Don’t panic.
If that means switching off Facebook, so be it.
Consider switching your energy supplier.
Energy tariffs are likely to rise in the aftermath of last week’s vote, but supply from homegrown renewable energy tends to be less sensitive to market volatility. Mark Meyrick, trading and origination director at Good Energy, says: “The beauty of purchasing your power from renewable sources in the UK is that you are better protected against adverse price movements on imported fossil fuels – especially at a moment like this. We’ve always believed that the stability we can therefore offer is one of the best things about our electricity tariff.”
It might, therefore, be time to consider switching to a cheaper renewable energy tariff. There are now six suppliers with 100% green electricity on offer (and varying amounts of green gas too). These are: Bulb, Ecotricity, Good Energy, Green Star (Green Saver tariff), M&S Energy and brand newbie Octopus Energy.
Check your savings balances.
Ensure that your savings balances in any one account are not higher than the maximum £75,000 limit for compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, should the worst happen, and a deposit taker goes bust. Be aware that investments that do not perform as well as expected are not eligible for compensation, but if you invested in a product and you lose all your money after having received advice from a financial adviser to do so, you should be able to claim.
Analyse spending.
How vulnerable are the things you buy to price rises, following the fall in the £? Is there anything you buy regularly from abroad, such as software subscriptions, that you could get more cheaply from the UK?
Hold off buying foreign currency..
..If you can, until there is a little more certainty in the currency markets. Although the caveat has to be that these are uncertain times, and there is no guarantee that the £ will not fall further.
Consider fixing your mortgage.
While interest rates are expected to fall in the near term to shore up confidence, they are expected to rise in the medium term, to keep a lid on inflation. If you are due to remortgage, fixed rates are currently priced very low. These offer more certainty than variable or tracker rates. You can get a two-year fix that could see you through until the UK officially leaves the EU, allowing you to potentially ride out any rise in interest rates. You can see our most recent table of deals here.
Go local.
We, as consumers, need to set about building up the UK so it can stand on its own two feet. This means the UK needs to produce more, so we need to buy more of our own goods and services. There are many environmental and social advantages to buying local. There are now some clear economic ones, too. Co-operatives fortnight is currently promoting the work of local co-ops, you can read about some of them here.
But also, go global.
If you are investing in funds, those best able to withstand the ups and downs of these turbulent times are those that are globally diversified and denominated in a number of currencies, not just the £. John Ditchfield, of Castlefield, the ethical IFA, says: “Global Sustainability funds may well benefit, certainly in the short-term, as they tend to hold a considerable value of US equities all priced in the dollar. And with a weak pound these assets have higher values for UK investors.”
Bulb, a company that 100% shares our goal of value with values, pays Good With Money for each new customer that signs up to its service using the Good With Money referral link. You can read our review of Bulb here. For more information on how Good With Money builds commercial relationships with like-minded companies, please see our Get Involved and About This Site pages.
