#planning

Your passport date might be next year, but the airline may treat it as already expired. Here is how validity rules work, and how to renew without a panic.

Soil tests and wireless moisture sensors promise a perfect lawn without the guesswork. Here is what they actually measure, what you can skip, and when a trowel is enough.

Retirement can remove more than a salary. If work gave your days structure, friendship and status, here is how to build a life that feels like yours.

Hybrid closed-loop systems can take some of the work out of managing type 1 diabetes. Here is what they actually do, who can get one and what still needs your attention.

Cherry blossoms are a fine excuse to visit Tokyo, but a poor reason to plan every hour. Here’s how to enjoy the flowers without missing the city.

A global tracker, a UK tracker and a technology tracker can behave very differently. Here is how to judge what an index fund actually holds, costs and risks.

Forgetting a name is one thing. Losing your way through familiar tasks is another. Here’s how to judge changes in memory and when to get help.

Losing a name mid-sentence is unsettling, but it rarely tells the whole story. Here’s how to spot a meaningful change and what to do about it.

The 4% rule offers a useful starting point, but your retirement date also depends on spending, tax and the years before your State Pension arrives.

A slower stream or another trip to the loo at night is not automatically cancer. Here’s when to see your GP, what a PSA test can tell you and what may help.

The monthly payment is only part of your car’s cost. Here’s how to count the rest, compare PCP deals and check whether you could claim compensation.

A pension pot can look reassuring until you turn it into decades of income. Here is how to test your retirement plan against time, tax and bad markets.

Your pharmacy offers a flu jab before the first cold snap. Should you take it now, wait for winter, or skip it altogether?