Sarah Coles

Sarah Coles is Head of Personal Finance at AJ Bell, where she turns complex economic and political developments into clear, practical guidance for ordinary savers and investors. Her coverage focuses on what headline events mean for household budgets, savings and long‑term plans, consistently answering the question “what does this mean for your finances?” across her work. She writes in straightforward language, often structured around concrete steps, and is driven by helping people get to grips with their money so they have more freedom in their lives.

Everyday pressures and how they hit your pocket

Coles’ core subject is the strain on everyday finances, and she repeatedly breaks down how rising prices and changing conditions affect what people need in cash, savings and investments. In pieces such as “Are your emergency savings keeping up with household spending?” she uses typical household budgets to show how inflation has pushed up the amount people need in an emergency fund, then translates that into specific pound figures and rules of thumb for different life stages. She takes a similar approach in “What inflation means for your pocket,” unpacking movements in the consumer price index and food prices and linking them directly to the cost of living faced by readers. Her work on energy costs, including “Ten ways to beat today’s energy price hike,” pairs analysis of bill increases with practical ways to soften the impact.

Her coverage frequently uses official data to help people benchmark themselves and take action. In “Are you wealthier than 90% of Brits?” she draws on HMRC figures to explain where different income levels sit in the national distribution, then moves quickly to the implications for tax, savings and investment choices. She explains concepts such as pension tax relief, Cash ISAs, stocks and shares ISAs, capital gains tax allowances and “Bed and ISA” transfers, always anchored in how they can reduce tax and improve take‑home wealth for typical earners. Across these pieces she combines data analysis with practical tactics, making technical personal finance tools feel usable and immediate.

Politics, global events and your money

A distinctive thread in Coles’ work is the way she connects political and geopolitical events to household finances. In coverage of elections such as “What an Andy Burnham win in crunch by-election could mean for your finances,” she focuses less on party manoeuvring and more on how policy shifts, tax plans and spending priorities could alter pay packets, bills, savings rates and investment markets. Her article “Brexit 10 years on: what’s the impact on your money?” revisits forecasts of house price falls and compares them with actual changes in dwelling values, then explores knock‑on effects on mortgages, wealth and government schemes that have shaped property outcomes.

She takes the same lens to international developments. In “Iran peace deal: what does it mean for your finances?” Coles traces the effect of war and a subsequent peace agreement on oil prices, interest rate expectations, gilt yields and market volatility, before outlining what those shifts mean for savings rates, investment portfolios and borrowing costs for individuals. “Six steps to protect your money during financial and political turbulence” distils this into a service format: she cautions against rash reactions to market swings, stresses the importance of a balanced portfolio, and links central bank rate expectations to opportunities in fixed‑rate savings and mortgage decisions. These pieces show her speciality in standing at the intersection of politics and money, translating macro events into concrete decisions about portfolios, cash buffers and borrowing.

Long‑term planning, pensions and estates

Coles regularly writes about long‑term financial planning, including retirement strategies and passing wealth between generations. “Are you ready to live to 100?” looks at rising life expectancy and its implications for how long pensions and savings need to last, and then sets out practical steps for building sufficient assets over a longer retirement. Her guidance often centres on safety nets: she explains why retirees drawing an income from their pension need one to three years of essential expenses in cash, and why people of working age should hold three to six months of costs in accessible savings.

Estate planning is another recurring theme. In “Four steps to make passing down estates less painful,” she walks through making a will, simplifying scattered accounts, drawing up a register of assets, updating pension “expression of wish” forms and preparing for any outstanding tax returns. The article is detailed but practical, focused on reducing administrative burdens and emotional stress for executors and families. Elsewhere, she highlights how annual share schemes can help workers build investment portfolios over time, using statistics from such schemes to show how employees can turn small regular contributions into meaningful stakes in markets. Taken together, her long‑term pieces blend behavioural nudges with structural advice on pensions, tax, savings and inheritance.

Money in relationships and family life

While most of Coles’ work is about systems and policies, she also writes about how money dynamics play out in relationships and family settings. In “How to protect yourself if your partner is bad with money,” she addresses the practical and emotional risks when one person’s financial behaviour threatens joint stability, and sets out protective measures such as separating accounts, monitoring credit, and agreeing clear spending boundaries. Her estate‑planning guidance similarly acknowledges the family dimension of wills, letters of wishes and pension beneficiaries, highlighting the need to think carefully about executors, heirs and the explanations that accompany unequal bequests. This strand of her coverage shows an awareness that financial decisions are not only technical but deeply tied to personal relationships.

Before joining AJ Bell’s personal finance team, Coles spent eight years working in personal finance roles at another major investment platform, giving her experience with retail investors and consumer guidance over a sustained period. At AJ Bell she now combines that background with a content remit that spans economic data, tax rules, savings products, pensions, estates and the impact of politics and global events on everyday money. Her work is consistent: data‑led but accessible, focused on everyday consequences, and structured around clear actions people can take to protect and improve their finances.