‘Inflation remains unchanged’

Jun 21, 2023 | Economy, Inflation

An independent (financial adviser’s) view

As inflation remains unchanged and interest rates head up again, there’s ‘no hope on the horizon for hard-pressed households’. And why would there be, as ‘if it ain’t hurting, it ain’t working’. Through-the-roof mortgage payments may ruin lives, but the fact that no one can afford to buy stuff (no one not including those without mortgages and with index-linked pensions) means that prices should come down because companies will still want to sell that same stuff. The flip side of that is that, if you are one of those without a mortgage, money in the bank earning a lot more than it did a year ago and investments recovering apace and an index-linked income, you can still afford to go out and inflate the economy, holiday in Madeira and pay your electricity bill. Which may seem a tax unfair to some.

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“Record year for annuity sales driven by advisers”

“Record year for annuity sales driven by advisers”

I was asked this week whether annuities are now ‘a good investment’. They’ve been recommended very rarely in recent years, since ‘pension freedoms’ allowed pretty much unlimited drawdown on pension funds and anything left to be passed on to beneficiaries free of Inheritance Tax.