Blog – 2 Columns

Market responses to elections should be treated with caution. 2024 is a year of elections around the globe – in varying shades of democracy. On some counts, around 60 countries will vote, representing close to half of the world’s population. This includes eight of the world’s most populous nations – Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, […]

A useful new web tool has emerged, a little late in the game, in a joint effort from two Government departments.  In early 2023, HMRC and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) found they were unable to cope with the volume generated by a 5 April cut-off date that had been set a decade […]

April’s yearly inflation figure fell from 9% to 2.3%, so why does inflation still feel high? April’s Consumer Prices Index (CPI) showed annual inflation had fallen to 2.3%, its lowest level since July 2021 and significantly below the October 2022 peak of 11.1%. Rishi Sunak celebrated the return to around 2% inflation with a press […]

The ultimate retirement dream is actually very simple according to research1. Most respondents to a survey (94%), which questioned 2,000 respondents aged 50 and over on their aspirations for later life, answered that financial security is a common theme. Other retirement aspirations included being able to maintain one’s desired lifestyle (94%), spending time with family […]

An independent report suggests that the State pension age (SPA) should rise much faster than planned.  The next SPA rise begins in under two years with a phased increase to 67 ending in April 2028. Yet, neither main political parties are likely to say much about further SPA changes in their upcoming election manifestos. The […]

New calculations issued alongside the Spring Budget show just how higher rate taxpaying status is becoming ever more common. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) received plenty of attention leading up to the Budget. It was widely portrayed in the media as the body that placed constraints on the Chancellor’s tax-cutting options ahead of the […]

One of the many well-trailed announcements in the Spring Budget was the launch of a UK ISA. However, both its arrival and interest may be uncertain. Alongside the Budget, the Treasury published a consultation paper on a possible fifth ISA variant, the UK ISA. To quote the paper, the rationale behind the UK ISA is […]

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been sorting through its inflation shopping basket.     Every year in March, the ONS announces the results of a review of approximately 750 items which it uses to compute inflation indices, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The annual review is a reminder that the calculation […]

One of the few surprises in the Spring Budget was the change affecting how child benefit is taxed for higher earners. The high income child benefit charge (HICBC or ‘hicbic’) was introduced in January 2013 to reduce child benefit payments for higher earners. It was considered an arbitrary piece of legislation by some as the […]

New data on marriage and civil partnerships shows a significant threshold has been crossed.  ‘Population estimates by marital status and living arrangements, England and Wales: 2022’, sounds like a rather esoteric piece of academic output from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, its release in late January attracted a brief flurry of media attention […]

New research has put some surprising numbers on the income needed in retirement. Each year since 2019, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has set about answering the question of how much retirement costs for couples and single retirees. It considers three different Retirement Living Standards, which are summarised as: Minimum: covers all your […]