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Savings and Investments thread
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Spot on.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.4 -
The article was based on pensions and property predominantly. It doesn’t surprise me in London and the south east. A decent 3 bed semi and a pension pot of £350k would easily take you over £1m.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.
on the NI point I think it’s long overdue scrapping it, it’s not really ring fenced anymore. On that basis I agree, just add it to one income tax.1 -
And who froze the thresholds, not Starmer or Reeves, it might have been someone who cut the National Insurance when we couldn’t afford it. Has more to do with fourteen years of mismanagement than lack of backbone.blackpool72 said:
Pensioners are already falling into being taxed due to the threshold being frozen.Huskaris said:Take 2% off NI and put it on income tax is something I can get behind.
Putting 2% on the basic rate of tax will only hurt them further.
What Starmer and Reeves should do is face down the left wing back benchers and cut the enormous amount that is being wasted on welfare and various other public sectors.
They won't do this though as Starmer has no backbone and he is going to have to go back on Labour's promise not to put up taxes for the working man.9 -
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.What taxes are “avoided”? Dividends tax has basically made up the difference between PAYE and Ltd company, add to that IR35. There is basically no tax advantage to being self employed or running your own business anymore. Quite literally the last people we should be going after are small enterprises. No one deals in cash anymore - there’s a whole thread on CL bitching about this.
if you know people committing benefits fraud you should be reporting them. As you say - it’s a drain on the taxpayer.4 -
When I worked for Lloyds Bank in central London I had a 3 bed semi in Bexley that cost me £320,000. My colleagues working in Halifax could buy an equivalent property for about £140,000. The London cost of living (including train) was considerably higher, than in Halifax. The point being they earned the same salary as I did. However, their disposable income to live the high live was far greater than mine.Diebythesword said:
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.Now their Halifax property is £280,000 and mine is £640,000. With equal pension assets, I am rich and they are not. I should be heavily taxed and they shouldn’t.When I die, my kids will lose £hundreds thousands in IHT. Theirs won’t.So whilst having to pay so much more to buy a home, interest on mortgage and pure living costs compared to them. I am the one paying all the rich man’s Tax.3 -
Because cuts have got us so far in the last 15 years. On welfare UC was brought in as a cut and has had at least 6 full or partial cuts to it since. PIP also introduced as a cut compared to DLA has been subject to 4 sets of cuts since.blackpool72 said:
Pensioners are already falling into being taxed due to the threshold being frozen.Huskaris said:Take 2% off NI and put it on income tax is something I can get behind.
Putting 2% on the basic rate of tax will only hurt them further.
What Starmer and Reeves should do is face down the left wing back benchers and cut the enormous amount that is being wasted on welfare and various other public sectors.
They won't do this though as Starmer has no backbone and he is going to have to go back on Labour's promise not to put up taxes for the working man.
The public sector has been repeatedly cut since 2010. It's still being cut -for example health management currently being cut by 50% only 2 years after being cut by 30% which was a year after a 20% cut. It clearly doesn't work. We now have highly paid doctors and consultants spending more time running services, doing admin, scheduling and paperwork than they are practicing because lower paid admin and management and support roles have been removed. It's a ridiculousfalse economy.
Cuts do not address the structural problems in society that is causing the increase in demand. All that 15 years of cuts has achieved is less services, worse services, huge wait lists, a less healthy and less productive population.
The thing people need to understand is running an economy is so different from a household budget. Tightening your belt in the short term may work for a household on a fixed income looking to get out of a hole. For an economy it's disastrous and has been for 15 years.
Continuing to tinker around the edges without solving the structural problems in society and then the economy will mean everything continues to get worse for the majority of people which opens the door for very bad things to develop, like fascism. We are now at a point in time where radical solutions are the only way forward BECAUSE for 40 years or more governments have failed to make the incremental changes necessary. This is as true for the tax system as it is for climate change.3 -
Yes, that’s because you’re rich in comparison to the person in Halifax - you own an asset that’s higher in value. They might have put more of that salary into their pension pot and other investments, meaning they might have the same value of assets overall.RaplhMilne said:
When I worked for Lloyds Bank in central London I had a 3 bed semi in Bexley that cost me £320,000. My colleagues working in Halifax could buy an equivalent property for about £140,000. The London cost of living (including train) was considerably higher, than in Halifax. The point being they earned the same salary as I did. However, their disposable income to live the high live was far greater than mine.Diebythesword said:
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.Now their Halifax property is £280,000 and mine is £640,000. With equal pension assets, I am rich and they are not. I should be heavily taxed and they shouldn’t.When I die, my kids will lose £hundreds thousands in IHT. Theirs won’t.So whilst having to pay so much more to buy a home, interest on mortgage and pure living costs compared to them. I am the one paying all the rich man’s Tax.A rich person has higher outgoings than people who are less rich, that doesn’t give them a right to not pay tax.3 -
Well Starmer and Reeves are in charge now and they have been for the past year or so.Joesdad said:
And who froze the thresholds, not Starmer or Reeves, it might have been someone who cut the National Insurance when we couldn’t afford it. Has more to do with fourteen years of mismanagement than lack of backbone.blackpool72 said:
Pensioners are already falling into being taxed due to the threshold being frozen.Huskaris said:Take 2% off NI and put it on income tax is something I can get behind.
Putting 2% on the basic rate of tax will only hurt them further.
What Starmer and Reeves should do is face down the left wing back benchers and cut the enormous amount that is being wasted on welfare and various other public sectors.
They won't do this though as Starmer has no backbone and he is going to have to go back on Labour's promise not to put up taxes for the working man.
Let's see how they go about changing things.1 -
In your case you could downsize. Sell your house for £640k and buy something for £400k. Taking off fees you'll be left with c£200k to gift to your children now. When you die they wont have to pay IHT.RaplhMilne said:
When I worked for Lloyds Bank in central London I had a 3 bed semi in Bexley that cost me £320,000. My colleagues working in Halifax could buy an equivalent property for about £140,000. The London cost of living (including train) was considerably higher, than in Halifax. The point being they earned the same salary as I did. However, their disposable income to live the high live was far greater than mine.Diebythesword said:
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.Now their Halifax property is £280,000 and mine is £640,000. With equal pension assets, I am rich and they are not. I should be heavily taxed and they shouldn’t.When I die, my kids will lose £hundreds thousands in IHT. Theirs won’t.So whilst having to pay so much more to buy a home, interest on mortgage and pure living costs compared to them. I am the one paying all the rich man’s Tax.3 -
Is downsizing completely out of the question ? no point eating a can of soup every 2 days while living in a 1m gaff. As for pip, they must have been claiming an incredibly long time as its almost impossible to get now days.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.1 -
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A tax people should be looking at is the business assets disposal relief tax, is it fair that entrepreneurs be treated differently to all other people when disposing of certain assets?0
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I also think the tax conversation needs to move away from individuals and towards corporations. Yes some redistribution is needed on the individual level but almost every major sector is now dominated by 4-6 large player who offshore their profits and pay expensive tax lawyers to minimise their liability. The sectors that aren't are a mess of private equity ownership and umbrella companies.
We need to address that oligopoly power and tax these properly. Take it sector by sector and tax their UK operations if they don't pay full corporation tax here. The example of this is the digital services tax. We introduced this in a sector that operates fully online and are tax registered elsewhere but successfully targeted their operations. So successful it was that most of the world have copied it. We need to take that model and apply it to every sector dominated by 4-6 big players who abuse that power.
Also remove the private equity tax relief. Why the hell should that scourge on our society and morality receive a tax break. I'd double tax them to disincentivise their horrendous practices.5 -
Over the last 40 years the problem has just continued to get worse. Less people paying (even though the population is increasing by more than £500,000 a year) & more people taking out. People living longer has put a strain on the NHS. More retired people than ever before who now have a triple-locked pension. As some of these pensioners have Indexed-linked Final salary pensions.cantersaddick said:
Because cuts have got us so far in the last 15 years. On welfare UC was brought in as a cut and has had at least 6 full or partial cuts to it since. PIP also introduced as a cut compared to DLA has been subject to 4 sets of cuts since.blackpool72 said:
Pensioners are already falling into being taxed due to the threshold being frozen.Huskaris said:Take 2% off NI and put it on income tax is something I can get behind.
Putting 2% on the basic rate of tax will only hurt them further.
What Starmer and Reeves should do is face down the left wing back benchers and cut the enormous amount that is being wasted on welfare and various other public sectors.
They won't do this though as Starmer has no backbone and he is going to have to go back on Labour's promise not to put up taxes for the working man.
The public sector has been repeatedly cut since 2010. It's still being cut -for example health management currently being cut by 50% only 2 years after being cut by 30% which was a year after a 20% cut. It clearly doesn't work. We now have highly paid doctors and consultants spending more time running services, doing admin, scheduling and paperwork than they are practicing because lower paid admin and management and support roles have been removed. It's a ridiculousfalse economy.
Cuts do not address the structural problems in society that is causing the increase in demand. All that 15 years of cuts has achieved is less services, worse services, huge wait lists, a less healthy and less productive population.
The thing people need to understand is running an economy is so different from a household budget. Tightening your belt in the short term may work for a household on a fixed income looking to get out of a hole. For an economy it's disastrous and has been for 15 years.
Continuing to tinker around the edges without solving the structural problems in society and then the economy will mean everything continues to get worse for the majority of people which opens the door for very bad things to develop, like fascism. We are now at a point in time where radical solutions are the only way forward BECAUSE for 40 years or more governments have failed to make the incremental changes necessary. This is as true for the tax system as it is for climate change.
I doubt much will change in this budget because Reeves & Starmer dont have the stomach for the fight. The OBR will look at their proposals & say it might work should x=y and the economy grows at z%.
I remember back in the early Blair years. Frank Field was told to "think the unthinkable" on pensions. He did & then got sacked for it.0 -
Legalise weed, tax it and wallop. You have a growth sector. A massive one and enormous tax revenue
Do the same for MDMA and the same applies0 -
Last time I read there are 170000 people getting private prescriptions for weed, up around 100k in the last year or so, so much money being lost to the blackmarket it's unreal.Carter said:Legalise weed, tax it and wallop. You have a growth sector. A massive one and enormous tax revenue
Do the same for MDMA and the same applies1 -
Your kids inherit thousands that theirs won't. Also, you don't pay any IHT.RaplhMilne said:
When I worked for Lloyds Bank in central London I had a 3 bed semi in Bexley that cost me £320,000. My colleagues working in Halifax could buy an equivalent property for about £140,000. The London cost of living (including train) was considerably higher, than in Halifax. The point being they earned the same salary as I did. However, their disposable income to live the high live was far greater than mine.Diebythesword said:
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.Now their Halifax property is £280,000 and mine is £640,000. With equal pension assets, I am rich and they are not. I should be heavily taxed and they shouldn’t.When I die, my kids will lose £hundreds thousands in IHT. Theirs won’t.So whilst having to pay so much more to buy a home, interest on mortgage and pure living costs compared to them. I am the one paying all the rich man’s Tax.4 -
I am not at all sure about that assertion. Nothing that can't be "resolved" with HMRC over a nice dinner if you are big enough, as Vodafone proved.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.1 -
Portugal have done some really interesting stuff with drugs. They have legalised most if not all drugs. Class A's can't be purchased but consumption isn't considered a crime. If you are found with more than a certain amount of a drug (differs by drug e.g. for weed it's 10 days worth for heroin it's if you're found with any) you are given a full support package of medical, mental heath and rehab support. You only recieve a fine if you don't engage with the support package. It has a ridiculously high success rate at tackling addiction. All paid for by the tax revenue from legal sales of things like weed.shine166 said:
Last time I read there are 170000 people getting private prescriptions for weed, up around 100k in the last year or so, so much money being lost to the blackmarket it's unreal.Carter said:Legalise weed, tax it and wallop. You have a growth sector. A massive one and enormous tax revenue
Do the same for MDMA and the same applies2 -
Is it not more likely that your property will need to be sold to pay for your social care (should you need it) rather than IHT paid by your kids?RaplhMilne said:
When I worked for Lloyds Bank in central London I had a 3 bed semi in Bexley that cost me £320,000. My colleagues working in Halifax could buy an equivalent property for about £140,000. The London cost of living (including train) was considerably higher, than in Halifax. The point being they earned the same salary as I did. However, their disposable income to live the high live was far greater than mine.Diebythesword said:
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.Now their Halifax property is £280,000 and mine is £640,000. With equal pension assets, I am rich and they are not. I should be heavily taxed and they shouldn’t.When I die, my kids will lose £hundreds thousands in IHT. Theirs won’t.So whilst having to pay so much more to buy a home, interest on mortgage and pure living costs compared to them. I am the one paying all the rich man’s Tax.0 -
Thats why it's a good idea to downsize & give the "equity" away to your children. They might end up getting very little or none at all if you have to go into care. If you downsize & free up a few hundred thousand when you retire (say in your late 60's /early 70's) then everybody wins.BalladMan said:
Is it not more likely that your property will need to be sold to pay for your social care (should you need it) rather than IHT paid by your kids?RaplhMilne said:
When I worked for Lloyds Bank in central London I had a 3 bed semi in Bexley that cost me £320,000. My colleagues working in Halifax could buy an equivalent property for about £140,000. The London cost of living (including train) was considerably higher, than in Halifax. The point being they earned the same salary as I did. However, their disposable income to live the high live was far greater than mine.Diebythesword said:
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.Now their Halifax property is £280,000 and mine is £640,000. With equal pension assets, I am rich and they are not. I should be heavily taxed and they shouldn’t.When I die, my kids will lose £hundreds thousands in IHT. Theirs won’t.So whilst having to pay so much more to buy a home, interest on mortgage and pure living costs compared to them. I am the one paying all the rich man’s Tax.3 -
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Downsizing in the South East doesn’t automatically realise as much as some assume.golfaddick said:
Thats why it's a good idea to downsize & give the "equity" away to your children. They might end up getting very little or none at all if you have to go into care. If you downsize & free up a few hundred thousand when you retire (say in your late 60's /early 70's) then everybody wins.BalladMan said:
Is it not more likely that your property will need to be sold to pay for your social care (should you need it) rather than IHT paid by your kids?RaplhMilne said:
When I worked for Lloyds Bank in central London I had a 3 bed semi in Bexley that cost me £320,000. My colleagues working in Halifax could buy an equivalent property for about £140,000. The London cost of living (including train) was considerably higher, than in Halifax. The point being they earned the same salary as I did. However, their disposable income to live the high live was far greater than mine.Diebythesword said:
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.Now their Halifax property is £280,000 and mine is £640,000. With equal pension assets, I am rich and they are not. I should be heavily taxed and they shouldn’t.When I die, my kids will lose £hundreds thousands in IHT. Theirs won’t.So whilst having to pay so much more to buy a home, interest on mortgage and pure living costs compared to them. I am the one paying all the rich man’s Tax.If you stay in the area you are in (not unreasonable) options may be limited and after stamp duty / fees / decoration / furniture type costs it isn’t guaranteed to pocket you a significant sum that protects your lifestyle etc.
Yes it does make sense to downsize to live in a more suitable property at some point but it’s not a guarantee of realising wealth.3 -
While we're talking about downsizing.
The wife and I, bought our current home 4 and a half years ago. A 3 bed in West wickham.
Half the reason , with me not having a pension the house when downsizing in years to come would provide a some money.
I know there's if and buts.
But with the fixed rate coming to an end and looking at 4 per cent this time round.
Would there be much difference if we sold up now , went mortgage free and saved the money we would of been paying for the mortgage?
From what I've worked out even if house prices rose 50% over the next 10 years there wouldn't be that much difference in keeping the house and downsizing and saving the money.0 -
a) why do so many worry about what they have to leave to their kids? Spend it on yourselves I say.golfaddick said:
Thats why it's a good idea to downsize & give the "equity" away to your children. They might end up getting very little or none at all if you have to go into care. If you downsize & free up a few hundred thousand when you retire (say in your late 60's /early 70's) then everybody wins.BalladMan said:
Is it not more likely that your property will need to be sold to pay for your social care (should you need it) rather than IHT paid by your kids?RaplhMilne said:
When I worked for Lloyds Bank in central London I had a 3 bed semi in Bexley that cost me £320,000. My colleagues working in Halifax could buy an equivalent property for about £140,000. The London cost of living (including train) was considerably higher, than in Halifax. The point being they earned the same salary as I did. However, their disposable income to live the high live was far greater than mine.Diebythesword said:
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.Now their Halifax property is £280,000 and mine is £640,000. With equal pension assets, I am rich and they are not. I should be heavily taxed and they shouldn’t.When I die, my kids will lose £hundreds thousands in IHT. Theirs won’t.So whilst having to pay so much more to buy a home, interest on mortgage and pure living costs compared to them. I am the one paying all the rich man’s Tax.
b) if they release equity, give it to the kids then in later life run out of money what happens then?
c) if in later life they need to go into care but have spent what they had left after giving the rest to their kids what happens then? Instead of being able to go into a nice care home paid for by themselves they will end up in a lesser care home paid for by the rest of us.2 -
Buying gold rings in Dubai: we’re off to Dubai soon and plan to buy some gold/diamond rings whilst out there. We last went there 20 years ago when we ended up buying what became our wedding rings so the wife is after a high quality eternity ring as part of our trip. I’ve been advised to buy from the Gold and Diamond Mall rather than the gold souk. Has anyone on here bought out there recently and have any tips of which dealers to go to, whether taking UK cash gets a better deal etc? Any experience and tips greatly appreciated.0
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To answer your questions.....LargeAddick said:
a) why do so many worry about what they have to leave to their kids? Spend it on yourselves I say.golfaddick said:
Thats why it's a good idea to downsize & give the "equity" away to your children. They might end up getting very little or none at all if you have to go into care. If you downsize & free up a few hundred thousand when you retire (say in your late 60's /early 70's) then everybody wins.BalladMan said:
Is it not more likely that your property will need to be sold to pay for your social care (should you need it) rather than IHT paid by your kids?RaplhMilne said:
When I worked for Lloyds Bank in central London I had a 3 bed semi in Bexley that cost me £320,000. My colleagues working in Halifax could buy an equivalent property for about £140,000. The London cost of living (including train) was considerably higher, than in Halifax. The point being they earned the same salary as I did. However, their disposable income to live the high live was far greater than mine.Diebythesword said:
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.Now their Halifax property is £280,000 and mine is £640,000. With equal pension assets, I am rich and they are not. I should be heavily taxed and they shouldn’t.When I die, my kids will lose £hundreds thousands in IHT. Theirs won’t.So whilst having to pay so much more to buy a home, interest on mortgage and pure living costs compared to them. I am the one paying all the rich man’s Tax.
b) if they release equity, give it to the kids then in later life run out of money what happens then?
c) if in later life they need to go into care but have spent what they had left after giving the rest to their kids what happens then? Instead of being able to go into a nice care home paid for by themselves they will end up in a lesser care home paid for by the rest of us.
1) yes, absolutely. But the question was about IHT on an Estate & the kids not getting as much. Release the money in any case.....and then spend/give it away as you like.
2) again, you are downsizing to release equity built up in your home. You might run out of money if you live in a £400k home or a £800k home. Obviously the latter you have more money to release but if you downsize long before that you have time to invest that money to draw down from.
3) sad to say if you get to the stage of needing to go into a care home then 9 times out of 10 you aren't really in a state of mind to know if it's a good or bad one.
Obviously a lot of this could be seen as "deprivation of assets" should you need to go into a care home. And there is no 7 year rule like there is for IHT. Local Authorities can go back as far as they like if they think you've been giving your money away in this regard.
So my advice would be. Downsize early & use the money. What's the point of 2 elderly people rattling around in a 4 bed detached house. Free the property up for families.....and get the economy moving.2 -
Would need figures to say what would be for the best. But on the basis that you are thinking of using the equity as your pension then, as I have just said above, the earlier you do it the better.clb74 said:While we're talking about downsizing.
The wife and I, bought our current home 4 and a half years ago. A 3 bed in West wickham.
Half the reason , with me not having a pension the house when downsizing in years to come would provide a some money.
I know there's if and buts.
But with the fixed rate coming to an end and looking at 4 per cent this time round.
Would there be much difference if we sold up now , went mortgage free and saved the money we would of been paying for the mortgage?
From what I've worked out even if house prices rose 50% over the next 10 years there wouldn't be that much difference in keeping the house and downsizing and saving the money.0 -
Did you really earn the same in central London as the person in Halifax? No London weighting?RaplhMilne said:
When I worked for Lloyds Bank in central London I had a 3 bed semi in Bexley that cost me £320,000. My colleagues working in Halifax could buy an equivalent property for about £140,000. The London cost of living (including train) was considerably higher, than in Halifax. The point being they earned the same salary as I did. However, their disposable income to live the high live was far greater than mine.Diebythesword said:
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.Now their Halifax property is £280,000 and mine is £640,000. With equal pension assets, I am rich and they are not. I should be heavily taxed and they shouldn’t.When I die, my kids will lose £hundreds thousands in IHT. Theirs won’t.So whilst having to pay so much more to buy a home, interest on mortgage and pure living costs compared to them. I am the one paying all the rich man’s Tax.0 -
Banks also paid large town allowances in other parts of the country as I recall.Rob7Lee said:
Did you really earn the same in central London as the person in Halifax? No London weighting?RaplhMilne said:
When I worked for Lloyds Bank in central London I had a 3 bed semi in Bexley that cost me £320,000. My colleagues working in Halifax could buy an equivalent property for about £140,000. The London cost of living (including train) was considerably higher, than in Halifax. The point being they earned the same salary as I did. However, their disposable income to live the high live was far greater than mine.Diebythesword said:
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.Now their Halifax property is £280,000 and mine is £640,000. With equal pension assets, I am rich and they are not. I should be heavily taxed and they shouldn’t.When I die, my kids will lose £hundreds thousands in IHT. Theirs won’t.So whilst having to pay so much more to buy a home, interest on mortgage and pure living costs compared to them. I am the one paying all the rich man’s Tax.London allowance was also infrequently reviewed / raised with inflation in the same way base salary was.Further in my experience NatWest / RBS it became subsumed into salary and not a separate element at some point.So in truth the London allowance didn’t overly compensate.1 -
I was at the woolwich when it still had London waiting and recalled it not being massive (but was early on in my career).valleynick66 said:
Banks also paid large town allowances in other parts of the country as I recall.Rob7Lee said:
Did you really earn the same in central London as the person in Halifax? No London weighting?RaplhMilne said:
When I worked for Lloyds Bank in central London I had a 3 bed semi in Bexley that cost me £320,000. My colleagues working in Halifax could buy an equivalent property for about £140,000. The London cost of living (including train) was considerably higher, than in Halifax. The point being they earned the same salary as I did. However, their disposable income to live the high live was far greater than mine.Diebythesword said:
But they are rich - they have significant assets that others do not have. Yes it takes time and stress to liquidate these assets, but they still own assets outright and are in the top end of the country for wealth. They also likely have assets in their pension as well as the state pension. They are, by any metric, richer than your average non pensioner.RaplhMilne said:
There are a lot of pensioners, living a very frugal life in the South East whilst living in a 3 bed semi worth £700- £800,000. I really don’t consider them to be rich.CafcWest said:
Wow...thanks but very hard to believe - can't read the full article but I suspect that property accounts for much of the wealth that makes retired people a millionaire - rising house values over a lifetime. I've always considered someone a 'proper' millionaire if they have a million in cash and liquid assets - not bricks and mortar...Diebythesword said:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/news/number-millionaire-pensioners-quadruples/CafcWest said:
Ummm...where did you get that snippet? Very hard to believe...or have I been whooshed!Diebythesword said:Get rid of the triple lock and go back to cutting the winter fuel allowance properly and that will make a significant dent in the black hole reeves needs to fill, whilst not taxing people to death and allowing room for some growth.The triple lock will be seen as an utter disaster, if it hasn’t already - imagine guaranteeing pay rises for benefit claimants, they’d be political uproar.25% of pensioners are millionaires, they can take the hit.The problem is solved by collecting the existing taxes that are avoided, rather than additional tax on those already paying. We all have Black Cab mates, who tell you the game was screwed, when people started paying by card and cash takings dried up.It’s just easier to hit thousands of pensioners, than it is thousands of self employed Plumbers. As it is to hit UK Banks and large companies, than chase the smaller enterprises.
An I know so many people claiming £hundreds a month on PIP who pretty much have nothing wrong with them. Managed to fool a busy doctor once, and ride the gravy train forever.Now their Halifax property is £280,000 and mine is £640,000. With equal pension assets, I am rich and they are not. I should be heavily taxed and they shouldn’t.When I die, my kids will lose £hundreds thousands in IHT. Theirs won’t.So whilst having to pay so much more to buy a home, interest on mortgage and pure living costs compared to them. I am the one paying all the rich man’s Tax.London allowance was also infrequently reviewed / raised with inflation in the same way base salary was.Further in my experience NatWest / RBS it became subsumed into salary and not a separate element at some point.So in truth the London allowance didn’t overly compensate.
But in the original example, surely either the Halifax person was being overpaid or London underpaid?
Anyway, you have similar issues now with jobs like teachers. Why anyone (from a financial perspective) would work in inner London for the small extra amount I don't know.1 -
Legalising it also increases the use of it, makes apartment balconies stink of weed in the summer, and worst of all, people still buy it from the black market because its cheaper than the government shops.shine166 said:
Last time I read there are 170000 people getting private prescriptions for weed, up around 100k in the last year or so, so much money being lost to the blackmarket it's unreal.Carter said:Legalise weed, tax it and wallop. You have a growth sector. A massive one and enormous tax revenue
Do the same for MDMA and the same applies
It's not the golden goose people think it is.1
