With inflation edging ever closer to double digits, the way you think about investment returns may need to change. From January 2000 to the start of this year, inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), averaged 2.3%. Over that period, it had briefly risen above 5% three times – in 2008, 2011 […]
The tax benefits of ISAs can extend to inheritance tax. Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) have three major tax advantages: 1. No UK income tax liability on UK dividends and interest. With frozen tax bands and allowances plus an increase in dividend tax rates for this tax year, that tax freedom is more valuable than ever. […]
The son of a victim of courier fraud is urging carers, family and friends of vulnerable people to be on their guard to help prevent their loved ones being exploited by fraudsters. The warning comes as a new list of tactics used by courier fraudsters has been unveiled by the City of London Police. Typically, […]
An introduction to Isas Individual Savings Accounts, universally known as ISAs, began life as relatively simple savings plans in 1999, but over the past 22 years the rules surrounding them have become ever more complex. A May 2018 report on savings tax from the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) suggested that “there is scope for […]
A good proportion of us shy away at the mention of the word ‘maths’, but in the investing world there are some quirky mathematical outcomes that are worth reminding ourselves of. The first is that if an investment goes up 100% it only has to go down 50% to get back to where it started. […]
Ticket fraudsters duped victims out of almost £4 million in the last year, as music and entertainment lovers bought tickets for festivals and events online as coronavirus restrictions eased. New data from Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, reveals that 4,982 people fell victim to ticket fraud in the 2021/22 financial […]
A critical review of how the government taxes child benefits has raised a major question mark over HMRC’s approach to collecting payments. Child benefit tax, or the High-Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) to use its legal name, is a case study in how not to introduce and operate a tax. It was designed as a […]
With inflation hitting 6.2% in February and outstripping wage growth, make sure you are paying attention to what’s happening to your money. We explore some ways to help keep your money where it belongs. Tip 1: Make sure you have the right tax code Now that the new tax year has started, it is worth […]
Despite the numerous shocks that occurred in the first quarter of 2022, the world’s share markets held up surprisingly well. Cast your mind back to the start of the year. The world was coming to terms with the latest Omicron variant of Covid-19, which was supposedly proving less serious than its predecessors. The latest available […]
