price hasn’t done well this year. The stock is down from around 4,800p in November of last year to around 3,900p currently. Although there are many reasons for the decline, here are some key reasons why I think the ULVR share price fell and what I’d do as a result.

Why I think the ULVR share price weakened recently

I reckon the ULVR share price has fallen for two reasons. First, I think stock rotation could have something to do with Unilever’s decline. Given its defensive position, many larger institutional investors may have gone into Unilever as a ‘safe haven’ during the first part of the pandemic, when things were very uncertain. Given that it’s a leading consumer staple whose main products don’t cost very much, many investors likely reasoned that the pandemic wouldn’t greatly affect Unilever’s demand.

With the better-than-expected initial Covid-19 vaccine news which … Read more

We all know what a purse or wallet is, but how about a Bitcoin wallet? Well, you can’t store this digital asset in the back pocket of your jeans. I’m going to explain everything you need to know about crypto wallets so that if you do buy Bitcoin, you understand how to store it properly.

How Bitcoin works

The first thing to understand about Bitcoin wallets relates to how Bitcoin actually works. By purchasing Bitcoin, you basically own a small piece of the digital network.

Because the Bitcoin blockchain is just one big digital accounting ledger, you don’t actually get handed anything tangible. The Bitcoin network just keeps a record of what you own. 

What a Bitcoin wallet is

Just as you need a program to send, receive, and store emails, a Bitcoin wallet lets you send, receive and store Bitcoin. Your Bitcoin wallet is a program that allows … Read more