Archive for December 2020
Not the Autumn Budget or the Autumn Statement
The Chancellor’s November ‘Financial Statement’ (not a Budget) revealed more spending and more government borrowing, but no mention of tax rises. The UK budgetary cycle is in something of a mess at present. In 2019, unusually the was no Budget thanks to December’s general election. For the same reason, the three-year Spending Review which should…
Read MoreWhen I’m 66 – the state pension age’s latest milestone
The latest phasing of State Pension Age (SPA) increase is now finished. On 6 October 2020, the SPA reached 66. Unless current legislation is changed, it will remain there until 6 April 2026, at which point the next increase, to age 67, starts to be phased in over the following two years. Thereafter the move to…
Read MoreInterest rates: continuing challenges in the search for income
Deposit rates are continuing to fall. On 24 November, the interest rate cuts that National Savings & Investments (NS&I) announced back in September took effect. The headline change was a drop in Income Bond rates from 1.15% to just 0.01%. Reports suggest that NS&I has seen predictably heavy outflows, although savers have struggled to find…
Read MoreCapital gains tax: increases on the way?
A recent report could herald changes to capital gains tax. Last July the Chancellor asked the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to undertake a review of capital gains tax (CGT) “in relation to individuals and smaller companies”. The request was something of a surprise for two reasons. Firstly, there had been no suggestion that Mr…
Read MoreFireworks in November
November was an exciting month for the world’s stock markets. Source: Investing.com November was an exhilarating month on the world’s stock markets, as the graph above illustrates. It cannot be said that many experts – bar room or otherwise – expected it look like this. Cast your mind back to Halloween and, apart from trick…
Read More