Recent research from money.co.uk shows, in 2024, the average UK savings account holds £17,365. Invested shrewdly, such a sum can earn a weighty passive income all by itself.  The catch is that big passive income rarely comes from bog-standard savings accounts. For much of the last decade, this type of account might yield a percent or two a year. I’ve seen Cash ISAs offering as low as 0.25%. That’s just not going to cut it.  Lucrative nature My preferred method of growing savings is with the stock market. The London Stock Exchange offers access to thousands of businesses that anyone ..read more

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, one of my favourite FTSE 250 companies, Future (LSE:FUTR) soared by a staggering 35% in the last fortnight. Needless to say, the turnaround has surprised many, as the share price has been on a steady decline since 2021. So what could have possibly caused this meteoric move? The turnaround To understand, we must first look at the company itself. Future is a media conglomerate that publishes content for games, entertainment, technology, sports, and more. The content spans websites, email newsletters, videos, social platforms, magazines, and events. As the p ..read more

While searching for exciting new penny stocks recently, a construction company with a focus on sustainability caught my eye. It’s not technically a penny stock anymore as its share price is above 100p. But with only a £66m valuation, it’s certainly up-and-coming. Alumasc (LSE:ALU) is a UK-based supplier of sustainable building solutions aimed at preserving water, reducing energy, and utilising recyclable materials. It’s been awarded the London Stock Exchange’s Green Economy Mark for its contributions towards reducing waste and improving the environment. Why should I care? According to a rece ..read more

A second income could come in as a handy supplement when it comes to everyday expenses, or special splurges. One way to earn a second income is to invest in shares that pay dividends. That approach has some pros and cons. Cons include that it takes money to invest and dividends are never guaranteed. On the plus side, this approach can be very lucrative — and does not involve extra work in the way that taking on a second job would do. Although it takes money to invest, I would not need to have much money upfront. I could start with zero, drip feed money in and invest as I go. Here is an exampl ..read more

Having cash in the bank’s never a bad thing. Thanks to the increase in interest rates over the past couple of years, it now means I can earn some passive income from a savings account. However, I still prefer making use of the stock market to really squeeze the juice out of my money. Here’s what I’d do right now if I had £5k sitting in savings. Talking strategy There are two main ways I can make use of the market to boost my income. The most conventional way is to buy stocks that have a track record of paying out dividends. If I then become a shareholder too, I’m entitled to get a cut of the ..read more

Last weekend, legendary stock market champion Warren Buffett held his annual investor meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. And one of the big takeaways from the meeting was that his investment company, Berkshire Hathaway, is currently sitting on around $189bn in cash. That’s an enormous amount to be holding. To put it in perspective, only two companies in the UK’s FTSE 100 index (AstraZeneca and Shell) have bigger market capitalisations. So what’s this huge cash pile indicating? Massive cash pile For a while now, Buffett’s been saying he’s looking to make a major acquisition for Berkshire Hathaway. So ..read more

My Stocks and Shares ISA is a great home for my long-term investments. It’s also a place where I keep some income stocks, as the dividends don’t incur tax. My full ISA allowance for this year is £20k. If I decided allocate all of it to Taylor Wimpey (LSE:TW) shares, here’s what it could yield. Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be, neither does it constitute, any form of tax advice. Readers are responsible for c ..read more

Marks and Spencer (LSE: MKS) shares have had a great run. Over the last year, they’ve risen about 60%. I think the food, fashion and lifestyle retailer could still be one of the UK’s best value stocks however. Here’s why. My trip to M&S Over the recent bank holiday weekend, I took a trip out to Westfield London and I popped into the large M&S store there. Immediately, two things struck me. The first was that the store was rammed with customers. There was absolutely no sign of a consumer slowdown. The second was that the retailer’s clothing range was very impressive. From wardrobe sta ..read more

I’d been waiting for the right moment to buy Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) shares for ages, and last year I thought I’d spotted it. The Lloyds share price, which had been going nowhere for years, suddenly lurched below 50p, and didn’t stop. I bought my first tranche of the stock at 45.05p. I sat back and waited for the shares to recover, but by September they’d declined to 40.89p. So I bought more of the FTSE 100 bank. In retrospect, I should have thrown the kitchen sink at it, but I’m not complaining. I’ve done well enough. Cheap and cheerful My biggest concern was that I’d missed some hidden threat to ..read more

I’ve been searching the FTSE 100 for my next buy and the Vodafone (LSE: VOD) share price has caught my attention. Right now, the stock looks incredibly cheap at just 69p. At that price, could it be the biggest bargain on the Footsie? A poor performance I first want to look at what has got the stock to its current price. Let’s start by going back five years. Back then, a share in the telecommunications stalwart would have set investors back 139p. That means Vodafone stock has lost 50.9% of its value during that time. In the last 12 months, its share price has followed a similar trajectory. A y ..read more