Children caring for parents and the impact on everyone’s wealth
Consultation on Domestic Abuse
The government has launched a consultation on domestic abuse, seeking new laws and stronger powers to protect and support survivors.
The Gig Economy
March Market Commentary (archived)
“The first month of 2018 was a good one for the major stock markets which we cover in this Bulletin. We report on 12 markets and 11 of them made gains in January – in some cases, spectacular gains, which many investors would regard as more than adequate for a full year.”
Making the UK safe online!
The Collapse of Carillion – Lessons For Businesses
The collapse of Carillion in January 2018 has already triggered disruption throughout the construction industry. Businesses subcontracted by Carillion will soon feel the effects of the liquidation of the second largest construction company in the UK, with smaller private companies likely to be hit the hardest. The domino effect of the collapse of such a massive company is unfortunately unavoidable at this stage. But what lessons could businesses learn from the fallout of Carillion’s demise?
Help To Buy ISA - How Have They Done?
Recent government statistics have revealed that the Help to Buy ISA scheme is helping first-time buyers to get on the property ladder three years earlier than they otherwise would. The result has been calculated by looking at the average age of first-time buyers both with and without the ISAs. On average, those who use the ISA to buy their first home are three years younger than those who do not, with the median age of those using the Help to Buy ISA being 27.
The General Data Protection Regulations
What do you need to know? The General Data Protection Regulations (‘GDPR’) come in to force on the 25th May 2018 and whilst the Regulations are new, the principles and requirements are not. The GDPR is an overhaul of the Data Protection Act 1998 (‘DPA’), and extends to the processing of personal data of all data subjects in the whole of the EU. Brexit will not prevent businesses from needing to comply with the Regulations. In practice for those businesses that have already been complying fully with the DPA, they should not need to undertake much work to ensure that they are compliant with the GDPR, and will at the very least have the basics in place.
How Social Media Can Fuel A Divorce
Swifter justice for London bus and tube fare dodgers
Property Scam – A Cautionary Tale
It’s a troubling norm of today’s society that most people will have heard a horror story about property fraud from a family member, a colleague from work or simply reading online. Importantly, these stories need to be kept in perspective: remember, the tales of properties being rented and sold without any noteworthy problems are the ones people usually don’t bother sharing! However, it’s also worth taking heed of the negative experiences of others to ensure you do everything you can to avoid falling into similar traps.
How to avoid HMRC scam emails and phone calls
Anyone with an email address is likely to have experienced a scam or phishing communication landing in their inbox, and unfortunately this type of attack is becoming both more frequent and more sophisticated. Sending a message purporting to be from HMRC is a popular method criminals can use to attempt to get hold of personal and financial details. It’s not limited to email either, with hoax text messages, social media communications and telephone calls also being used in order to illegally extract the information needed.
New steps to combat VAT fraud by overseas online sellers
The loss of VAT from the sale of goods online continues to be a problem for HMRC, with the tax losses for 2015-16 from goods sold by overseas businesses but routinely stored and dispatched to UK consumers from within the UK, estimated to be between £1 billion and £1.5 billion. Following HMRC’s consultation, which concluded in March last year, the responses to the idea of ‘split payment’ as a way to tackle the problem show that whilst such a method would bring challenges, there is broad agreement that it is a workable solution.
Will it really improve my retirement if I increase my pension contributions by 1% – or should I just enjoy the money now?
When retirement is decades away, it’s understandable that many people near the start of their working lives don’t give a lot of thought to exactly how much of a difference the amount they pay into their pension will make when they finally come round to needing it. Increasing your pension contribution by 1% might sound so small as to be insignificant, making it tempting to choose to enjoy more of your hard-earned money today rather than putting a little more of it away for years to come. But is that really the case? What difference would putting an extra 1% into your pension actually make?
What exactly is Mifid II and what does it mean for the ordinary investor?
If you’re an investor, it’s likely that you’ll have heard discussions or read reports around the arrival of Mifid II. It’s just as likely that you won’t have had much idea of what Mifid II is or how it might affect you and your investments.