Money

We pre-booked seats and meals with Thomas Cook for our flight home from Skiathos, Greece, at a cost of £40 each. At check-in, we were told the seats had been overbooked, so were allocated 38E and 38F instead of 5A and 5B. However, these were the rearmost seats, adjacent to the toilets, making them probably the worst on the plane.

With Chelsea Flower Show running this week, we ask what are some of the most en vogue features that will truly set your garden apart. We pick six luxury features, including bespoke sculptures and elaborate children's playgrounds to complete outdoor kitchens and helipads. There is also a property with a Japanese garden, with a vernacular style bridge spanning a fish pond and a Japanese garden room.

Retired entrepreneurs Chris and Brenda Gandy have grown their nest-egg to nearly £1 million. And the 67-year-olds are in good company, with an estimated 1,000 UK savers now part of the so-called Isa millionaire club. So how can you give yourself the best chance of one day joining it, too? The first step is to open a stocks and shares Isa to ensure all your investment gains are protected from the taxman.

To mark the centenary year of the caravan and the start of National Camping and Caravanning Week 2019, former Countryfile host Julia Bradbury spent a night in the middle of the Thames near Tower Bridge on the first ever floating campsite. We went to visit the TV presenter ahead of her evening's stay on the river.

They run the risk of forfeiting a chunk of their Isa allowance unless they pick the right bank or building society. It's all down to the way each organisation has set up its Isas. Some let you mix fixed rate and easy-access accounts, and add to them whenever you want during the year. All are wrapped up together to count as just one cash Isa.

The banking giant has brought back its £175 golden hello for those switching to its Advance Account, and has also introduced sweeteners for its Basic and Premier bank accounts. In order to get the £175 upfront cash bonus, customers must switch to HSBC's Advance Account using the Current Account Switch Service, and pay in £1,750 a month.

Researchers from the university programmed a small fleet of miniature robotic cars to drive on a multi-lane track and measured traffic flow when one stopped, with fully autonomous and simulated 'driven' cars. They found that the advantage of vehicles working together using artificial intelligence is that they will keep moving smoothly instead of bunching up - as a result improving traffic flow by 'at least 35 per cent'.

Fierce competition in the mortgage market has forced six lenders to shut up shop since the start of the year - but all the vying for business means that customers can get some great deals.

Four years ago, the Government brought in a rule change that had dramatic consequences for retirees. The reforms, known as 'pension freedoms', gave savers unprecedented flexibility around how they spend their hard-earned cash in retirement. But with that freedom comes a huge responsibility to ensure you do not run out of money and end up living on the poverty line in old age.

Last year we revealed coin collectors would be handed the challenge of hunting down 26 new 10p coins, featuring an A-Z of what makes Britain great.2.6million of the coins were initially minted in 2018, starting from the Angel of the North and running to the Zebra Crossing, via James Bond, cricket, fish and chips and a teapot. So, what are they worth now?

Dragons' Den star Deborah Meaden offers her advice on becoming a successful entrepreneur at any age. Despite turning 60 this year, Deborah has no intention of putting her feet up any time soon. We caught up with her after a long day of filming for the 17th series of the popular BBC show, which airs this summer. 'Retirement has never, ever crossed my mind,' she says. 'And I honestly can't imagine when or why it would. If you're doing the thing you love, why on earth would you want to stop doing it?'

Research has found that 38 per cent of people had cancelled one or more insurance policies over the past three years because they could no longer afford them. In in 56 per cent of these cases, cancellations occurred in the past 12 months. Respondents cited both a rise in the cost of insurance and a drop in income as their reason for cancelling.

EXCLUSIVE: Jamie's Italian lost more money in 2017 than it made in all its years in profit, MailOnline can reveal. The firm lost a net total of £15m in its lifetime to 2017, despite turning over in excess of three-quarters of a billion pounds. It emerged the chef (pictured left with wife Jools) could personally be pursued by banks and suppliers for millions of pounds following the collapse of his restaurant empire, after he announced yesterday his struggling eateries would close with around 1,300 workers set to lose their jobs across 22 restaurants. The firm was said to have debts in excess of £70m.

Profits were 9 per cent higher than the previous year, while revenues edged up 0.7 per cent to nearly £163m. The biggest UK hit in the year to February 28 was young adult title A Court of Frost and Starlight, by American writer Sarah J Maas. The next two top performers were both Potter novels by JK Rowling, more than two decades after she launched her teenage wizard tales.

After decades of rising house prices, many homeowners have found themselves property rich but cash poor. Well, the good news is that you don't have to move out to turn your house into a cash machine, as these four entrepreneurial property owners show.

The humble log cabin has come a long way, and today offers a range of home comforts. These can range from gas central heating and fully integrated kitchens with central islands to spacious bedrooms with en suite shower rooms. How many of the half a dozen in our quiz can you get right, with values ranging from £25,000 to an impressive £1million. Some of the chalets can only be used as a holiday home part of the year, while others can be used as a permanent home that be used all of the time.

This is Money pensions columnist Steve Webb explains the rules, which depend on whether you pay fees yourself or if your place in a home is publicly funded. He also explains how whether you simply need help with basic needs, or nursing care as well, affects the financial situation.

When a company cuts its dividend payments, it can send many a chill through the wallets of shareholders, especially when that income is apart of their financial armoury. Vodafone cut its payout this week and there are fears that other big payers could follow suit. So where should investors look now for reliable, well-covered income.

Follow our definitive list of the 20 best deals right now and that cause the least trouble to achieve. No need to turn off the lights or live on bread and water. It is simply a case of searching for value for money in everything from your bank account to what you wear and how you keep fit. Read our list to check what we think are among the best deals out there, use our helpful money-saving tools and tell us if you know of a better deal.

Jay Aston, pictured right, was one of the four members of the Eurovision winning British band Bucks Fizz, main picture, but after years with them she left in 1993. She says the fallout saw her lose her London home and end up on unemployment benefits. Since then she has picked things back up and once earned £1,000 for singing one song. Now Jay is back out touring with former bandmates Cheryl Baker and Mike Nolan.

Amazon emailed to say it was putting my account on hold because my card issuer disputed an order for a large number of Amazon gift cards costing £1,000. I told Amazon I did not order the cards, nor had I received them. Amazon confirmed the order was cancelled, but then it collected the £1,000 from my account anyway.

The amount you can save into a pension ultimately depends on what you can afford - but the longer you leave it the more you will need to save. We tend to put ambitious targets on our hoped-for income in retirement and then underestimate how much we will need to set aside to achieve that. So how much should you save?

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. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.

Lower than expected inflation figures have added weight to expectations that interest rate rises will remain on hold throughout most of 2019. This combined with the Brexit extension is forecast to keep monetary policy steady, with rates held at 0.75 per cent. While unemployment is low and wages are rising, there are still concerns over Britain's consumer economy and business investment being stalled by continuing Brexit uncertainty.