The 2018 Budget - delivered on a Monday for the first time since 1962 - produced a number of surprises, not least some high-profile ‘giveaways’. Announcements in the Budget included: * A £650 increase in the personal allowance to £12,500 for 2019/20, the level originally pencilled in for 2020/21. * A £3,650 increase in the…
Read moreDo you fancy working once you have reached age 65? The trend of rising employment levels is not limited to working-age people, according to the latest employment statistics from the Office for National Statistics. The results reveal a growing number of people have working beyond what is still often thought of as male pension age…
Read moreThe 2018 Budget has been set for Monday 29 October, setting a deadline for speculation and proposals. Mr Hammond, however, has indicated that he won't end the long spell of austerity measures, despite improving public finances. Proposals raised by think tanks and professional bodies include overhauls of income and inheritance tax, 'pension tax relief simplification',…
Read moreThe US stock market set a new record for the longest-ever bull market in August. Wednesday 22 August 2018 saw the S&P 500 drop – by less than 0.1% – after 3,453 days, making it the longest-ever bull run (a period of rising share prices) for the index, which is used by professional investors’ as…
Read moreThe rates charged on student loans rose at the start of September. The revised terms for interest on, and repayment of, student loans were published in August, along with the A level results for the year. From 1 September, the main interest rates for Plan 2 loans, taken out by students and recent graduates in…
Read moreA paper published in August by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) casts new light on life expectancies in the UK. Life expectancy has been increasing in the UK for a long time, as the graph shows. In 1980, the average life expectancy at birth was 70.6 years for a man and 76.6 years for…
Read moreIf you are considering making gifts, make sure all your inheritance tax (IHT) liabilities are covered. Today’s treatment of lifetime gifts is extremely generous, which is why interest has increased ahead of the Autumn Budget. If you make an outright lifetime gift to an individual: • There is no immediate IHT charge, regardless of its…
Read moreThe ‘pension freedom’ rules that make it easier for investors to access their pension savings may lead to excessive tax bills. The pension freedom rules allow anyone aged 55 or over to access their personal pension funds, but there are complicated rules on how withdrawals are taxed. If you are looking to cash in all…
Read morePlease see attached our Autumn 2018 Newsletter. Pryor Portfolio Management - Autumn The contents of this article is for information purposes only and represent the opinion of Pryor Portfolio Management Limited only. No action should be taken on the basis of this article alone. We always recommend you seek more detailed independent financial advice before…
Read moreFinancing a child’s path to adulthood is a serious commitment for parents. Any new parent will tell you a child is expensive from the outset: there is so much to be bought to cater for a new member of the family. But this is just the first step of many building up to a child’s…
Read moreCouples could now save an extra £20,000 of inheritance tax (IHT), as the residence nil rate band (RNRB) increased in April 2018. The RNRB was increased at start of the new tax year and it is due to increase by £25,000 in each of the next two years, reaching £175,000 in 2020/21. It will be…
Read moreYou may be due a refund if you have registered a power of attorney in recent years. It is not often the government offers a refund because of overcharging, but last month it emerged that the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) had been levying excessive fees for four years. The fees related to the…
Read moreThe way savings are taxed is being reviewed by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS). The OTS is looking at the way in which savings and investment income is taxed, which can be very complicated. According to its paper, published in May 2018, “the interactions between the [tax] rates and allowances is sufficiently complex at…
Read moreTransfers out of private sector final salaries boomed in 2017. There was a dramatic increase in the value of number of transfers out of defined benefit (usually final salary) pension schemes in 2017. A recent Freedom of Information (FoI) request to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed that the £20,800 million was transferred last year,…
Read moreThe Bank of England did not raise interest rates in May, despite earlier suggestions that it would. About four years ago a member of the Treasury Select Committee compared Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, to “an unreliable boyfriend”. The remark was prompted by Mr Carney’s record of talking about future interest…
Read moreA new report has proposed taxing the baby boomers to help resolve major issues around intergenerational fairness. The report, published by the Intergenerational Commission in May, offers ten policy recommendations which would represent a radical overhaul of the UK tax system. Examples include replacing inheritance tax with “a lifetime receipts tax that is levied on…
Read morePlease see attached our Summer 2018 Newsletter. PryorPortfolioManagement Summer18FinancialFocusNewsletter2 The contents of this article is for information purposes only and represent the opinion of Pryor Portfolio Management Limited only. No action should be taken on the basis of this article alone. We always recommend you seek more detailed independent financial advice before taking action -…
Read moreUK inflation is falling faster than expected, as the March figure for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 2.5%. This March figure, published in mid-April, surprised forecasters, who had predicted annual inflation would remain at 2.7%, as in February. That February figure was itself a surprise, as the forecasts had predicted 2.8%. The drop for…
Read moreThe Dow Jones industrial Average - the Dow - is a well-known part of the investment market, often quoted by news sources. But what does it mean, and is it useful when making investment decisions? The Dow was created in 1896, and is arguably still used today mainly thanks to history or habit. There are…
Read moreThe income threshold at which student loan repayments begin rose on 6 April 2018. English and Welsh students who started their courses after 31 August 2012 can now earn £25,000 a year - up from £21,000 - before they have to start repaying their student loans. The increase could provide a saving of £360 a…
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