2025’s first set of inflation numbers were higher than expected, but more rises are coming. Source: ONS The UK has experienced an inflation rollercoaster since the start of this decade, as have many Western economies. In January 2020, the annual increase in the UK Consumer Prices Index (CPI) was 1.8%, but by July 2022 it had crossed 10% on its way to a peak of 11.1% in October of that year. As the graph shows, since then inflation has gone into a decline that closely mirrored

The Chancellor has announced the timing of her next formal report to Parliament. Cast your mind back six Chancellors ago to Philip Hammond (aka Spreadsheet Phil). In autumn 2016, Hammond announced a change to the timings of Budget announcements, with a Spring Budget and Autumn Pre-Budget Report (PBR) to be replaced by an Autumn Budget and a Spring Statement. His aim was to move away from what had virtually become two Budgets a year, with the PBR introducing as many – if not m

One of the nation’s largest investment managers has examined investors’ attitudes in the UK relative to other major developed G7 nations with interesting results. Personal wealth distribution Housing Pension Cash Bonds Shares and funds Life assurance Other UK 50% 19% 15% 0% 8% 5% 3% US 26% 17% 10% 3% 33% 1% 9% Germany 57% 6% 16% 1% 9% 6% 5% France 52% 12% 13% 0% 13% 1% 9% Italy 46% 9% 14% 2% 19% 0% 10% Japan 37% 16% 35% 1% 9% 0% 2% Canada 43% 15% 11% 1% 22% 0% 8% Ave

Inflation fell in 2024, dropping to 2.5% from 4.0% in 2023. So why didn’t it feel like that? At the end of 2022, inflation in the UK, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), was 9.2%, having reached a high of 11.1% in the previous October. In 2024, inflation ended the year at 2.5%, with the Bank of England’s target range of around 2%. The US has seen a similar pattern, although its peak was 9.1% in June 2022. Despite annual CPI inflation falling to 2% by the time of t

How to fund social care has once more moved into the political spotlight. It is the turn of the year. The health secretary of the relatively new Labour government announces a commission to review the financing for long-term care of the elderly. Can you name the year? Sadly, there are two correct answers: 1997: in December of this year, Frank Dobson, the Health Secretary in Tony Blair’s new government, fired the starting gun for a Royal Commission report with the grand title o

The latest Budget move to count pensions as part of your estate for inheritance tax (IHT) is a major change, with potentially significant consequences. At present, most pension benefits payable on death, whether lump sums or other income, are outside the scope of IHT because they are not considered part of the deceased’s estate. However, there is an income tax charge on the beneficiaries if death occurs on or after age 75 or in certain limited cases before then. The Budget’s