Are you in the Broad Shoulder Brigade?

This week Rachel Reeves fired up the budget rumour mill by saying that those with the “broadest shoulders” should pay their “fair share” of taxes.

Just as Keir Starmer stirred the pot when he confused us all about whether we were “working people” or not, we’re now busy wondering how broad we are.

Are you an financial American footballer or a skinny waif?

According to the Office for National Statistics, the median household disposable income was £36,700 last year. The richest fifth had a median income of £71,000. Numbers are higher for those who live in London.

Graduate salaries average around £29,000. According to Zoopla, the average house price in the UK was £271,000 in August 2025 and £764,600 in the central London borough of Camden.

If we assume the average buyer pays a 20% deposit and takes out a mortgage, borrowing 4 times their total household earnings, they would need to earn about £55,000 to buy the average house. In Camden (my old stomping ground about 20 years ago, and let me tell you it wasn’t that posh back then!), you’d need this to be well over £100,000 household income.

You see the problem. More people who might think they are a size Medium are being treated like an XL, being dragged into the Broad Shoulders Brigade, paying more and more tax as frozen thresholds bite and people struggle to get their first property.

Budget Burdens

We know some of the most worried are those coming up to retirement, who have already seen changes to Inheritance Tax move the goalposts. I tackled the tax-free cash question in my blog a few weeks ago for those who missed it. I’m also chairing a 'Get Budget Ready' webinar for the Telegraph at 12pm on 28th October, with contributors from Netwealth, which will tackle all things tax, Budget, pensions, interest rates and more. Please join us if you’d like.

Meanwhile, as we await our tax fate this November, the perennially popular Cash ISA is also potentially in the firing line. The latest rumours are that our annual maximum allowance in this tax-free savings account might be slashed from £20,000 a year to £10,000 a year. Why? The Chancellor is on a Growth mission, and wants (rightly, I think) to encourage more Brits to invest in the stock market.

However, going about this by cutting the Cash ISA allowance is not going to work. Cash is a vital part of anyone’s financial picture, providing a sensible way to manage our shorter-term needs and also supporting those saving with time horizons under 5 years who need certainty.

To think that people will see a limit on their cash options and respond by marching over to the stock market is like saying that I would order a pint of Guinness in my local if they ran out of Pinot Grigio. I wouldn’t! We can’t create a nation of investors with a cash stick – we need the carrot of better content, more education, easier tools and better incentives. #getsonsoapbox

All that glitters…

The stock market is continuing its sizzling run and valuations remain sky-high. At the same time, there are nerves and jitters out there. Gold is at record levels which tells me that some are freaking out.

Why? Gold is solid. You can bite it. Stick it under the bed. (Don’t!) Keep it safe when global leaders are hurling insults and behaving erratically. Using gold as a safe haven in politically turbulent times, or times when other assets seem overheated, is not a new idea. People hoarded gold coins during the fall of the Roman Empire and used it in the Second World War as local currencies broke down. The modern day equivalent of hiding gold coins in your sporran is to buy an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). Some of the best-selling funds in September on retail platforms included both gold and silver ETFs. (Note of caution – valuations are high so take this as food for thought, not any intended nudge to buy).

For those looking for diversification beyond the punchy tech story and gold, we have new pieces this week on the European banking sector (can it keep doing well as rates are tipped to fall?) and Japan.

Have a great weekend, everyone. I'm back doing my Winter sea swimming and this year I’m sticking my head under too! Brrr. 🥶💪

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