Two posts for the price* of one
*An expression, rather than a literal price :)
Yesterday was the last Money Brunch of 2024. It was a big turnout, and truly electric.
We covered a lot!
Spending over the festive period
How we can design work in a better way
Setting our own metrics for success
Some examples and pathways for building multiple income — and fulfilment — streams
Our intentions for next year
I’ve written up what we discussed here.
1. One in six women in the UK has experienced financial abuse by a current or former partner
Financial abuse often occurs at a number of key moments over an individual’s life — and this increases the victim’s loss of agency. Key moments include moving in with a partner and having a child. “The coercive nature of economic abuse means that abusers use these self-same moments to destabilise women, creating confusion about care and control, and then exploit them.”
😟
Common behaviours include:
Checking up on your spending – such as examining your credit card or bank statements;
Making you feel guilty or ashamed for spending money on yourself or on activities with your friends;
Trying to limit the work you do – whether the type of job, or the hours you work;
Restricting your access to money, credit cards and resources;
Refusing to contribute to their share of bills or household expenses;
Incurring debt in joint names, or your sole name, which they use for their own purposes; and
Placing ownership of joint assets such as the family home in their sole name.
How to help someone experiencing financial abuse
Express concern. Let them know you are there for them but try not to ask too many questions or force a response. Check in on them regularly and ensure they know that help is available. Have information readily available when you speak to them.
Be mindful of your communication with them on all platforms. Remember, financial abuse is about control and it's likely the perpetrator is listening in and reading messages.
Provide practical help where you can. This could be offering a spare room, use of your car, money or helping put a plan of action together.
Related to this, Gina Miller (known for suing the Government over the implementation of Brexit) also launched a campaign this week about financial abuse and the gender pension gap.
2. Half of UK mortgage holders could see their payments increase over the next three years - but they’re better equipped for this
About 4.4 million mortgage holders are expected to see payments rise by 2027, including £500-per-month hikes for around 420,000 households.
But:
About a quarter of borrowers are set to see payments fall
Households are better equipped to cope with mortgage repayments than predicted earlier this year
This is taken from a Bank of England reviewing financial stability in the UK — basically, it’s saying that we’re broadly financially stable. Let’s see, eh?
3. If you’re under 45, your life chances and opportunities are increasingly determined by your access to the Bank of Mum and Dad, not by what you earn or learn
The concept of the Bank of Mum and Dad came into our vocabulary shortly after the 2008 financial crash. Young people needed their parents’ support to move up the financial ladder as it was no longer feasible to do it alone.
Today, ‘parental earnings are a much stronger predictor of incomes for those born in the 1970s and after, than they were for previous generations.’
This isn’t surprising; we know it’s harder for someone to go from having no wealth, to having a strong financial foundation. And this is primarily due to the increased cost of buying houses as a multiple of your salary, coupled with far lower increases (appreciation) of house prices.
The long and short is that it’s going to take some time for this to change.
Of course, this piece doesn’t take into consideration having a less individualistic approach when it comes to families, and thinking about them as interlinked units. It positions kids as having an almost parasitic approach to parents, with parents the unwilling host. But don’t parents want their kids to thrive, and kids for their parents to be happy? What about care and other support, where does this go in the equation?
And how does this track across wealth percentiles?
Perhaps someone will investigate this too…
LINKS!
Money
How do you hire a trusted tradesperson, when Checkatrade customers have lost thousands of pounds to dodgy ‘rogue traders’? Probably shop around. Ask for referrals from neighbours and people you know living in the area. Try other platforms for quotes too. I also like TaskHer.
Please stop celebrating Small Business Saturday. It’s just an ad for American Express.
Other reads
“I moved from a country with almost no inflation to the country with the highest.” Inflation looks like huge wads of cash stuffed into backpacks, ever-changing menu prices, and an illegal trade of US dollars.
Two policewomen in India have reunited 104 children and minors with their families in just 9 months. “We don’t have fixed duty hours. Whenever we receive information about missing kids, we just leave our homes,” Hooda told the Times. “There are days when I don’t see my kids,” she smiled. 🦸♀️🦸♀️
Ringtones have proved to be an immortal business. But who makes money off them is a mystery. You might think the ringtone is dead. You’d be wrong.
A terrific review of Bridget Jones’ Diary from someone watching it for the first time.
“It almost has all the faults all at once” - a review of former England footballer John Terry’s wine. This made me laugh a lot.
Had to cram in a lot of writing this morning (two posts!) so apologies for the delay. We’re getting closer back to normal programming :)
Know someone who would enjoy this in their inbox on a Sunday morning-ish?
Well thank you very much for the shout out! I’m very glad you enjoyed