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Archive for ‘Financial industry news’

January is almost over and the long period between the December and January pay cheques has passed. However, don’t pop the champagne cork just yet for this replenishment of our current accounts doesn’t mean we’re all solvent once again – far from it. The Daily Mirror’s Tricia Phillips highlights the level of personal debt in the UK is a staggering £1.5 trillion.  And the BBC’s…


This Wednesday the new Chancellor of the Exchequer will make his first Autumn Statement. It will also present the first major indication of direction of travel for the UK economy under Theresa May’s post-Brexit administration. There has been much speculation that the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, will shift away from the “Austerity Britain” policies which marked the tenure of the previous Chancellor, George Osborne. This weekend,…


D-Day dawns. After debate, discourse and disagreement, it’s decision time. Remain or leave. While I’ve known from the start which way I will vote, time and again over past months, I’ve come across many who said they didn’t know which way to vote. I hope by now, despite the fractious arguments from both camps, all these people have now gathered enough information to make as…


On Wednesday 8th June 2016, in a debate hosted by Scottish Friendly at the Houses of Parliament, four impassioned Parliamentarians locked horns for 60 minutes over the question of whether a vote to leave on June 23rd would have a positive or negative effect on savings. Conservative MP Chris Philp, a member of the Treasury Select Committee, lined up with Labour-Co-op MP Gareth Thomas, who…


Financial year that is. Wednesday 6th April sees a considerable savings shake up with the launch of the personal savings allowance (PSA) which means most people will no longer pay tax on their savings interest. At present, except if you’re saving in a Cash ISA, when you earn interest, the taxman takes part of your earnings.   So for every £100 interest earned, if you’re a…


We’ve just commissioned our latest disposable income index which has revealed that after paying for essentials like housing, energy, water, groceries, transport and childcare, the average household in the UK has £905 left per month to save or pay for clothing, socialising, furniture and luxuries. Our quarterly report, which was compiled along with leading think-tank the Social Market foundation analyses consumer sentiment, current economic data…


Last summer Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned that interest rates could increase from their historic low of 0.5% at the start of this year. In a dramatic volte face, but which came as no surprise to many, he has now said that interest rates may not rise at all this year. Indeed, there is now no timeline for a rates increase. However, the…


I don’t think any of us ever thought we could enjoy the life of Riley in retirement if we had to live off the state pension. Just how grim the UK state pension is has come in a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Its report shows the UK’s state pension is one of the least generous in the world and…


On Monday I said that today’s Autumn Statement would reveal whether appeals for clemency in relation to the Chancellor’s proposal to reduce tax credits had fallen on deaf ears. In a spectacular u-turn that demonstrated Mr Osborne’s ears are not hard of hearing, today the proposals weren’t even watered down, they were jettisoned. Christmas has therefore come early for thousands of lower and mid income…


The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has made a name as a reforming Chancellor and, while not without controversy, his reforms over the past 20 months – in which period we’ve seen three budgets! – have been generally welcomed in respect of ISAs and pensions. There has been renewed commitment to ISAs with increased savings limits and a long-overdue simplification of rules about saving…


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