Our 10 most popular posts of 2014

It’s been another busy year in the world of personal finance and investing.

The team at Informed Choice brought you over 400 new blog posts this year, on a variety of topics and covering every important finance story to break during the past twelve months.

What have you been reading about most on the Informed Choice website in 2014?

Here’s our top 10 most popular posts of the year:

1 – Budget 2014 Live Blog

George Osbornes fifth Budget saw him drop a pensions bombshell, designed to get older voters on his side ahead of the General Election next May.

2 – Why I’m not backing Woodford Equity Income

With the rest of the financial services community (advisers and journalists) seemingly fawning over Neil Woodford and his new equity income fund, our managing director Martin Bamford went against the grain and explained his reasons for not backing the new fund.

3 – Paul Lewis, filters and addiction

Broadcaster Paul Lewis delivered a fiery speech to financial advisers at the Personal Finance Society (PFS) National Conference in November. Martin was there to hear what he had to say, and this was what Martin had to say about that.

4 – New ISA rules

The Budget in March also revamped the rules for Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs). We explained the new rules and savings limits here.

5 – Plans to build new homes in Cranleigh

The hot topic in our village this year has been proposed new housing developments. Following a visit to Cranleigh from a BBC film crew to explore the issues, here’s what we had to say.

6 – Dinosaur financial advisers & smoking beagles

When new online insurance company Beagle Life launched a provocative new advertising campaign, claiming financial advisers were out of date. We hit back, hard.

7 – Risk profiling, investment recommendations & robot advisers

Can a robot ever replace a financial adviser when it comes to making investment recommendations? We commented on a popular article in The Telegraph.

8 – 40 questions to ask before taking pension benefits

New pension freedoms being introduced in April 2015 will be accompanied to a new guidance service. There’s a big difference between guidance and advice, of course. We came up with 40 questions to ask before taking pension benefits; questions that might not be answered by a guidance service.

9 – 10,000 suckers in ‘Give & Take’ pyramid scam

Investment scams appear to be a regular feature, despite tougher and more expensive regulation each year. We caused a little controversy by branding those victims in one high profile scam this year as ‘suckers’, but with good reason.

10 – BHS Trec at Kilnhanger

One big event we sponsored in 2014 was the BHS Trec at Kilnhanger Stables near Shamley Green. Lots of people wanted to read more about the ponies!

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