Watching the Autumn budget in November, the Chancellor kept saying about putting more money into our pockets by lowering national insurance to help the economy grow…
Price is What You Pay and Value is What You Get
When it comes to investing, we often forget that completely! We get obsessed with price. But it isn’t the whole story! Let’s look at the last 23 years:
Read moreHMRC Inheritance Tax Receipts Soar – what steps can you consider?
HMRC collected £2.6bn from inheritance tax (IHT) in the 13 weeks between April and July 2023. This is higher than in the same period a year earlier
Read moreShould You Stay in the Investment Market? Exploring the Pros and Cons
Investing in the stock market can be a smart way to grow your wealth over the long term. However, it’s also important to understand the risks and potential downsides of investing.
Below, we’ll explore the advantages and disadvantages of staying in the investment market, with a particular focus on pension funds, stocks and shares ISAs, and timing the market.
Read moreBuying Your First Home
When preparing to buy your first home, saving for a deposit can be a difficult process.
As house prices, inflation, cost of living and mortgage rates increase, it can mean that some mortgage lenders may require larger deposits of the property value. This can be challenging trying to save a large sum of money and for some within a limited time.
Read moreIHT – Passing on Wealth to Beneficiaries
The Office for Budget Responsibility estimated in March that the proportion of estates liable to inheritance tax this year will be one in sixteen. By 2026-2027 that will top one in fifteen.
It is possible to leave £1m free of tax but for unmarried people the allowance is £325,000. This threshold is now frozen until April 2026. Tax on assets above the tax-free threshold, which is £325,000 per person or twice that for married couples, £650,000, is applied at 40%.
Read moreInflation And Volatility
Over the last six months inflation has started to take a hold on the world economy. This has been brought on by issues with supply chains, the pandemic, and exasperated by the war in Ukraine.
We have seen UK inflation rise to 9.1%. Food and fuel are the main contributors, but when you consider a large amount of freight passed through Russia via rail from China, you can see why shipping costs have increased and low value items are finding it hard to get passage to the west.
Read morePension and Retirement Planning
In this current climate of high inflation, low interest rates and volatile market conditions, it is more important now than ever to make sure we are making the most of our hard earned cash. There are things we can all do to ensure our pension savings are working as hard as possible for us, and that we take advantage of the tax breaks available.
In this month’s blog we look at pensions and retirement planning and taking you through the steps of ensuring your goals and plans for the later years are given the best chance possible of being achieved.
Read moreHigh Inflation and Rising Interest Rates – The Impact on Borrowers and Savers
The Bank of England has recently increased interest rates to 0.75% in an attempt to tackle rising inflation in the UK which has reached a 30 year high. This means that the base rate is back to its pre-pandemic level, but what does it mean for both savers and borrowers?
Read moreInvesting versus leaving your cash in a savings account…
There are billions of pounds, currently, sat in bank and building society accounts earning nothing or very little and this has been the case for a number of years. Although these will not fall in value they can very much be eaten away by inflation.
Although emergency cash is very important to cover any unforeseen costs or a period of unemployment the amount that is available to deal with these situations is, for the most part, much more than is needed.
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