What caught my eye this week.
While it’s been nice to enjoy the Mediterranean weather for the past week – ominous, but nice – we all know Bank Holidays in the UK are a cosmic long con guaranteed to eventually rain on your parade.
By Monday your family and friends will be watching you through the bifold doors as you valiantly cook sausages in the drizzle.
Or you’ll have had enough of the heat and taken to wedging yourself between the open fridge doors.
Or – the biggest prize of all – your sister-in-law will phone to say little Marcus isn’t feeling up to it today (translation: little Marcus got a better offer) and so their BBQ is regrettably cancelled, and so you have a blissful windfall Bank Holiday Monday to do with entirely as you please.
Which, naturally, means cracking out the iPad and a glass of something cool and reading about stock markets, mortgages, and ISAs.
Or – if that sounds too racy for you on a lazy Bank Holiday – what about something on taxes?
Sam Freedman has written a great article for the Financial Times [search result] about how the UK tax code got into such a mess:
This leads to the ridiculous situation where a London family with two children in full-time childcare would need to earn £150,000 before being marginally better off than they were below £100,000.
But once you start looking the incoherence is everywhere. There’s a VAT cliff edge, where companies can earn £90,000 a year before registering to pay the levy, meaning a significant number of small businesses find ways to restrict their growth to avoid going over the threshold.
Companies just over it are at a competitive disadvantage. VAT classifications are often arbitrary and subjective — as illustrated by a court case last year as to whether Walkers Sensations Poppadoms were in fact potato crisps (which are subject to the standard rate) or a non-potato snack, such as Twiglets or Skips, that are zero rated. Annual compliance costs are in the billions of pounds.
Politics, obviously, is largely too blame.
But what can you do about it? Nothing much. Except to start working early on your tax return this weekend instead of dining on burned-up burgers.
Have a great weekend anyway, whatever the weather!
From Monevator
A quick guide to asset classes – Monevator
The natural yield approach to drawdown – Monevator [Mogul members]
From the archive-ator: Holiday strategies to refresh a frugal soul – Monevator
News
Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view click through to read the article. Try privacy/incognito mode to avoid cookies. Consider subscribing to sites you visit a lot.
Home rents hit new high, even as asking prices fall – This Is Money
Millions of people reach retirement age with annual private pension of just £3,650 – IFA
Stamp duty changes knocked house prices in April, says Nationwide – Sky
UK exports suffer worst slump since Covid – This Is Money
The easiest countries to relocate to on a working visa in 2025 – Time Out
Nervous investors piling record amounts into cash, says Hargreaves Lansdown – T.I.M.
US economy shrank 0.3% in first quarter on Trump policy uncertainty… – CNBC
…but Trump blames Biden – NBC [US hiring is still strong anyway]
Significant cohort of UK voters remind us they can’t be trusted with scissors – or even to make a cup of tea – by voting again for Nigel Farage [I paraphrase] – BBC
UK among lowest-ranked countries for ‘human flourishing’, study finds – Guardian
Tourist charged £899 for two packets of sweets by Oxford Street candy store – Standard
Bookings for China-to-US shipping containers have plunged – Sherwood
Products and services
Sub-4% mortgage rates are on the rise… – Which
…with Halifax’s Best Buy two-year fix charging just 3.79%… – This Is Money
…and one lender offering to lend up to seven times your income – The Negotiator
Get up to £1,500 cashback when you transfer your cash and/or investments through this link. Terms apply – Charles Stanley
Vets could face temporary price caps on medicines in competition probe – Sky
Co-operative Bank switch offer: £100 + £75 – Be Clever With Your Cash
US target-date funds deep dive [US but relevant] – Morningstar
Get up to £4,000 when you transfer your ISA to InvestEngine our link. (Minimum deposit of £100, other T&Cs apply. Capital at risk) – InvestEngine
Do you know where your savings are really held? – Which
How the cost of learning to drive in the UK is accelerating – Guardian
NS&I’s one-year fixed rate bond now looks like a steal – This Is Money
Homes for sale with indoor-outdoor space, in pictures – Guardian
Comment and opinion
Vanguard: minimally extractive – Of Dollars and Data
Another retirement blogger retires from blogging – The Retirement Manifesto
Is UK house price growth a thing of the past? [Search result] – FT
A spectacularly under-appreciated 15 years for US stocks – The Big Picture
“I’m 100 and worked until I was 90 – retiring late is the secret to a long life” – i Paper
10% returns in the stock market – A Wealth of Common Sense
A method for maximising memories with money – Tim Maurer
Jonathan Clements: tasting retirement – Humble Dollar
“I won £50,000 then gambled it away in seven days” – BBC
Four key decisions for early retirement – Morningstar
Naughty corner: Active antics
Evidence shows active fund investors trade away some of their returns – Morningstar
The great European rotation – Verdad
Investing amid trade wars [PDF] – Sparkline Capital
The gold investment thesis – Advisor Perspectives
‘Stay humble, stack sats’: Strategy still buying BTC – The Block
Kindle book bargains
Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis – £0.99 on Kindle
The Price of Money by Rob Dix – £0.99 on Kindle
The Great Crashes: Lessons from Global Meltdowns by Linda Yueh – £0.99 on Kindle
Failed State: Why Britain Doesn’t Work by Sam Freedman – £0.99 on Kindle
Or pick up one of the all-time great investing classics – Monevator shop
Environmental factors
Solar panels to be fitted on all new-build homes in England by 2027 – Guardian
How the political consensus on climate change has shattered – BBC
The US can’t win the AI race without renewables – Semafor
People urged not to mow their gardens this May – BBC
Why whale urine is so important to life in the sea – The Conversation
Ozone gas to clean River Teme in UK-first project – BBC
Robot overlord roundup
Duolingo launches 148 courses created with AI despite contractor backlash – TechCrunch
AI versus free will – Life After The Daily Grind
When every employee becomes an agent boss – Tom Tunguz
Our last two moats – More To That
Top VC says AI will replace pretty much all jobs except his, which relies on his unique genius – Futurism
Not at the dinner table
The United States of Amazon – Kyla Scanlon
Breaking the silence – Scott Galloway [“Don’t look at me!” says Amazon]
Trump is the Godfather in reverse – Paul Krugman
The real cost of protectionism – The Pursuit of Happiness
How not to bargain – Drezner’s World
MAGA doesn’t build – Noahpinion
Timeline of how Trump is roiling US science and health – StatNews
Off our beat
Why Margin Call remains Wall Street’s favourite movie – Semafor
Status cheats – The Garden of Forking Paths
The best IKEA hacks of all-time – Standard
Why Trump can’t build iPhones in the US [Cool visuals, search result] – FT
A Ukrainian journalist’s detention and death in a Russian prison – Guardian
Predictions aren’t always about the future – Tim Harford
Date-less? Maybe one of these reasons is why – Don’t Worry About The Vase
FT veteran Martin Wolf on playing whack-a-mole with online fraudsters – FT
Why is Canada’s population so concentrated? – Uncharted Territories
And finally…
“It is only necessary to be six inches taller than the other people in a room to see above everyone’s heads.”
– Jim Slater, The Zulu Principle
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