February and March news from your local Financial Planner

February and March news from your local Financial Planner:

• The FTSE 100 hit a new high of 8,600 on 30^th
• In a parliamentary debate brought about by the Liberal Democrats, MPs voted that the government should pay compensation to the so called “WASPI women” for underpaid pensions. The government has so far refused to pay the compensation despite it being recommended by the Ombudsman.
• 5 million people submitted tax returns by the 31^{st of} January deadline. But 1.1 million people missed the deadline. The penalty for late submission is £100. Then £10 a day after 3 months up to £900. After that, the fines rise to 5% of the tax due.
• But some good news, HMRC is lowering the late penalty interest charge from 4.75% to 4.5%!
• The Bank of England cut base rate by 0.25% down to 4.5%.
• Average house prices in the UK have hit a new high of £299,138. In the North West the average house price is now up to £178,696. That’s 3% growth in 2024. Increases in Stamp Duty in April are expected to slow growth this year.
• From 1^st April the Financial Ombudsman Service will introduce a £250 fee for Claims Companies to submit a claim for assessment. £175 will be refunded if the claim is successful. It will continue to be free for members of the public to submit a claim direct.
• The economy grew by 0.1% in the last three months of 2024.
• The rate of unemployment remained at 4.4% at the end of 2024. Overall, there were 75% of people between 16 and 64 in employment. The number of people receiving unemployment benefits rose to 1.75 million, however.
• Average earnings rose by 5.9% at the end of 2024. That means that real wage growth for the year after inflation was 2.5%.
• The overall value of house in the UK has now topped £9 trillion! It grew by £350 billion last year alone.
• Investors are also holding over £7 trillion in retail investments and pensions.
• Inflation jumped from 2.5% to 3% at the end of January, much higher than the Bank of England had expected.
• Only 6,000 financial planners in the UK are women. That’s less than 20% of the total. Over 30% of mortgage advisors however are women.
• Total tax receipts to HMRC were £720 billion for the 9-month period from April 2024 to January 2025. An increase in taxes of £23 billion over the previous 9-month period.
• Of that total 1% or £7 billion came from Inheritance Tax, but this set to increase considerably.
• The FCA has looked into concerns that some of the biggest financial planner firms were not providing their clients with reviews at the right time despite clients paying monthly fees. However, the regulator found that 83% of reviews had been conducted properly and time. Of those who didn’t have a review it was because the clients didn’t want a review or didn’t respond to requests.
• St James Place (SJP) once again tops the list of worst performing funds, taking both first and second place. Time to talk to a local Financial Planner?
• Bad news for home buyers. Rightmove estimates that 75,000 home buyers are going to miss the 31^{st of} March completion deadline, due to delays in conveyancing matters. That means that they will incur increased stamp duty rates. This is estimated to bring in another £140 million in tax revenues.
• A crypto fraudster has been sentenced to 4 years for a £2.5 million crypto ATM fraud. Please be careful with anything crypto related.
• The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) received almost 70,000 complaints in the last quarter of 2024. Thankfully only 1,200 were complaints about pensions provided by a local Financial Planner, less than 2% of the overall total. Even less, only 400 complaints were received about investments.
• According to Scottish Widows 20% of women don’t know where to find a local female financial adviser. Just Google female financial adviser and click on the link to our website. You’ll find on the first page. Christina and the team would be happy to help.
• According to SJP the level of household wealth has risen by over 10% this year and now stands at an average of £125,000. That is based on the value of investments, savings and possessions. Despite this 30% said that they felt worse off than the year before.
• Over £3 billion was withdrawn from investment and savings accounts in January 2025, compared to £2.3 billion which was invested into UK accounts in December.
• The income threshold for self-assessment is to increase from £1,000 to £3,000. But not until 2029. That will reportedly help 300,000 taxpayers.
• House prices fell by 0.1% in February.
• GDP fell by 0.1% in January.
• It might be time to speak to your local Financial Planner if you are one of the people whose savings are earning less than half of the current Bank of England base rate of 4.5%. Apparently over £1.3 trillion in cash is being held in these low interest accounts. Time to make your money work harder for you.
• 30% of people had the same savings account for the last 10 years, never thinking about switching and 50% of people don’t even know what rate of interest they are getting on their savings.
• The latest Vouched For Guide to the Top-rated local Financial Planners in 2025, features 2,633 advisors this year. We are proud to have featured in the guide since it started back in 2014, and we are still there.
• The Bank of England held base rate at 4.5% in March.
• Taxes continue to rise. PAYE and National Insurance has risen by £12.6 billion in the last 12 months. Capital Gains Tax has risen by £15.5 billion and Inheritance Tax by over £1 billion.
• 34% more people left the UK to live abroad in the six months after the election last year than the six months before it. Favourite destinations included Spain, France, USA, Australia, Italy and the UAE.
• The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has changed the way it calculates wealth, in particular how it calculates the values of pension schemes. This has led to a significant reduction in its estimates of the UK’s household wealth down from its previous estimate of £6.4 trillion to £4.2 trillion. In particular the wealth of 65- to 75-year-olds has been downgraded by 38%.
• Still, the average 45- to 55-year-old holds just under £35,000 in cash savings according to Just Group. 10% of those hold over £100,000 in cash deposits. Nearly 50% thought that owning and investing in shares was risky. Perhaps they should talk to their local Financial Planner to understand how investments work.
• Inflation fell to 2.8% in the 12 months to the end of February.
• In the Spring Statement the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) downgraded this year’s growth forecast by 50%, from 2% down to 1%. Things are likely to get worse before they get better.