
Business & Entrepreneurship


How financial brands should react to Covid
This week the ‘Rule of Six’ came into force, with people facing fines of up to £3,200 if they don’t abide by the new measure


Apprenticeships: are we failing disadvantaged young people?
Iona took government minister Steven Barclay to task last week in her debut on BBC’s Question Time. She noted how he had failed to defend


How banks can help the COVID-19 generation
Lenin once said: “There are whole decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” In recent months, we have watched the most


What is the new normal for young people?
It was a pleasure to take part in a recent debate with future guru Patrick Dixon and ‘Queen of Shops’ Mary Portas, hosted by JLA.


Auchinleck Academy win pioneering national investment competition
Sixth form girls at Auchinleck Academy have beaten off stiff competition to scoop first place in the inaugural Growing Future Assets Competition, with a high-powered


Covid-19 News Round-up: Updates on furlough and self-employed
The government’s extension of the Job Retention Scheme (JRS), which has seen 8.4 million workers ‘furloughed’ by their employers since March, may not be enough


Covid-19 news round-up: inflation, unemployment, students and mental health
Inflation – that’s the rate of price rises in the economy – tumbled to 0.8% in April, its lowest level in three years, thanks to


Young people: the economic victims of COVID-19
We’re all in this together. Or are we? It’s hard not to notice that, although the virus itself may target the older population, its effects


Young Money backs future female financiers for competition
Young Money Blog has been invited to judge the prestigious Future Asset Investment Competition which aims to introduce a new generation of girls to the


Q’n’A: how will the National Living Wage rise affect me?
Yesterday, the chancellor Sajid Javid announced that the National Living Wage would rise to £10.50 within the next five years. He also pledged to reduce


Can you vlog your way to riches? My story for FT Money
Illustration by Dan MITCHELL for the Financial Times, May 2019 How can a four-year-old be raking in more than the UK prime minister earns? That


How to nab yourself a career and money mentor
Main pic: Alicia VanNoy Call Getting yourself a mentor – it might just be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make. I explain how that


The Millennial Disruption: what it means for fusty old finance
Iona Bain Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the premiere of a new documentary: The Millennial Disruption at the Curzon in Soho. Another jam-packed


Gig workers fight back over unfair tax plans – comment for BBC News
Many self-employed people face a higher tax bill from 2020 when the IR35 rule is extended to the private sector. It will force thousands of


Healthy chocolatiers & drag artists: here are the new side hustlers – story for Scottish Mail
Iona Bain Welcome to Side Hustle Britain – where a quarter of us now make extra income for all sorts of weird and wonderful activities,


The millennial bunnies from Philip Hammond’s hat in #Budget2018
Credit unions will get a Budget shot in the arm with the launch of a Premium Bond-style lottery prize to tempt young workers into these


Meet the young voices shaking up OUR financial futures
Iona Bain What if I told you that crazy-important decisions are being taken about your future finances by people who are…well, nothing like you?


Our post-school education system is broke, says House of Lords
Iona Bain The post-school education system is broke and needs urgent fixing, a scathing House of Lords report has found. It says the move to


Is your workplace pension funding weapons & tax avoidance?
If you are saving into a pension at work, are you happy for your cash to be invested in companies that make weapons, dodge tax


Iona is a finalist in IPSE’s Freelancer of the Year Awards! ☺️
Iona says… I am totally stunned but also chuffed to be shortlisted for IPSE’s Freelancer of the Year Award alongside some seriously impressive individuals. I


Iona is a finalist in IPSE’s Freelancer of the Year Awards! ☺️
Iona says… I am totally stunned but also chuffed to be shortlisted for IPSE’s Freelancer of the Year Award alongside some seriously impressive individuals. I


The self-employed dream is on the rocks. Here’s why
Iona Bain Self-employment is booming in Scotland. Newly-published statistics show that 322,900 Scots worked for themselves last year, one of the highest numbers ever recorded.


Intergen Finance: the Resolution Report fully unpacked
It’s official. We are not Generation Avocado. The long-awaited report from the Intergenerational Commission has concluded, after two years and over 200 pages, that millennials


Know Thy Worth: how I’m fighting the gender pay gap
Asking for a token fee for on-air appearances, having the pay conversation and demanding equality – I’m getting on the earning curve, and here’s what


#Sidehustle stories – how to earn, manage and declare extra earnings
Are things looking up for our moolah? Recent stats might suggest so. Average earnings actually rose by 2.8 per cent in the year to February.


What’s next for today’s young? Yuval Harari has some ideas
He is not just one of the most widely-read authors of our time – Yuval Harari is a modern intellectual powerhouse, turning generation Y onto


Intriguing financial films for your next #duvetday
Iona Bain If you heard me at the beginning of the year on BBC Radio 4’s Moneybox live show, talking about my financial education documentary from late


Gen Y turned off by “uninspired & out-dated” pensions
Young workers are at risk of jeopardising their financial futures due to uninspired and out-of-touch messages from the pensions industry, according to new research published today.


The real, youth-driven answer to Britain’s retail decline
As restaurants close & local shops get taxed out of business, we need a shot in the arm for young enterprise to stop Amazon &


The financial sector has no place for victim-blaming broflakes
Things go wrong in financial services, as they do in all industries: it’s how you respond to your critics and (most importantly) your disillusioned consumers