Hannah Williford

By the time you've reached retirement age, you've likely learned that life often doesn't go as planned. And in this case, it might mean returning to work after you thought you'd thrown in the towel for good.

The lofty valuations of AI stocks in the past few years have dredged up memories for some of the time before the dotcom bubble burst in 2000.

Markets are back to enjoying record highs after faltering in March. The MSCI World has reached new peaks in May and rewarded investors with a return of 26% over the past year, as of 12 May. Looking at the numbers, it looks to be business as usual, and good business at that. So why do so many of us feel uneasy?

The Bank of England announced that prices rose by 2.8% in the past year to the end of April as measured by the consumer price index, which was down from the 3.3% increase to the end of March. But that might not line up with how inflation has felt for you in the past year, and there's a good chance your instincts are right.

In the past 10 years, global stocks have dropped from peaks by over 10% four times before reaching new highs again. But that doesn't prevent inevitable nerves as we wonder if this time, the drop will be different and leave us out of pocket on the hard-earned cash we've invested for a prolonged period.

I recently learned that my mum purchased her first home (with no assistance) at age 24. My largest purchase by age 24 was a MacBook. This partly comes down to some financially questionable decisions by me: I moved to London touting a degree in journalism. My mum lived in a rural area on the east coast of the US as an engineer.

Investing in yourself has become popular in recent years with the rising trend of self-care. We are encouraged to spend on ourselves, whether that be a gym membership, getting your nails done, or a longer-term commitment like higher education. The idea behind this trend is that by spending money on ourselves up front, we allow for greater opportunities down the line. But one of the most effective ways people can invest in themselves is, literally, by investing.

In 2025, furry monsters known as Labubu Dolls had a moment. The dolls were the subject of at least six articles in the Financial Times , as well as stories in The Times , on the BBC website, and The Economist . Not to mention, you may well have spotted the creatures themselves dangling from purses and backpacks.

Chip companies Micron and SK Hynix have been the latest companies to reach valuations of $1 trillion dollars, joining just 13 other names including Nvidia and Apple

You might have an idea of how well-off your friends are based on the size of their home, the amount of reusable Waitrose bags they have at their disposal, or how often they tell you they’re off to the ‘ruggers’.