Not another blog about the Budget!

1 Oct

Good morning people, how are we all?

Smashing. It’s a busy one today, with lots to get through.

Yes, we’ll talk about the Budget, which takes place on 30th October. No, I don’t know specifically what’s coming, but I’ve dusted down the crystal ball to tell you that there won’t be much in the way of tax cuts.

Seriously though, this could be an interesting one. We’ll discuss it in greater detail shortly.

We’ll reference a fantastic video by a fellow financial planner that everyone should watch. If you take nothing else away from this newsletter, please do watch that.

There will be the usual waffle, such as my new found love for the sport of Padel (it’s like tennis, but more relaxed, and therefore much better. That boiling noise you can hear is the blood pressure of tennis players).

And finally, we’ll finish off by highlighting a business that I thought was worth a share, Memoir Video.

Enjoy!

PS: If you know of anyone who would enjoy – stop laughing at the back, you – this collection of thoughts, such as they are, please do forward it to them. It helps the ole email list. Thank you.

I have quite a bit of work to do before I catch my brother’s some 100,000+ email list. Incidentally, the bold Fraser has just released his second hardback book via the good people at Penguin.

The Budget

Top of the list today, and for good reason.

There are quite a few rumours flying about, some of which have merit and some of which are clickbait nonsense. The philosophy at Purpose FP will remain the same as ever; when the facts change, so too will the plan. Making irrevocable changes based on what might happen a few weeks from now is generally not a wise approach.

Regarding the mood around this Budget, I have to hand it to Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer; they’re really dialling up the ole’ negativity factor. Perhaps this is simply them being honest with the state of the nation’s finances, perhaps it’s clever politics – I don’t know. But the level of negativity alone is impressive. I’m half expecting Rachel Reeves to start the Budget dressed in a black cape with the dun-dun-dun-duh-duh-dun trumpeting in the background.

Turning to potential announcements themselves, you won’t win many points for saying that change is afoot. However, with income tax, national insurance, and VAT all apparently locked-in to remain the same, what will change?

I’m not a betting man, but if I were, our top rate of 20% capital gains tax is looking a little shaky. The last Govt cut the CGT rate on second properties to a max of 24% from the previous 28% (a very random move given everything else going on at the time), and all other CGT is a maximum of 20% above the paltry £3,000 allowance (remember, this was £12,300 each in 22/23). That 20% looks rather generous when compared to our European cousins:

Source: Tax Foundation Europe

So we’ll see.

No matter what happens, remember, (he says cheerily) that it could always be worse. Ireland has a bonkers system – and the USA may well follow – where you are taxed on unrealised gains of investment assets (not on pensions – same as in the UK). Taxed on paper growth only, every 8 years.

I feel better already.

What does the Budget mean for you?

Whilst there are rarely any emergencies in personal finance, I have cleared my diary on the 31st of October, and this day is being kept open for calls with people who are concerned about the Budget and the potential implications for them specifically.

You can book a time slot here, and I will call you directly.

Please note this service is for ongoing clients of the firm only. Anyone else can book a call here in the usual fashion. Thank you.

Financial Scam Warning

James is a fellow financial planner and, whilst I don’t know him personally, this is a superb video. Well worth a watch.

In this, James discusses some of the more sophisticated financial scams that people have fallen victim to. It is extremely easy for this to happen to people. The con artists are becoming bolder and as James explains in the video, AI is going to unfortunately play a contributory role.

Two of my close family members have very nearly been scammed, and in one case it was over a matter of months and the sum lost would have been a tidy five figures. It is rife, unfortunately, and the scammers are patient.

A somewhat sad but prudent course of action I heard recently is to assume that every incoming phone call is an attempted scam.

Moving to Purpose FP, now would be a good time to remind everyone of the security measures that we take as a firm:

A premium password manager, which is protected by a password and biometric login.
We will never, ever, send you payment/investment instructions via normal unencrypted email.
We have 2-factor authentication on everything. It’s a bit of a pain getting started in the morning but worth it for obvious reasons.
Antivirus software, Windows Defender, cloud-based systems backed-up with encrypted external hard-drive, etc.
Secure client portal with AES-256 encryption for message and document sharing.
As of now, when discussing withdrawals with clients, I will end the call and call you straight back on a different line to reconfirm.
We will never, ever, call you and ask for your password for a website or bank. If in doubt, hang up the phone and call us directly.

Further suggestions always welcome. Please never hesitate to call me to double check things.

Padel!

Padel is great. If you have a court near you, please give it a try and let me know what you think. I’ve only played it twice but it’s extremely easy to pick up and super social. Played in pairs and not too strenuous, and it’s apparently the fastest growing sport in Europe.

I’m convinced that there is a business opportunity here to do the same thing for golf. Sort of like TopGolf, but on a course, if you know what I mean.

If someone could do that please that’d be grand. I’m far too boring; writing about stuff like the CGT rates across Europe. Much obliged.

Memoir Video

For disclosure, these people aren’t clients, I haven’t used this business, and I’ve never had any contact with them.

They’re a company that will come and visit you in your home, interview you about your life, and create a professional-quality video memento. I like the concept of it; having a timeless high-quality digital record of a loved one.

Memoir Video themselves are based in Glasgow, but there’s a similar firm based in the West Midlands. A nice idea.