Some £600m sitting in inactive bank accounts has gone to good causes since 2008, and the Government is thinking about extending this to investment funds, shares and insurance products.

Chris Fraser, the chief executive of Sirius, has recommended a 5.5p-a-share offer from mining giant Anglo American and shareholders have just a few days left to back it or reject it.

Just as inflation hit a surprise six-month high of 1.8% last week, National Savings & Investments joined the big banks in slashing its savings rates and cutting prizes on its Premium Bonds. 

While the chances of being a space tourist is slim for most, the sector could provide investors with some opportunities.

Alok Sharma has been urged to speed up a review of City rules that make it hard for individuals to take part in major company decisions ahead of the vote at Sirius Minerals next Tuesday.

The investment tip lists have faced scrutiny after investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown backed Neil Woodford's doomed fund on its Wealth 50 list.

I am now being held to ransom and am a prisoner of the old firm. I can transfer the whole amount but I want to spread my investments, and see how the new ones perform and what the service is like.

Markets started off believing that the coronavirus outbreak would be brief and contained, and the ill-effects would be eased by central banks or governments.

In the early days of the virus, the markets reacted and then seemed to steady themselves, leading to a belief that this was a temporary blip and things would soon return to normal.

At a Christie's auction in London in November a Hermès bag, a rare matte white Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Birkin 30, sold for a whopping £125,000. The estimated price was £60,000 to £80,000.

There's nothing to sharpen the investing mind like being down thousands of pounds, but if you had panic sold on Friday you would have missed this week's rebound. So what can investors do?

As founder of website Boring Money, Holly Mackay has been testing the best online investment Isas for many years. Here's who she thinks is best, depending on how much you have to invest.

Ahead of International Women's Day tomorrow, the FTSE 100 welcomed its sixth female chief executive this week as Milena Mondini de Focatiis was named new boss of insurance group Admiral.

Millions of small shareholders could be given more power to block takeovers and challenge fat-cat pay at Britain's biggest firms under a major shake-up later this year.

S.C. writes: I am sending you a request for information I received from Barclays Smart Investor and I wonder whether you find it as offensive as I do.

These are difficult days. At times, it feels like the world is shuddering to a halt. There are fewer people as I wind my way to and from work every day and night on public transport.

Today is International Women's Day, a day where the achievements of women around the world are celebrated. It is also an occasion to look into why women don't invest as much as men.

Whilst I fully understand the risk of my investments, I was not aware I could lose the pension if the platform company failed. Is this really the case? What are the dangers investors need to know about?

Panic over coronavirus has badly shaken the world's financial markets, culminating, on Monday, in the FTSE 100 suffering its sharpest one-day fall since the height of the 2008 crash.

The FTSE 100 has gone nowhere in 20 years, so why are investors told to think long-term? That is the question those of us who advocate investing deserve to face.

Lifetime Isas allow under-40s to save for a home and retirement at once, and the Government is offering free top-ups worth up to £32,000 if you max out your fund.

We explain the challenges of staying invested during retirement, and offer a checklist on what to do in a market meltdown.

Stock markets are in freefall as coronavirus threatens to tip the world into recession. The FTSE fell another 4 per cent yesterday, taking losses in the past three weeks to more than 30 per cent.

The longest recovery was 1,529 days following the 2008 financial crisis, but the 1987 crash also took well over 1,000 days - so will this be an average, slow or swift bounce back?

Although the FTSE 100 index rebounded yesterday - rising 2.8 per cent - it is still down 28.5 per cent since coronavirus fears really began to grip investors on February 24.

If ever there was a time when investors needed a hero, it's now. And among the stock market capitulation, a ray of light has arrived with the latest list of Dividend Heroes.

History, we are told, provides lessons. But a study of the scary details of past stock market crashes is of little help in showing us precisely how we should react to the current slump.

No one quite knows where the gold price is heading - up or down - but the precious metal's reputation as a safe haven in troubled times is resulting in record investor demand.

Dividend cuts are an inevitable consequence of the economy - both here and worldwide - sliding into recession in the coming months.

Investment legend Warren Buffett famously encouraged investors to be 'fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.'

Five hugely experienced fund managers who passionately believe that stock markets reward long-term investors, however painful the present may be.

You can now put your money into an investment Isa wrapper, leave it in cash and invest it in stocks gradually over the course of the year. All the major fund supermarkets will allow you to hold cash.

The firm says it is concentrating staff between 8am and 5pm on weekdays. The firm's lines were previously open until 7pm on weekdays and on Saturdays from 8am to 1pm.

The UK economy is highly likely to fall into a recession due to coronavirus. We look at funds to protect your wealth.

Interactive Investor's determination to take the DIY investing fight to the UK's leading platform Hargreaves Lansdown was signalled again as it bought out a rival.

Anthony Bolton, who has been one of the UK's most successful investors over the last four decades, said he has returned to investing in a personal capacity.

In buying shares in their own firms, directors are signalling they have confidence in the company's future - and that the share price represents good value.

Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and changes to charges have left many investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best.

A balanced portfolio has a mix of assets, all of which perform differently at varying stages of the economic cycle. All investors should ensure a good mix.

Markets have plummeted over the past month, meaning some heirs could have 'overpaid' inheritance tax when they were at peak value.

Any update on recent trading and what this could mean for 2020's revenues and profits will be gratefully received by shareholders when Tesco reports its full-year results next Wednesday.

The board of the trust served a notice of termination to Invesco and Barnett 'following an extended period of underperformance', in a further blow to the manager.

It arises from the fact that many of the country's leading income-orientated trusts have sufficient income buffers (reserves) in place to withstand a hostile dividend environment.

Investors will be glad to see the back of the first three months of 2020, after the coronavirus outbreak meant that the first quarter of the year proved brutal.

While mini-bonds are not normally protected, B&G used a regulated company to drum up clients and raise money, which means investors who poured money in that way could be entitled to a payout.

Absolute return funds are designed to turn a profit come what may. They were out of favour before the coronavirus emergency, but is it worth shopping for one now?

As more companies are set to tap shareholders for cash, an app called Primary Bid is calling for companies to allow ordinary investors to participate in these funding calls.

Richard Wilson, the boss of giant investment broker Interactive Investor, thinks that now the tide is going out during the coronavirus crisis, it is exposing the true nature of some of Britain's bosses.

Technology stocks, which are usually the worst-hit during market downturns, are among the best performers over the past six weeks during the coronavirus chaos. This is Money finds out why.

Five years has always been the standard stipulation from financial experts as the minimum period that small investors should plan to remain in the market.