ICR229: Protect Your Dad

With Father's Day coming up on Sunday, in this episode I'm talking about new research which highlights the importance of dads taking out financial protection.

Research from Scottish Widows has found that 53% of men in the UK with dependent children have no life cover.

This means that 3.9 million dads are potentially putting their family’s financial security at risk if the unexpected were to happen.

Personal finance news

-Average earnings have fallen in real terms by 0.6% in the three months to April. The latest official figures show earnings excluding bonuses rising by 1.7% in the period, or by 2.1% including bonuses.

-The typical UK home cost £220,000 in April, according to the latest official figures. This was a rise of £3,500 on the previous month and £12,000 on the same month a year earlier.

-One in 10 clients of debt charity Christians Against Poverty have no bed to sleep in at night. The charity also reported that eight in 10 say their financial situation leads to sleepless nights.

-The Bank of England has voted to keep interest rates on hold at 0.25%, but policy makers are shifting towards favouring a rate rise. At the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday, three of the eight members voted to increase rates in the face of rising price inflation.

-New figures from a fraud prevention organisation show that company directors are the victims of one in five cases of identity theft. Business directors make up 19% of victims of identity fraud cases, despite representing less than 9% of the UK population.

Do you have a personal finance or investing question for Martin?

Email martin@icfp.co.uk or ask on Twitter @martinbamford.

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