Western Daily Press (Saturday)
POUND NOTES
SHED, GARAGE, OR HOME OFFICE?
More sheds, garages and summerhouses could be transformed into home offices as people adapt to meet their working needs, Aviva’s latest How We Live report suggests.
It found 13% of home workers expect to be operating from converted sheds and other outbuildings in the future, and 43% plan to continue working from inside their property, suggesting some may adapt rooms or build extensions.
Currently, nearly half (48%) of home workers are making do with tables, while 22% use sofas and armchairs. One in seven (14%) sometimes work from bed and this rises to nearly a third (31%) among under 25-year-olds.
The study interviewed nearly 1,400 workers who are homebased as a result of the pandemic. Nearly half (48%) found it less stressful than being based at another location, with a lack of commuting, more time with family and not having to worry about what to wear among the reasons why.
EARLY INVESTMENT PAYS OFF
Every UK adult was issued with a new £20,000 Isa allowance on April 6 and history shows that it pays to use it earlier rather than later.
Those who invest on the first day of the new tax year outperform those who leave it until the last day, research from Interactive Investor shows.
Early birds who invested £20,000 on day one every year would have £264,136 after 10 years, assuming a 5% annual return, while those who left it to the last minute would have £251,558, or £12,578 less, the site’s personal finance campaigner Myron Jobson said.
Over 20 years the impact is more stark, with early investors having £694,385 compared to £661,319, or £33,066 less, for last-minute investors.