No, the headline is not wrong... Interest rates matter. At the personal finance end of the spectrum, they determine what you earn from bank deposits (virtually nothing at present) and what interest you pay on your mortgage (about 4.4% if you are paying the average standard variable rate (SVR), but much less for most other loans). In the investment and commercial world, interest rates determine what business borrowers pay and are often the basis for valuing assets, from shares

As the pandemic enters its second year, what have we learned? The World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020, coincidentally the day that Chancellor Rishi Sunak presented his first Budget. At the time, the Chancellor announced a £12bn stimulus to counter the impact of the pandemic. By November, the Office of Budget Responsibility was estimating the cost had reached £280bn. The last year has been a traumatic one in which much has changed, perhaps n

The Covid-19 pandemic has deferred many events of all sizes, from the Tokyo Olympics to millions of foreign holidays. One of the less prominent delays has been a change to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules on pension drawdown. Back in June 2018, the FCA issued a consultation paper following a two-year review of the impact of the Pension flexibility reforms introduced in 2015. One aspect which particularly concerned the FCA was those pension owners who, having receiv

Taking some time to start planning for 2021/22 now can be worthwhile. While there is often a focus on planning for the end of the tax year, much less attention is paid to the start of the tax year. The lack of an obvious deadline is probably one reason – deadlines tend to concentrate the mind. Nevertheless, some planning at the beginning of the year can be a rewarding exercise. · Estimate your total income for 2021/22 – If you have a rough estimate of what your income will be

The average deposit paid by first-time homebuyers jumped by £10,000 in 2020. When the pandemic took hold in the first half of last year, it looked as if the housing market was headed for a fall, if not something more dramatic. There were problems about viewing properties, arranging surveys, organising removals – you name it, there was a raft of obstacles set to hit the sale of residential property. And yet… In early July, as new virus case numbers fell to what proved to be th