Brand new energy
Also, Happy New Tax Year! We cover salary sacrifice, ISA changes - and helping a friend in financial trouble.
If you’re reading this on Substack, you may have noticed our new branding 👀
And. very excitingly, we also now have a new website 🎉🪩
I’ve been meaning to build this for months. But yesterday, I went to a WeWork and spent several hours there just focused on this.
It was so energising having that time solely dedicated to working on it, rather than slotting Money Brunch work in and around everything else I’m doing.
So it was timely that I saw this on TikTok this week from a creator I love.
He does daily fashion industry news summaries - and shared four tips for being productive, creating a sustainable life, and working a full-time job and a side hustle. I thought these might be helpful to some of you, regardless of whether or not you have two jobs, in the context of avoiding burnout:
Take one day a week where you do absolutely nothing
Don’t work on a 24 hour cycle - be intentional about how you spend your time e.g.:
Work 9.30 - 5.30
Take a break, have dinner etc
Then work two hours in the evening where you’re solely focused on your other job
Take holidays regularly (long weekends are a vibe)
Have some ‘me time’ in the morning to set your energy for the day
1. Salary sacrifice: how to take home more by getting paid less 🧭
There are three key things you need to know about salary sacrifice:
It involves moving some of your pre-tax salary into a non-cash based benefit, which reduces how much tax you pay overall
It’s a government-backed scheme and works for pensions, car purchases and bike purchases
Not every employer offers it (large employers are way more likely to do this than smaller companies) - but you should ask, and see if they might change this, as there are benefits for them too)
It’s definitely worth looking at if you’re at the top of a tax bracket and close to moving into the next one. It’s also worth exploring if you have a child, and are at risk of losing child benefit (i.e. if you earn over £60,000).
Once you decide to go ahead, you enter into a contract with your employer. There are ways to exit this contract early (e.g. if your circumstances change) but check the details.
As always, make sure you make an informed decision before going ahead with anything!
2. Five ISA changes that have come in with the new tax year 🎊
The most relevant points:
You can open and pay into multiple ISAs of the same type (previously, you could only have one cash and one stocks and shares ISA each year)
You can transfer part of your ISA to another provider (before, you had to transfer the whole thing)
The new rules are not mandatory. For example, some banks and building societies may continue to not let you open more than one cash ISA with them in the same tax year
3. ‘My friend is in financial trouble. How should I help her?’ 🫂
I love pieces like these, that dig into the grey areas that make up life.
The advice in summary (in case you can’t get behind the paywall):
Listen to your friend - like really listen, and provide emotional support
Spend time with her, in a way that doesn’t cost her any money (go to her apartment with dinner, go for a walk, spend a day co-working at your place etc)
If you do gift money, make sure that you only give what you’re comfortable never getting back, no strings attached
It’s the time for new beginnings - it’s the start of the new tax year, and spring! Hope you have an energising week, and see you next week 💜
Know someone who would enjoy this in their inbox on a Sunday morning?