Annual inflation in 2022 was 10.5%, but not all components rose by double digits. Annual inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), was 10.5% in 2022 against 5.4% in 2021. The official CPI calculator, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), says that the last time inflation was as high was in 1981. But […]
Recent research has compared the value of personal national insurance contributions (NICs) with the value of state pension received. The results may surprise you. NICs are not well understood, a fact exploited by Chancellors past and present. Many people mistakenly believe that NICs accumulate in a government fund to pay future benefits, in a […]
When it comes to student loans, the media focus is usually on tuition fees (outside Scotland), but there’s another loan that shouldn’t be overlooked – and that includes Scotland. In January 2023, the Department for Education (DfE) issued a press release headlined Cost of living boost for students. However, the ‘boost’ was more akin to […]
Identity theft happens when fraudsters access enough information about someone’s identity (such as their name, date of birth, current or previous addresses) to commit identity fraud. Identity theft can take place whether the fraud victim is alive or deceased. If you’re a victim of identity theft, it can lead to fraud that can have […]
ESTATE PLANNING – TOO IMPORTANT TO PUT ON HOLD All too often, people put off estate planning. This is understandable as, rather than preparing for the here and now, it requires you to consider what will happen when your life is over, hardly something most of us rush to contemplate. Consequently, estate planning often becomes, […]
In 2022, most of the world’s major share indices had their worst year since 2008, but the UK’s FTSE 100 was a star performer. Yes, the table is correct. In the year of three Prime Ministers, four Chancellors, a catastrophic ‘mini-Budget’ and double-digit inflation, the UK stock market was one of the world’s best […]
