Newsletter – November 2016

You may remember that a Marriage Allowance was introduced in 2015 which means that one half of a married couple can transfer part of their tax-free allowance to the other, providing one partner is earning £11,000 or less, and the other is paying only Basic Rate Tax.

If this sounds like your situation, then by applying for the Marriage Allowance via HMRC’s website you could save £220 this year. However, you can also claim for last year, meaning a total maximum rebate of £432 in this year. It may not be much, but it’s better that the money is in your bank than in theirs, and the extra may be of use through the coming festive season.

Less than a quarter of people who are eligible have actually applied for this allowance, even though it takes only five minutes. If you are interested, the application can be accessed via the link below:

www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance/how-it-works 

This month’s book is The End of Average: How to Succeed in a World that Values Sameness by Todd Rose.

In this easy-to-read and interesting book, Todd explains how the concept of average generates problems. For example, he explains about the US fighter planes that were designed for the “average size pilot” which resulted in multiple crashes just because no pilot is average! An obvious point but one to consider when you are flying at 200 feet at 400 mph. The End of Average draws on the very latest findings in the fields of psychology and sociology to show how, when we focus on individual findings rather than group averages, we are empowered to rethink the world and our place in it.

If you want to question your existing prejudices then this is the book for you – but probably best left unread if you like to keep thinking what you are thinking.

Publisher: Allen Lane (28 Jan. 2016) 

ISBN 978-0241184233