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The last six months have been very interesting indeed, including Rachel Reeves biggest tax-raising Budget on record: OBR watchdog’s database shows that the Chancellor hiked the tax burden by £41.5bn, more than Norman Lamont’s notorious 1993 raid.*1 This was followed by the US election which saw Donald Trump being elected for a second term. Since

As I write this, we are approaching the end of a tax year which means we have spent the last few weeks helping people use up their personal allowances. We keep in mind the saying ‘Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves,’ which of course means that if someone takes care

Last week I watched with interest, the BBC Panorama programme, ‘Should We Still Be Working from Home?’, and it made me realise just how much Covid has changed our working life and the knock-on effect this has had on our lives. Homeworking was relatively rare in 1981 when only 1.5% of those in employment reported

So, another New Year has just begun, which I always get excited about and as I always find, it is a time to start afresh. Many people celebrate the start of the New Year, in fact research shows that in the USA 360 million glasses of champagne and sparkling wine are consumed at this time,

Following weeks of speculation Rachel Reeves delivered the budget on the 30th October, this was not only her first budget but also the first budget to ever be delivered by a female. It was also the first budget for Labour in nearly 15 years and one of the longest budget speeches, which lasted 76 minutes

It has been a while since I have written about the financial markets so I thought this month it would be good to provide a brief overview of recent events. Last year, 2023 was a better year for investors with both fixed interest and equities bouncing back after one of the toughest years in 2022.

The date has been set for the end of October and Labour has already said there will be some difficult decisions. Previously I have written about the Budget but as this was some time ago, I thought it would be interesting to revisit, especially with all the history that surrounds it. The Budget dates back

This summer has certainly been one for sport with the Olympics just finishing with an elaborate closing ceremony. The one thing that this Olympics has made me reconsider is playing the National Lottery. In recent years I had stopped playing with the view that there was limited chance of winning, forgetting about how it has

We have just passed the half way point of the year so this is a good time to think about the goals we set ourselves at the beginning of the year and reevaluate them. With football still fresh in our minds, it is something that can be compared to half-time. Half-time in football is 15