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Latest News
Breaking down 2024 inflation
Breaking down 2024 inflation Inflation fell in 2024, dropping to 2.5% from 4.0% in 2023. So why didn’t it feel like that? At the end of 2022, inflation in the UK, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), was 9.2%, having reached a high of 11.1% in the previous October. In 2024, inflation ended…
Attitudes to retirement
Attitudes to retirement A recent survey has raised questions about retirement readiness. One of the world’s largest investment managers, BlackRock, recently published its latest review of the UK’s retirement landscape. The work was based on a survey of 1,000 savers in defined contribution (DC) pension arrangements. This is the type which now dominates private sector…
The consequences of higher employer’s NICs
The consequences of higher employer’s national insurance contributions The impact of the Budget’s increases in national insurance contributions (NICs) are not limited to employers. There were three main changes to employer’s NICs announced in the Budget, all of which will take effect from April 2025: The secondary threshold – the starting point for payment of…
Inheritance tax revisited
Inheritance tax revisited The Budget brought inheritance tax (IHT) into the news headlines, but its impact is not well understood. Mark and Hannah have an estate valued at £1.25 million, including their jointly owned home worth £400,000. Like many couples, their wills leave everything to the survivor on first death and to their children…
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) & cuts
National Savings & Investments and cuts National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has been busy reducing its interest rates in recent months. NS&I has roots going back to 1861, when Gladstone, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, launched the Post Office Savings Bank. NS&I’s latest quarterly results show that on 30 September 2024, it held £233.9 billion…
Have you seen my pensions? The lost £31.1 billion…
Have you seen my pension? The lost £31.1 billion… There are now over three million ‘lost’ pensions worth over £31 billion. We all lose things, be it the proverbial change down the back of the sofa or TV remote. But how do you lose a pension? The answer is very easy as suggested by recent…
From new year to year end – keeping a tax planning resolution?
From new year to year end – keeping a tax planning resolution? As 2025 gets under way, it is once again the time of year to start considering your year-end tax planning. The early months of the year are the time to undertake year-end tax planning. Unsurprisingly, the traditional drivers have been the tax year-end…
Pensions and Inheritance Tax: beware April 2027
Pensions and IHT: beware April 2027 The latest Budget move to count pensions as part of your estate for inheritance tax (IHT) is a major change, with potentially significant consequences. At present, most pension benefits payable on death, whether lump sums or other income, are outside the scope of inheritance tax (IHT) because they are…
HMRC still trying to give away money in unclaimed CTFs
HMRC still trying to give away money in unclaimed CTFs HMRC is uncharacteristically keen to give money away, reminding young adults again that they may be due unclaimed child trust funds (CTFs). The amount still to be paid out comes to just under £1.4 billion. As the UK settles under its first Labour government in…
The NICs top-up countdown is underway again…
The NICs top-up countdown is underway again… A third deadline for topping up State Pension entitlement is now coming into view. “Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?” The words of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi, recorded over half a century ago, always come to mind…