Record numbers of homeowners have made a new year’s resolution to sell their property. Rightmove’s latest House Price Index for January shows average asking prices have increased by the largest amount for this month since 2020 as estate agents and property sellers start the new year in a bullish mood. It comes as buyers try … Read more
Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Savills) The Grange, Robins Lane, Lolworth, Cambridge. An extended and modernised Grade II-listed Victorian house with a gym and fitness facilities that include a steam room and infrared saunas. It has herringbone floors, period fireplaces and a breakfast kitchen with an Aga. 7 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3 receptions, study, … Read more
One of the most controversial measures revealed in the Autumn Budget was an increase to employers’ National Insurance (NI). Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that employers’ contributions would increase from 13.8% to 15% from April 2025. The threshold at which businesses begin paying the tax on an employee’s salary will also drop from £9,100 per year … Read more
A couple earning $500,000 a year should feel rich, right? That’s top 2% territory in America—plenty of cash to save, invest, and splurge on the finer things in life. Or so you’d think. But when I dive into the financial lives of high-income households, the reality often doesn’t match the perception. Take, for example, this … Read more
Ahead of his inauguration, Donald Trump engaged in some sabre-rattling. Not against America’s enemies, though, but three close allies: Denmark, Canada and Panama. Trump’s musings about absorbing Canada as the 51st US state were mostly treated as bombastic posturing. But his threat to annexe Greenland – a self-governing territory of Denmark – spooked European allies. … Read more
Ask anyone in Louisiana who makes the best gumbo and the answer will be “my momma”. “Gumbo” derives from the West African word for the okra that was brought to Louisiana by the early enslaved people and used to thicken the soup. Its culinary origins reflect French, Spanish, Acadian (early French settlers from Canada), Native … Read more
Mortgage lending rules could be relaxed to help more first-time buyers onto the property ladder and boost the economy. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been seeking ideas from financial regulators on how to boost the economy amid concerns about the UK’s prospects due to higher taxes announced in the Autumn Budget. It comes as UK GDP … Read more
In the face of criticism for travelling to China amid domestic “financial market turmoil”, chancellor Rachel Reeves insisted at a press conference in Beijing on 11 January that she would stick to the fiscal rules set out in the Budget in October, says Politico. Reeves wants to revive economic ties with China after “years of … Read more
Over the past month, a steady stream of reports on the investment outlook for 2025 has arrived in my inbox. Compiled by the top analysts at the likes of JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, SocGen and BNP Paribas, the reports, which can run up to 100 pages, try to distil the … Read more
The housing market finished last year on a “firm footing”, with a rise in house sales and new buyer enquiries, according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) survey. House prices increased in every region of the UK last month, with Northern Ireland and Scotland reporting the strongest price growth. The RICS survey, … Read more