Will increased capital gains tax (CGT) mean less tax gets paid? The Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto said, ‘We will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.’ The absence of any comment on CGT meant that Rachel Reeves received persistent questions during the election campaign about a […]
August saw the first cut in UK interest rates since March 2020. On 1 August, the Bank of England cut its bank rate by 0.25% to 5.00%, the first cut made since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, which made the decision, voted 5–4 in favour […]
Many chancellors ago, in November 2016, Philip Hammond announced an end to spring Budgets and their replacement with autumn Budgets. At the time it seemed a sensible idea to allow changes in tax to be legislated before the start of the new tax year. In practice, it did not go to plan: Hammond […]
August started with sharp gyrations on global stock markets. It was a good time to be on holiday. It was once suggested that a wise approach to investment in the stock market is to make your choice and then go away to a remote desert island with no communication links for at least three – […]
Action Fraud is warning savers to stay vigilant and protect their pensions and investments from fraudsters trying to trick people out of their lifetime savings, as new data reveals £17.7 million lost to pension fraud last year. There were 559 reports of pension fraud in total and £17,750,635 lost in 2023, with an average loss […]
With a majority of over 200 and a weight of expectations, what happens next for Sir Kier Starmer’s new Labour government? The importance of the first 100 days of a new government cannot be understated. Within that period the new incumbent has the greatest political capital to take bold actions, as well as the greatest […]
Do you dream of retiring much earlier than your peers? Many ideas which originated in the US have made their way across the Atlantic. The latest financial innovation to join index-tracking investments, budgeting apps and exchange traded funds is the FIRE movement – Financial Independence, Retire Early. If you are a millennial or a […]
Central banks around the world are beginning to cut interest rates with the European Central Bank leading the way. On 6 June 2024, the European Central Bank (ECB) became the first major central bank (the big three being the US, UK and European) to announce an interest rate cut in the current cycle. This marked […]
New rules have come into force governing the claims made by sustainable funds. As sustainable investing has grown in popularity, the issue of ‘greenwashing’ has moved into the spotlight. However, investors, turned fund detectives, have discovered that funds with ‘sustainable’, ‘environmental’ or similar labels are buying shares in companies which do not match […]
