The administration of lasting powers of attorney (LPA) is on its way to becoming fully online. In an ideal world, you should have an LPA (or its Scottish or Northern Ireland equivalent) sitting beside your will. The absence of either can complicate matters considerably for your family. Without a will, the distribution of your estate […]
Research has confirmed what your pocket already knows: UK taxes are at historically high levels. Measuring how taxes have changed over time involves much more than simply looking at tax rates. Politicians are well aware of this, but they also know that it tends to be changes in rates that make the headlines. […]
The rise in mortgage rates since early 2022 has taken its toll on house prices. In 2023, an annual fall in house prices has become an almost standard news item around the turn of the month, when Nationwide and Halifax release their latest data. For example, Nationwide reported a yearly fall of 3.3% for house […]
The Global sector is the largest fund sector, according to the Investment Association, but it might not be quite as global as you think. The largest fund sector by value is Global, according to the Investment Association (IA), the UK’s investment trade body. At the end of August 2023, Global funds accounted for £171.1bn of […]
Action Fraud is urging people to use strong passwords and 2-step verification after receiving thousands of reports about hacked email and social media accounts. Data from Action Fraud, the national fraud and cybercrime reporting service, shows that from August 2022 – July 2023, there were 18,011 reports of social media and email hacking. Within these […]
A recent survey1 has revealed the dramatic impact that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s decision to scrap the pension Lifetime Allowance (LTA), made several months ago, is having on people’s retirement planning. The decision In his first Spring Budget Statement delivered on 15 March, the Chancellor announced that the LTA charge would be removed from April 2023 […]
