Supporting Cared for Children At Henson Crisp we feel it is important to support charities and our local community in whatever way we can. For this reason we regularly donate to a number of charities, both local and national, in addition to supporting a number of local organisations. We have recently donated 40 Flower Power!…

Higher workplace pension contributions on the way Research has confirmed what your pocket already knows: UK taxes are at historically high levels. Measuring how taxes have changed over time involves much more than simply looking at tax rates. Politicians are well aware of this, but they also know that it tends to be changes in…

Higher workplace pension contributions on the way New legislation has paved the way for important changes to automatic enrolment in workplace pensions. At the start of October, automatic enrolment in workplace pension schemes quietly celebrated its eleventh anniversary. The latest data (April 2021) from the Office for National Statistics shows that 79.4% of employees were…

The Autumn Statement 2023: Prioritising economic growth The UK government has released its highly anticipated Autumn Statement, providing a glimpse into its economic priorities to unlock investment, reward work and grow our economy in the upcoming months. Let's take a closer look at the key highlights and implications of the latest financial update. Cutting tax…

A spring Budget cycle will resume shortly The Chancellor has announced that he will issue an Autumn Statement on 22 November.   Perhaps it was just coincidence, but a year to the day after Liz Truss was elected Prime Minister, the current Chancellor (and her second) announced that there would be an Autumn Statement on…

An uncertain future for the Triple Lock State pension increases could be outpacing inflation next April, and there’s no guarantee of the Triple Lock surviving the next election. Source: IFS. In mid-September, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the latest earnings data, covering the period May to July 2023. Earnings data has been the…

The case for increasing pension contributions A new think tank report highlights the need to increase pension contributions. Over time, good ideas start to age. Take, for example, automatic enrolment into workplace pensions, which is now eleven years old. In some respects, it has been highly successful – about 80% of employees are now benefiting…

Intestacy limit breach delays uplift “Get a will and keep it up to date” is advice that often appears in the personal finance pages and elsewhere. A recent lapse in concentration from the Ministry of Justice illustrates how important that advice can be. The lapse from the Ministry of Justice involved a key intestacy limit…

Deferring your state pension You do not have to take your state pension at state pension age. The current state pension age (SPA) – the earliest age at which you can draw your state pension – is 66. It will be gradually increased to 67 between April 2026 and April 2028. A further rise to…

Do you know your OEICs from your ETFs? Investment funds come in a variety of formats and acronyms – the differences are worth knowing. The days of individuals largely owning UK shares have long passed. The latest National Statistics data shows that in 2020, only 12% of shares were held by individuals. One reason behind…