Tax tips, cash funds and Sandwiches

Today I’m just sifting through the best-selling funds across major platforms in November. What are investors up to? We’ll share the full write-up next week, but there is an interesting new face in the pack, alongside the usual global funds, a resurgence of Investment Trust 3i and Nvidia (still). The new face? Lots of Money Market funds.

Namely, the abrdn Sterling Money Market fund, the Fidelity Cash fund, the L&G Cash Trust, and the Royal London Short Term Money Market fund. These cash-like babies are popular for any investors that either want a short-term cash park for their money, which is better than the sometimes-limp interest paid by platforms on any uninvested cash inside your Stocks & Shares ISA. They can alternatively be used by those who drip-feed into markets periodically to smooth out the price you buy in at.

Or they can be a very intentional asset allocation decision by people who worry that the markets are a bit overpriced and want to take some downside risk off the table. (This is just a posh way of saying some people who have the heebie-jeebies about markets tanking a bit have moved a bit of their money from more spicy stuff to this smoother cash-like stuff).

Money Market funds are also under the spotlight as an unintended consequence of last week’s Budget, in which the Cash ISA limit (from April 2027) was reduced to £12,000 for the under 65s. The Treasury has subsequently noted that there will be no transfers from Stocks & Shares ISAs to Cash ISAs allowed AND tests to determine whether things can be held in a S&S ISA or are ‘cash like’, which would probably prevent all of the pretty sensible behaviours outlined above. We haven’t heard the end of this…

From Tax Tips…

I’ve had a busy week charging around. On Monday, we hosted a post-Budget webinar with a guest financial planner from RBC Wealth Management (thanks to Michelle Holgate). We covered pensions and inheritance tax along with savings, dividends, and capital gains tax. And strategies for making more of your money - if you know the tips and techniques. For those of you who couldn’t join, there’s a brilliant summary with snippets of the webinar to watch.

On Tuesday, I met the CEO of Hargreaves Lansdown for a catch-up and chat on what 2026 has in store. The DIY investor market is booming as more Brits take the plunge. And on Wednesday, I went to News UK HQ to join a session with The Times journos (sponsored by Netwealth) aimed at helping the ‘Sandwich Generation’ to make more of their money. Hint: you know you’re in the Sandwich Generation if you’ve had a conversation with parents about backs/hips/ears/downsizing in the last month and with your kids about screen time/the flipping Reading Festival!

… To Sandwich Money

There are lots of different money conversations flying around for the Sandwich bunch. The adult children with children themselves. Parents downsizing. Property, tax, and lasting powers of attorney. And kids becoming increasingly expensive with potential uni fees down the track. Junior ISAs were left alone in the Budget (£9,000 per nipper per year), and one grandfather shared that he was paying into a Junior SIPP for his grandkids, which I think is arguably the most selfless act out there. One CEO of an asset manager I know set one up for his kids and just has a direct debit set up to chip into an S&P 500 tracker, which he sees as a pretty good proxy for global growth and capitalism over the coming decades.

It's also vital for the sandwich filling to look after itself! I shared tips on how to use pension contributions to bring an adjusted income down to make sure you can maximise child benefits (top tip for those earning between £60,000 and £80,000, who become liable to pay the High Income Benefit Charge) and ideas for higher earners hovering around the £100k mark where punitive tax rates kick in and you lose childcare allowances for pre-schoolers. It also reminded me that any non-working parent should claim childcare benefits in their name to maintain National Insurance credits and boost their future State Pension.

All Sandwichers can watch the session here.

No rest for the wicked. I’ve an exciting week coming up – but more on that next week. Have a great weekend, everyone. High tide is at midday tomorrow, and I’m due a little jump in the sea to brush those cobwebs away. (No, I don’t wear a wetsuit, but the woolly hat has come out!)

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