We have written here before – several times before – that merging National Insurance (NI) and income tax would be an honest thing for a government to do. There is no special insurance fund in …
Why simplifying our tax system is just too complicated
Category: Blog
Transparent, simple and honest – why is it so hard to find a firm that’s all three?
I spoke early this morning at the BNY Mellon Executive Woman’s Symposium. The theme was Trust, Transparency and Technology, and just before the event kicked off someone asked me where I think trust in the …
Forget HS2 – HS3 is a much better idea
A few months ago I had to travel from Edinburgh to Liverpool for work. It was utterly miserable. That was partly down to the fact that the event I was attending didn’t go very well …
Separatism: it can be good and it can be bad, but it is what it is
Readers, help me out here. I used the word ‘separatist’ on Twitter today to describe the Scots who intend to vote for independence in the referendum in September. It’s the word I usually use to describe …
A state-backed equity release scheme should be compulsory for asset rich, cash poor pensioners
Retired? Asset rich and cash poor? Too much property, not enough pension? Good news. An awful lot of brains are looking into solutions for your problems. I wrote here earlier this week about equity release …
Scotland: more in common with the Faroe Islands than you think?
One of the interesting things about the Scottish referendum on independence is the fascinating historical detail it keeps throwing up. The separation of Norway and Sweden in 1905 is a case in point. Scottish separatists …
The 1,000 diggers ‘buried’ beneath London
Here is a must-read article for you about London houses. You’ll have heard about the way in which the rich are digging down to create basements and super basements under their houses. You’ll have heard about …
Why we shouldn’t exempt the family home from inheritance tax
I’m completely bemused by this article in the Times today. It has London’s deputy mayor on housing, Richard Blakeway, saying that one of the reasons older people won’t downsize from large houses is because they …
Whatever Neil Woodford’s record, there’s no guarantee his new fund will perform
I can’t take much more of Neil Woodford. He’s been promoting his new fund – the Woodford Equity Income Fund – absolutely relentlessly over the last few weeks. That has meant lots of press releases offering …
We should do more to encourage institutional investors to hold stocks for the long term
There has been much talk over the years in the UK about how to make shareholders think more long term than they do at the moment. In his presentation at the MoneyWeek conference a few …