Introduction Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 had a huge impact on the global economy, pushing up commodity prices, inflation and living costs around the world. Last month saw the first anniversary of the invasion, and amid the renewed displays of solidarity from leaders in the UK, the US and the European Union, was the uncomfortable reminder that this could be a prolonged conflict. Policymakers are therefore having to balance their continued support for Ukraine with minimising the economic fallout, and the effects this will have on households and businesses. As always, let’s take ..read more

The end of the tax year is fast approaching and time is running out. So in the weeks ahead of the April 5th deadline, what steps should you be taking to make the most of your money and reduce your tax bill? Here are just a few areas you could look at. Use your ISA allowance You can save or invest up to £20,000 a year with a cash ISA, a stocks and shares ISA, or a combination of the two, tax-free. If you haven’t invested this amount by April 5th, you can’t carry your allowance over and you’ll end up missing out. Top up your pension contributions You can pay up to £40,000 into your pension in a ..read more

The Chancellor’s decision to protect the state pension triple lock was one of the most headline-grabbing aspects of the recent Budget. But what exactly is the triple lock and what does it mean? In short, it’s a mechanism designed to make sure the state pension doesn’t lose value, so it will go up by whichever is highest of the following measures: Average earnings The rate of inflation (as per the Consumer Price Index) 2.5 per cent So if, for example, average earnings went up by three per cent, the state pension would go up this amount, provided the rate of inflation was also lower than this am ..read more

If you haven’t got a will, you don’t have control over what happens to your money and assets after you die. That means your wealth won’t go to your chosen beneficiaries, and could cause lots of lengthy and costly legal issues for the loved ones you leave behind. Here are our top reasons why you should make sure you have a legally binding will in place. Put yourself in control If you die without a valid will, strict inheritance laws, known as the Rules of Intestacy, will apply. These state that once any tax and debts have been paid, the first £250,000 of what remains, your personal possessions ..read more

Introduction  Where did we leave the soap opera that is British politics? At the end of September, Liz Truss was the Prime Minister, and Kwasi Kwarteng was her Chancellor. As we reported last month, Kwarteng presented his ‘fiscal statement’ on Friday 23rd September.  Three weeks later, he was gone and Liz Truss had to endure the most public of humiliations as new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt fed her ‘plan for growth’, policy after policy, into the parliamentary shredder. Eleven days later, Truss offered her own resignation, replaced by Rishi Sunak, the man she had defeated in the race to s ..read more

The recent Mini Budget, a £45 billion tax cutting package, paid for by increased public borrowing, led to panic among many investors and a run on Britain’s pension funds. As a result, the Bank of England was forced to step in to stop a collapse by pledging to buy around £65 billion of long-dated gilts. But what exactly are gilts and why do they matter? For many, the financial jargon that has – justifiably – dominated the headlines in recent weeks is confusing and incomprehensible, so we’ll try to answer these questions in straightforward terms. UK gilts are fixed-interest securities issued by ..read more

Jeremy Hunt, the new chancellor, has confirmed that nearly all the tax measures announced in the Growth Plan on September 23rd are to be reversed. Only the cuts to stamp duty paid on house purchases and the scrapping of the National Insurance hike will continue. However, all the tax measures that have not started parliamentary legislation will not go ahead. What has been scrapped? A planned 1p reduction in the basic rate of income tax. This is to be put on hold indefinitely, until economic circumstances allow it to be cut. The Government had announced that it would be cut from 20p in the poun ..read more

So what was it? A ‘fiscal event’? A Mini Budget? Or a full-blown Budget from a new Chancellor determined to take the UK in a very different direction from previous occupants of 11 Downing Street? As we will see in more detail below, reactions to the measures introduced by Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday September 23rd were sharply divided.  Saturday morning’s papers, though, were quick to deliver their verdict. ‘At last! A True Tory Budget’ was the Mail’s headline. ‘We’ve got the courage to bet big on Britain,’ said the Express. The gambling theme was repeated in other papers. ‘Kwarteng gambles ..read more

As the writer Mark Twain supposedly said, “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” Could 2022 be the year that cash says the same thing? Many clients reading this will remember the traditional method of budgeting used by their parents or grandparents: a pot for gas, a pot for electricity, one for food, another for clothes. Maybe even one for holidays. Others will remember the ‘Christmas Club’ run by the local shop. The idea was simple, you put a little bit away each week and when Christmas came, the money was there. Then, of course, people stopped getting paid in cash. Wages and salaries ..read more

The new Prime Minister’s in-tray is overflowing. Inflation, the cost of living crisis, war in Ukraine, US/China tensions but buried under all that paperwork is, hopefully, another sheet of A4. One that’s absolutely vital to the country’s economic health, that will play a crucial part in our eventual economic recovery; the UK’s small businesses. Of late, the small business glass,  at least as far as the headline writers have been concerned, has been resolutely half-empty. At the beginning of last month, City AM announced that the UK’s small businesses were ‘scrapping hiring plans’ in the f ..read more