Inflation still outpaces nearly all available deposit rates. Source: ONS, Bank of England At the end of September, the US bank, Goldman Sachs, launched a new online easy-access savings account in the UK under the name of Marcus. It has offered a similar account in its home territory since 2016, gaining over 1.5 million customers according to the bank’s second quarter results. In the UK, 50,000 Marcus accounts were opened in the first fortnight after its introduction. Marcus g

Two recent events have shone different lights on the government’s view of unmarried couples. Graph: Marriage Rates in England and Wales As the graph shows, marriage has been drifting out of fashion for close to 50 years. There are now over 3.3 million unmarried couples in the UK, of which nearly half have children. In spite of this major social change, governments have largely maintained sharp legislative distinctions between the married and unmarried. When they have conflate

A 2.6% rise in the single tier state pension was announced in the 2018 Budget. The increase to the single tier state pension, and its predecessor the basic state pension, will apply from next April. Other state pensions, such as the State Earnings Related Pensions Scheme (SERPS), will rise by 2.4%. The higher increases for the two main pension benefits are the result of the ‘triple lock’, which requires the annual uplift to be greatest of: CPI inflation (2.4% in September 201

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 higher rate threshold to £50,000, again targeted for 2020/21. A £25,000 increase in the pension lifetime allowance to £1,055,000 from April 2019. A one-third r

"Sellers were out in force on the market today after negative news on the economy.” It’s a common line in TV finance reports. But have you ever wondered who is buying if so many people are selling? The notion that sellers can outnumber buyers on down days doesn’t make sense. What the newscasters should say, of course, is that prices adjusted lower because would-be buyers weren’t prepared to pay the former price. What happens in such a case is either the would-be sellers sit o