magazine archive
magazine archive
Personal Finance
Four groups who should consider a Lifetime ISA
Thursday 23 Jan 2025The Treasury Committee made a recent call for evidence on the future of the Lifetime ISA, which has got everyone talking. They’re asking big questions, like whether the account needs a bit of a makeover, some tweaks, or even if it should be scrapped entirely. With more than 750,000 people putting...
Why more people are set to face a big January tax bill
Thursday 19 Dec 2024Let’s not beat around the bush, January is an awful month. You’ve just spent a packet on Christmas, your favourite clothes are inexplicably tight, and your efforts to work off a little holiday weight in the gym are hampered by everyone else trying to do exactly the same thing. It’s against this...
How to invest for children this Christmas
Thursday 12 Dec 2024Lots of parents and grandparents default to cash when saving for their children or grandchildren, but most have a very long time until they will give the money to the children, meaning investing can be a great option. If we look at someone saving £1,000 a year from birth of the child until the age...
First-time buyers risk being squeezed by Lifetime ISA limits
Thursday 28 Nov 2024First-time buyers hoping to use a Lifetime ISA to buy their first home could be squeezed out of buying a terraced house in more than 50 regions of the UK, new analysis from AJ Bell shows. The government pays a 25% bonus, up to £1,000 a year, into each Lifetime ISA account, which can then be used to...
Stamp duty changes in Budget to cost some buyers £11,250 more
Thursday 14 Nov 2024Stamp duty changes announced in the Budget mean that from April 2025 buyers will face higher costs when buying a home – with first-time buyers hit the hardest. The ending of a temporary stamp duty cut means that the tax will rise next year. This measure, originally introduced by former prime...
How to protect yourself from the capital gains tax raid
Thursday 07 Nov 2024Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced an astonishing £40 billion of tax rises in her maiden budget, and yet, despite that, there will be relief in some quarters that things didn’t turn out worse. Capital gains tax is one of the areas where the Reeves’ raid was not as bad as feared, as there had been...
What lower inflation means for your personal finances
Thursday 24 Oct 2024The CPI measure of inflation for September came in at 1.7% according to the latest set of figures produced by the Office for National Statistics. This is the first time in three years the inflation reading has dipped below the Bank of England’s 2% target, and against the backdrop of a painful...
The case for and against buying an annuity
Thursday 10 Oct 2024Here’s a sentence you won’t read very often: the annuity market witnessed a significant boom in the last tax year. Data from the FCA shows annuity sales rose by almost 40% in 2023/24, marking a sharp reversal in fortunes. Ever since pension freedoms were introduced in 2015, annuities have been...
Lifetime ISAs are becoming more popular – but beware the exit charge
Thursday 03 Oct 2024Lifetime ISAs have gained popularity, with an additional £732 million being deposited into these accounts last year, according to government data. Recent data reveals a 43% increase in contributions to Lifetime ISAs in 2022/23. The total savings reached a record £2.4 billion that year, nearly...
VCTs get the green light from the Treasury
Thursday 26 Sep 2024If you pick up a newspaper this month, you are almost guaranteed to read about the taxes the new chancellor is planning to hike, or the tax reliefs she is looking to axe. But one set of tax reliefs we know is here to stay are those supporting venture capital trusts. The Treasury has just confirmed...