In safe hands

Cooking hygienically and considerately for your family is a win-win, and so is protecting your money with FSCS

As a keen cook, one of the most satisfying ways for you to care for your loved ones, is to make them a delicious, healthy meal. Naturally, you’ll do your utmost to make sure it tastes as good as possible, but you’ll also perform little checks along the way to ensure the food is safe and sanitary enough to eat too. And, passing these sensible practices down to the youngsters in your life means you’re looking after their futures.

In much the same way, checking your pensions and investments are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), helps provide peace of mind for your financial future.

Happy hygiene

In the kitchen, flavour should always be king. But it’s also about making sure the food you serve up does no harm. That’s why, from the moment you start cooking, you’re encouraged to check everything from the temperature of food to use-by dates. When you’re assessing the freshness of fish, you know to avoid strong odours and sunken, dull-coloured eyes. You check that raw meat is prepared on its own chopping board, away from other food. If you have leftover rice, you are cautious about it cooling quickly, and that it’s refrigerated and then reheated thoroughly – and only once – and you are careful with foods that are surprisingly more susceptible to contamination, like beansprouts.

Away from ingredients, you constantly wipe down surfaces to disinfect against germs and, of course, regularly wash your hands. Perhaps the most vital check you carry out is whether the people you’re cooking for have allergies or health conditions.

While these checks guard against immediate threats, by showing the children in your life the way, they’ll take these good habits with them to university and beyond, ensuring that as a family, whether you’re together or apart, you’re always protecting yourself and the people around you.

Peace for your pounds

When it comes to your money, it should also be second nature to guard against threats and look after your financial future. That’s where FSCS comes in. FSCS is a completely free and independent service that protects you if your financial firm goes out of business. It protects lots of financial products like pensions, investments, bank, building society and credit union accounts.

Of course, this isn’t about telling you what to do with your money or making you worry about potential financial trouble. It’s quite the opposite – FSCS can give you peace of mind with a crucial layer of protection. That’s why, as part of your yearly financial MOT, you should check your pensions and investments are FSCS protected.