Annual inflation ended 2025 at 3.4%, up from 2.5% in 2023, but not all prices rose over the year. Inflation has been on something of a rollercoaster in recent years, buffeted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war, among other factors. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) annual inflation reading for December 2025 was 3.4%, […]
Planning the longest holiday of your life There comes a time when you stop working for your money and put your money to work for you. For most people, that is at retirement. The decisions you make then could have repercussions for the rest of your life, and in recent years there have been some […]
The Autumn Budget at the end of November announced important changes to come for individual savings accounts (ISAs) from April 2027, but you may not be affected. November’s Budget announced a range of changes to ISAs, the full extent of which did not become clear immediately. While the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) managed to […]
The government made a surprise tax announcement in late December when the country’s attention was otherwise engaged. ‘A good day to bury bad news’ is a notorious political phrase that still rings true. More than two decades later, it seems that the UK government’s communication strategies often cloud rather than clarify awkward news. December provided […]
Be prepared for pension salary sacrifice reform While reforms to the pension salary sacrifice rules are not scheduled to take effect until April 2029, it is important to understand the implications of the changes now. Salary sacrifice has become an increasingly common way for employees to make their pension contributions, with most major employers offering […]
The consequences of successive governments freezing income tax personal allowance are beginning to emerge. On 6 April 2016, the new State pension was launched at the rate of £155.65 a week (£8,093.80 a year) and the income tax personal allowance increased by £400 to £11,000. If you were about to reach State pension age […]
