Despite the numerous shocks that occurred in the first quarter of 2022, the world’s share markets held up surprisingly well. Cast your mind back to the start of the year. The world was coming to terms with the latest Omicron variant of Covid-19, which was supposedly proving less serious than its predecessors. The latest […]
As inflation hits a 30-year high in the UK, double-digit price increases could be on the horizon. At the start of 2021, inflation measured by the CPI yardstick, was running at a benign 0.7%, having been driven down by the impact of the pandemic. A year later, the rate had jumped to 5.5%, close to […]
The changes to national insurance contributions (NICs) announced in the Spring Statement in March were not straightforward. Let’s set the record straight. In his Spring Statement – or was it a mini-Budget? – the Chancellor announced several changes to NICs aimed at reducing the impact of the 1.25 percentage points increase in the rates that […]
The government has nearly finished its review of the next stage of State Pension Age (SPA) increases. But changes to life expectancy figures pose a significant, and potentially expensive, dilemma. A review of State Pension ages from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) back in March 2017 stirred initial controversy. The report by John […]
We’re now in the year of the Tiger according to the Chinese zodiac, which can symbolise resilience and strength. That may well be required after Wednesday 6 April ushers in the new 2022/23 tax year. New years are normally a cause – or excuse – for celebration, even if the pandemic has changed that in […]
2021 ended with inflation sitting at 5.4%, but it may not have felt like that to you. You may have caught the food campaigner Jack Monroe on TV and radio interviews recently highlighting how the uneven effects of inflation on the most basic foodstuffs can have a disproportionate effect on lower income […]
