Rachel Lacey
Insurance and money expert
Rachel’s a self-confessed money nerd who’s been writing about personal finance for more than 20 years. She spent 17 years writing for Moneywise, including a few years as Editor, and likes making complicated subjects like insurance, pensions, investing and tax, easy for people to understand.
Rachel’s background
“I'm a freelance journalist, copywriter and editor specialising in all things personal finance. After 17 years at Moneywise, I now help a variety of organisations with their content: writing, commissioning and editing jargon-free articles.”
Rachel’s goal
“I didn’t set out to become a financial journalist but it’s a specialty that over the years I have really grown to love. Being able to manage your money well is crucial to your emotional wellbeing and, after more than 20 years, I still get a buzz out of explaining the nitty-gritty and giving people the information they need to make the right financial choices.”
Rachel’s qualifications
- University of Sheffield
English Literature
1995-1998
Rachel’s experience
Rachel at Moneywise
Rachel spent 17 years at Moneywise writing all about personal finance, banking and pensions. She busted financial jargon to make complicated topics like these easy to understand and help empower her readers to make great financial decisions.
Rachel at interactive investor
For more than 10 years, Rachel has written regular articles providing commentary and analysis for interactive investor. She covers all sorts of financial topics, including ISAs, investments, tax and pensions.
Rachel at GoodtoKnow
Providing her readers with sound financial advice during the cost-of-living crisis, Rachel has written articles on topics from how to use credit cards safely to consolidating debt. She also provides commentary on the government’s financial policies, such as Universal Credit.
Rachel Lacey commenting on...
How to avoid underinsuring your home
“Lots of people underinsure their homes accidentally – often by not giving enough thought to the information they give their insurance provider. Others will do it deliberately, to get a cheaper home insurance quote.
Either way, if you underinsure your home, you could end up disappointed if you ever need to claim. The pay-out you receive might not be enough to replace your possessions or rebuild your property, forcing you to dig into your own pocket to pay for replacements or repairs yourself.”
How to become a landlord
“Just because you own a property, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have the right to let it out to tenants.
If you have a mortgage on the property, you’ll need to check with your lender to see whether letting it is permitted – there may well be a clause that prevents you letting it out. If this is the case, you’ll need to switch to a buy to let mortgage.”
Top 14 home security tips
“Most home insurance providers will charge you less for your home insurance if you have a working burglar alarm installed.
Some may also give additional discounts for homeowners that use the latest home security technology.
When deciding how much to charge you for your policy, home insurance providers will take into account where you live and the type of building you live in. This will help them work out the risk of burglary.”
Rachel Lacey elsewhere on the web...
This is Money: Consider a Bed and Isa now - the investing trick to beat a tax raid
“From April 6, the capital gains tax allowance will be slashed from £6,000 to just £3,000 — less than a quarter of the £12,300 allowance investors enjoyed in 2022.
Reductions to the dividend tax allowance will be equally savage. From April, the amount investors can earn in dividends will drop to just £500, down from £1,000 this year.”
GoodtoKnow: 7 surprisingly easy ways families can save money in 2024 without even trying
“If you tend to keep any unspent money at the end of each month in your current account, or even in envelopes or money boxes at home if you prefer to spend cash, it might be worth opening a regular savings account instead. These types of bank accounts pay good rates of interest to people who can commit to saving regularly and you can usually start saving from £25 a month.”
Interactive Investor: Making the most of your tax breaks in 2024
“This year there haven’t been any changes to the ISA allowance – you can still invest a total of £20,000 across the different types of ISA. Children have their own ISA allowance which remains at £9,000 this year.
However, this April did see the introduction of a handful of rule relaxations which – while not revolutionary – could add flexibility to your financial planning.”
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