Happy birthday, dear ISA

The ISA or individual savings account is 20 years old this April.

April 6 marked the twentieth birthday of the Individual Savings Account or ISA. When the ISA was introduced in 1999, many thought it to be little more than a rebranding of the two schemes it replaced: the Personal Equity Plan (PEP) and Tax Exempt Savings Account (TESSA). The following 20 years have proved ISAs to…

Life expectancy – we’re living longer, but…

Life expectancy in the UK is to improving as rapidly as predicted - obesity is part of the problem.

A recent report shows that life expectancy is still improving, but not as quickly as was once expected. “British life expectancy falls by SIX MONTHS for men and women” That was one recent headline in response to the latest report of the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. While it was…

The lesson from the loan tax charge

The controversy surrounding the loan charge deadline is a reminder of the dangers of aggressive tax planning. If you were offered a way of being paid a ‘salary’ that involved no income tax and no national insurance contributions (NICs), what would you think? In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many contractors and consultants were…

China emerges on to the investment stage

Prospects for the Chinese Stock Market in 2019

The importance of China’s stock market is set to quadruple in 2019. China has been at the forefront of the headlines recently, whether about the protracted trade dispute with the US, the alleged dangers of using Huawei’s 5G equipment or the first landing of a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. The ‘Middle…

An overshadowed Spring Statement

The Chancellor’s Spring Statement was almost obscured by other events in mid-March – the most obvious being Brexit. Ever since he announced a move to an Autumn Budget in 2016, Mr Hammond has made it clear that he wanted to avoid the Spring Statement counterpart becoming a mini-Budget. His vision was that in March he…