Sometimes boring is the way
A surprisingly boring Budget, which was actually quite nice?
I’m late, so there is no blurb today, which is a shame because it’s one of my favourite things to write. But sifting through Budget stuff was the main focus today - honestly, it was a mainly boring Budget, but that is a good thing. How it was presented and received was not good. Comms still remains a terrible feature of this government, but what can we do?
If, however, you are missing my winning personality expressed through words, I started another newsletter. I’ll be writing about what’s going on in my London life, and I published my first post there recently. My subscribers so far are five Russian bots, who all joined me this week. Not sure why but hey ho!
1. The UK Budget - what it means for you
Unsurprisingly, since it’s been speculated on for the last few months, the Budget was the big news this week. For all the messaging about the tax raids (leading to the wealthy pulling money from investments, and rushing to get property purchases finalised) it was relatively sensible. With, dare I say it, limited impact on the readers of this newsletter.
Actions for you!
ISA allowance
This remains at £20,000 per year (until 2030), but with capital gains tax going up from April 2025, it’s important that you move investments that aren’t in an ISA into this tax-free protection wrapper
CGT goes from 10% to 18% for basic-rate earners, and 20% to 24% for higher-rate taxpayers
Remember, you can make £3,000 in capital gains, tax free, but anything over that is taxable
You can shield stocks and shares you already own from tax on future gains by moving them into the wrapper – a process known as bed and Isa, which lots of Isa providers will help you with. However, you will pay stamp duty on shares you move, and might face CGT if you have already made a big gain, so get advice first
Losses can be used to cancel out any gains, thereby reducing the capital gains tax liability. Then you can just rebuy the investments within the ISA to avoid tax on future gains
Stamp duty is going up
If you’re planning on buying in England or Northern Ireland, act now to try to make sure the purchase is complete before changes in stamp duty come in next year.
From April, you will start paying stamp duty on any property priced over £125,000, down from £250,000 now
First-time buyers will have to pay on homes worth more than £300,000 (the figure is currently £425,000)
And you’ll only get first-time buyer relief on homes costing up to £500,000, compared with £625,000 now
Say you buy a house for £295,000. If you buy it after April, you’ll pay £2,000 more in tax. You can use a calculator to work out numbers for yourself, or just follow the basic maths outlined here.
Mortgages are still volatile
If you’re nearing to the end of your current mortgage rate, you can reserve a rate for six months, meaning that you’ll be hedging against any interest rate rises
But volatility doesn’t mean prices are going up only; within hours of the budget, Virgin Money announced rate increases across its fixed mortgage range, while Santander announced it was cutting the cost of its new fixes.
Pension inheritance plans
I’m making the assumption that you are not a wealthy pensioner. But you may have family members who are
Pensions used to be outside of the ‘taxable estate’ and therefore were exempt from inheritance tax (IHT)
Now they’re not, so they will have to be reviewed as part of people’s planning processes (wills, estate planning)
Here’s a calculator you can use to see if you are better or worse off after the budget. You’ll need to input info about your earnings, alcohol and cigarette consumption, and car info (if you have one).
2. Sweden is no longer on the fast track to becoming a cashless society - over Russia security fears
A combination of good high-speed internet coverage, high digital literacy rates, large rural populations and fast-growing fintech industries had put Sweden on a fast track to a future without cash.
But, with cyber attacks linked to pro-Russia groups occurring more, it’s now changed it’s tune.
The Swedish government is sending a booklet out to every household next week— called If Crisis or War Comes — in which the defence ministry advises people to use cash regularly and keep at least a week’s supply in various denominations as well as access to other forms of payment such as bank cards and digital payment services.
“If you can pay in several different ways, you strengthen your preparedness,” it says.
The name of the booklet, and the fact that it's being sent out is wild.
And it’s also really interesting to think about money as something that is purely used for transactional purposes, rather than an asset that you can make grow. That’s the reason we’re encouraged to keep money in bank accounts — it’s the best solution to beating inflation.
But there’s probably some merit in all of us thinking about this. After all, how much cash do you actually have? How far would it get you?
3. How to message recruiters to connect on LinkedIn
Follow companies in your industry and engage with their content on LinkedIn to find recruiters who are doing the same and build your LinkedIn presence
Sending a message early in the week, typically Monday or Tuesday, can help your message be seen before recruiters get deep into mid-week tasks. Avoid Fridays, as messages sent before weekends can often get buried
I’ll add that you should make sure your own LinkedIn is optimised for keywords that will surface your profile in recruiter searches for candidates
There are also some example messages you can use, edit - or run through ChatGPT or Claude.ai - to add your own je ne sais quoi.
Links!
Can one person make a difference? Essentially, why bother doing good, if systemic reform is the only way to affect meaningful change? This is an excellent long-read looking at volunteering, collective action and self-care.
Ghost jobs: why do 40% of companies advertise positions that don’t exist? The answer: To trick overworked employees into believing that help is coming or that they are replaceable and therefore need to work harder, and to make it seem like the company is growing faster than it actually is. There are also people making money from advising job-seekers how to spot adverts for ghost jobs, which has a distinctly dystopian vibe.
A crackdown on subscription “tricks and traps” that take advantage of our free-trial forgetfulness and impatience with lengthy customer service calls. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has introduced a new rule that aims to make subscription-based services as easy to cancel as they are to sign up for - protections kick in in the spring.
The realities of being a woman, and the new requirements of being a nice guy. Saoirse Ronan was on a talk show with generally ‘nice guy’ celebs, having to inform them of a key difference in our lived experiences with men — that is, constantly being on edge in public, and thinking about how we would defend ourselves with the items we have (typically keeping keys in your fist) 🙃
Have an amazing November!
Know someone who would enjoy this in their inbox on a Sunday morning?