Weekend reading: Roll with it
≡ Menu
The Latest Articles
Essential Reading
Better Investing
Property Posts
Get Money Motivated
Monevator is a place for my thoughts on money and investing. Read our disclaimer. Subscribe to get all our free posts via email. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or via RSS. You can also send us a message.
Copyright © 2007-2026 Monevator. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer: When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. All content is for informational purposes only. I make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, suitability or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors or omissions or any damages arising from its display or use. Full disclaimer and privacy policy. This site uses cookies and features affiliate links.
Comments on this entry are closed.
Re stamp duty: how do stop homeowners cashing in by just increasing the asking price by the stamp duty reduction?
Re VWRL price reduction: that will save me 2k a year but as I am in the 69.5% Scottish tax trap zone that’s equivalent to 5k gross earnings from work, so that’s nice
@TI… Surely Hull and Huddersfield as comparisons should have been Hull and Halifax as in the Thieves’ Litany…
There is a proverb and a prayer withall,
That we may not to three strange places fall;
From Hull, from Hell, from Halifax, ’tis this,
From all these three, Good Lord, deliver us.
This praying proverb’s meaning to set down,
Men do not wish deliverance from the town;
The town’s named Kingston, Hull’s the furious river;
And from Halifax’s dangers, I say, Lord, deliver.
At Halifax, the law so sharp doth deal,
That whoso more than 13 pence doth steal;
They have a gyn that wondrous, quick and well,
Sends thieves all headless unto Heaven or Hell.
From Hell each man says Lord, deliver me.
Because from Hell can no redemption be.
Men may escape from Hull and Halifax,
But sure in Hell, there is not heaier tax.
Let each one for themselves in this agree,
And pray – from Hell, Good Lord, deliver me
JimJim
Devolution ? Maybe I am getting old but going back 40 years and this problem was recognised, trying to push growth and wealth to the regions. That’s why various goverment departments are in Newcatle, South Wales, Liverpool etc.
Problem is growth is organic. Manchester, Sheffield, Swansea all grew because money was generated there through coal and whatever. Pushing surplus funds towards them doesn’t compensate for the change in terms of trade.
So I think it’s Cnut exercise.
He’s rearranging the deck chairs because there isn’t much he really can do I think, constrained between gilt yields and expectations, so the most helpful thing can do is high visible cheap stuff, busywork.
The savings from energy vat should be enough to buy a cream egg a week!
If welfare is indexed to inflation but tax thresholds are not, there’s a growing disincentive. It pushes up the market rate for labour, makes us uncompetitive, that’s why we lost industry to countries without the same welfare. Welfare also props up rents etc, creating underlying demand, which is hard to compete against. As tax becomes a larger part of every transaction, the odds of a wage rise ever exceeding your personal inflation rate after tax is lower – the cost of living problem is down to the tax burden
Speaking here from devolved Scotland managed/mismanaged decline is my feeling
Cannot build a Ferry Boat(we have lots of islands),higher rates of tax than rest of U.K. (no incentive to progress much over a £50000 job as the extra just goes in tax) ,lowest education standards in U.K. (only just rejoined international audit systems),most people work for government or councils (relatively good salaries,low expectations,little accountability,bomb proof pensions etc) not good for business
All subsidised by a stream of never ending English gold
The less said about our current crop of politicians-Sturgeon et al the better
Their travails are well known -public are rather disillusioned
Devolution at the moment just appears to add another layer ( many layers?) of well paid rather ineffective “leaders”
However Scotland appears to be pulling off the Commonwealth games successfully at the moment albeit it’s a cut down tournament (no money) not available to the public via our £180+ BBC TV-thank goodness for Amazon and HBO
That’s enough from me!
xxd09
Post-Brexit, the UK has lost critical mass so a big idea of splitting it into even smaller parts that can compete with each other because they are too small to compete outside the UK doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. You end up with French style Régions – meaningless constructions fighting each other for subsidies. The admin overhead means it is not even a zero sum game and potentially you end up with ugly examples of self-interest as regularly featured in Private Eye.
Secure our Energy /Water infrastructure and food chain (i.e. don’t kill off farming) as a national priority. Deal with organised criminality. Introduce a paid National Service (not necessarily military) to build community and nationhood, recognising that desk-based employment opportunities will become more scarce.
Messing about with tax rates, pensions etc without doing the above invites a bigger correction downstream. I don’t think the current crop of politicians across any party have the talent to deliver on this as a whole but I live in hope that decent people with talent continue to take their turn and eventually we get a capable Government.
It doesn’t feel like there’s much to be positive about at the moment.
I’m certain my cohort will have the screw turned even tighter on tax. Personally I’ve had enough and it’s already knocked any further aspiration out of me. My goals now are how quickly I can get comfortable with a lower income and wind things back.
@TI if this reads as too personal please feel free to edit / delete it.
Meaningful Money hit the nail on the head about time.
Long story short, when I thought that I was Coast FIRE I quit a well compensated contracting gig in the City to retrain and then teach English in Japan.
Back in the UK, IT again but as a permie, the idea that Japan could have waited crossed my mind. We should have made bank for a few more years before IR35 finally bit, been nearer fat FIRE and then gone on an adventure.
I am fortunate because a life changing cancer diagnosis confirmed that we had made the right choice to go when we did. I am on the mend but still 3-5 years of monitoring ahead of me. I shall be pushing 60 before travel insurance is less than £3k pa (and that’s excluding the USA!).
There is a season in life for all things and whatever else happens, see your GP if something doesn’t feel right!
What on earth was the question if the answer is more politicians and civil servants.
People with ideas and drive create growth so Govt, should, as far as is possible, get out of their way and concentrate on the important things that support growth, education, abundant cheap energy and observation of the rule of law. You could also argue for a flat 10% rate of income tax, Sales tax, IHT and simplification of the tax code.