Election money, tax tips and ask me your questions

This week the European Central Banks cut rates there for the first time in 5 years, house price growth is flat and King Charles III banknotes enter circulation. And of course, the election roars into life as the wallflower that is Mr Farage leaps into action, back for attempt 8 like the tenacious third mole from the left in Clacton Pier’s Whack-A-Mole.

House prices fell by 0.1% in May after rising by 0.1% in April, and the average house now costs £289,000. Mortgage deals suggest that interest rates will stay higher for longer than we thought last year, and the average rate for a 2-year fix is now 5.95%, according to Moneyfacts. If we look at what the Money Big Cheeses are up to, they have factored in a cut in November although it could come sooner in August. No-one knows for sure.

Labour has promised support for first-time buyers by making the mortgage guarantee scheme permanent – this supports the availability of mortgages with low deposits with a snappy new name which sounds like a Wham! song - Freedom to Buy. And the Conservatives have focussed on council tax, saying they won’t muck around with bands or revaluations, although they won’t go as far as promising a cut.

The promises are coming thick and fast now, before full manifestos are published, and this week we’ve pulled together some of the latest on what you might expect around school fees and VAT, inheritance tax, the pensions lifetime allowance and more. No sooner did we publish this yesterday, than there is a new promise from the Conservatives on child benefit this morning.

Current rules are based on the highest earning parent – and the benefit you get reduces for every £ earned by the highest earner above £60,000 and stops entirely at £80,000. Mr Sunak has said this will move to a household income calculation, rather than a calculation based only on the highest earner. And so it’s now £120,000 per household (i.e. the total of both parents’ incomes), which is a much fairer way of assessing eligibility, although is likely to present some admin challenges for HMRC. By the way – effort-free money earning alert - if you're a non-earning parent and your working spouse claims the benefit, STOP and read this! You’re missing out on valuable pension credits.

The world is a pretty confusing place at the moment, and the election, high tax take, geopolitical uncertainty and the age-old question of whether the US tech-led market can keep up its seemingly unassailable growth, present many questions. New research from us shows that just 21% of investors have a financial adviser. So quite a lot of us are still muddling through without help. If you’re thinking about looking for an adviser, this article has some helpful tips on what to consider. Or this week’s blog sponsor, True Potential, are suggesting a free call with an adviser to discuss your goals – if the timing is right, I don’t think it ever hurts to hear what someone has to say, and many advisers will expect to have an initial free chat with prospective clients.

But if you’re not in the market for advice, and have a burning generic question, please email me. This helps me to keep in touch with what you want to know, and helps our content team know what to focus on.

We have nearly 50,000 readers, so I may well not be able to reply to everyone (that is me, managing expectations!) And please don’t email me any account details, specific financial circumstances, or questions about your detailed numbers, because I can’t give personalised financial advice and it gives me a hernia when the more trusting amongst you email me your account details. But tell me what you want to know more about? Tax? Decent funds? The outlook for tech stocks? Saving for a flat? Best cash accounts? Questions on specific funds or regions? Inheritance tax? How to drink more wine and still spring out of bed like a baby?

I can help with about 7 of those! Have a great weekend everyone. And thank you so much to everyone who sent me lovely messages about Mog last week, I was so touched. You are a lovely lot x.

Holly

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