Money

NEW There is often confusion over which type of broadband is really the fastest and how much speed the average person really needs to power their internet. Standard copper broadband is often no longer sophisticated enough to handle the public's ever increasing data download needs, but are you one of the people who would be better off with fibre broadband and how fast do you need to go?

With average council tax bills leaping by an inflation-busting 5 per cent in the financial year just begun in April, it is more vital than ever to check you are not paying too much. The booklet also outlines how to challenge a council tax banding. According to figures from the Money Advice Service, as many as 400,000 homes in England and Scotland might be in the wrong band. There are eight bands - from A to H - based on the value of a property with the H being the highest.

The average home in the UK costs more than £200,000 but it possible to buy one for a quarter of that - although it's likely to need some work. Among the homes we found was one on the Orkney Islands, bottom right, the area was named as the best place to live in Britain by the Halifax quality of life survey earlier this year. Other locations include clockwise from bottom left, Doncaster, Northumberland, Rotherham and Middlesborough, inset.

There is probably no more successful investor living on planet earth today than Warren Buffett. Although now aged 88, he very much remains a cult figure among investors - not just in the United States but worldwide - as a result of his wonderful eye for picking long-term investment winners. An eye that has remained focused for nigh on half a century. Razor sharp. Eagle like. Earlier this month, some 40,000 shareholders flocked to the annual general meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the company he has run since 1970 and through which he makes his astute investments.

The show transformed Alcott's finances and allowed her to represent Britain at the 2014 Olympics in Russia, just three years after injuring her leg so badly she was left unable to walk. Now 36, she lives with husband Dougie Crawford, who is British ski champion, and their two sons, two-year-old Loki and four-month-old Cooper. She is a founding member of Sistr, an online platform that enables professional businesswomen to network, offer advice and mentor each other.

With gardeners now out in force caring for their beloved trees, plants and lawns, investors could do worse than take a leaf out of their book - and apply similar techniques to neglected share and fund portfolios. The basics include weeding out persistently poorly performing investments and sowing the seeds for new, hopefully profitable, ones. Pruning is also important - taking profits, for tax-efficient purposes. And for those who need income, it is sensible to select investments that will bloom often to provide the dividends required. Here's how to keep your portfolio in tip-top shape.

A This is Money investigation has revealed a string of incorrect forecasts sent to people now facing a poorer retirement than they expected. These cases point to a systematic failure, with potentially many more savers affected who haven't realised yet. Sandra Irving, pictured left, has been told her record puts her state pension at around £22 a week less than the original figure she was given - a possible shortfall of nearly £23,000 over a typical 20-year retirement.Colin Murray, top right, and Vivienne Young, bottom right with husband Phil, are also affected.

This is Money columnist Steve Webb explains what pension investors should consider when deciding their strategy in times of political turmoil. 'The very fact that you are asking the question suggests to me that you are rather uncomfortable with uncertainty,' he tells our reader.

We speak to Baroness Karren Brady, vice-chair of West Ham Football Club, who is best-known as one of Lord Sugar's trusted assistants on BBC's The Apprentice. She reveals ways of supporting your children in their career and finances - without giving them a free ride. With her withering looks and pithy retorts to hapless candidates on the television show, it's clear Karren doesn't suffer fools gladly.

We recently received a letter from Nationwide, after the thinnest of apologies it said the rate on my daughter's account would be hacked back from 2.5 per cent to 2 per cent. It then goes on to mention another children's savings account, which some digging reveals should pay the same or more - except all there is not as it seems either.. So, why on earth would you mess with children's savings like this?

Retailer B&M; plans to open 50 new stores across Britain as they hone in on people's desire for decent value shops. The group saw its annual pre-tax profit increase by 8.7 per cent to £249.4million, whiA

In research that examined current views towards both finances and savings from those in Gen Z (18-22 years old) and millennials (23-38 years old), data found that both generations were prioritising saving. It found that 52 per cent of millennials also have over £1,000 locked away - an unsurprising jump considering they could be more likely to be in full time work than Gen Z.

Underneath a whimsical exterior lies the research powerhouse of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei in Dongguan, near Shenzhen. It was dreamt up by billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei. The former Red Army engineer, 74, is a fan of European architecture and the unique site is designed to give a flavour of the Continent to inspire his staff.

A US activist investor has called on Merlin Entertainments, which runs Legoland, Alton Towers and the London Eye, to secure a deal to take the company private. San Francisco-based hedge fund ValueAct says Merlin has 'struggled' as a publicly listed company and claims the group's value would rise by around 30 per cent if it went private. In an open letter to Merlin's chairman, Sir John Sunderland, ValueAct's chief investment officer Mason Morfit and partner Jake Welch, said: 'Private ownership is simply better placed than current public shareholders to underwrite the investments Merlin must make, and to align employee incentives appropriately.'

In total, 36 of the 43 police forces who provided data on vehicle thefts for last year reported increases. Experts say the rise is a combination of the spike in keyless car crime and thinning officer numbers. How does your area rank? Find out in the full table listed.

A host of different websites and credit cards effectively enable you to profit as you shop, by rewarding you with a cash perk for buying anything, from insurance and holidays to MoTs and mobile phones. Some mortgage providers and banks also offer hard cash to tempt you to take out their products. But how does it all work? Here, we guide you through what's on offer.

When it comes to investing your money, there is almost too much choice. So who better to help than those who have made spotting money-making opportunities their full-time job? Here, we speak to six of the City's most successful investment gurus about their top tips on smart investing - and the pitfalls to avoid.

Aston Martin is producing a special edition of its 211mph DBS Superleggera to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the James Bond movie 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' - with a royally hefty £300,007 price tag to match. Note the cleverly calculated '007' ending price - which is 64 times more than the original classic DBS of 1969 to which it pays homage.

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.

Until recently, when the latest smartphone hit the shelves, fans would queue around the block to be the first to get their hands on it. But now sky-high prices mean people are hanging on to their mobiles. Experts say those who have paid a lot for an expensive handset are choosing to keep them for longer than the traditional contract renewal terms of one or two years, taking out a cheaper Sim-only deal.

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.

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.