It’s time to drill down on your money

THE Budget just gone was never going to take the nation by storm. Hemmed in by a multitude of issues – economic, political and bitter lessons learnt from March’s shambles of a Budget – Chancellor Philip Hammond had to play safe. Anything too radical, such as pension reform or bringing a raft of up and coming entrepreneurs into the VAT net, and he could easily have alienated many Conservative supporters, playing straight into Jeremy Corbyn’s hands.

Despite now being ten years away from the start of the financial crisis, the fact remains that this country is still in a fragile state. Wage growth is borderline static; inflation is eating into our finances; and, of course, Brexit and its unknown consequences hang over us all like a sword of Damocles. Will unemployment become an issue again? Will our exporters struggle to win business in a post-Brexit marketplace? We just do not know, although reading the runes suggests difficult times lie ahead.

Against this rather gloomy backdrop, Hammond must be commended for wiping away the cost of stamp duty for most firsttime buyers and for putting in train measures that should see a marked improvement in the

supply of new homes. It is also good that he has committed more money towards schemes designed to get people on the first rung of the housing ladder – most notably Help to Buy equity loans.

Yet that is really the only positive that can be drawn. Yes, cheaper rail travel for those aged 30 or under is welcome (I miss out by a matter of months!) as are higher thresholds at which people start paying tax or fall into higher rate territory. But they are fringe offerings, not mainstream. Nothing on some of the key issues which we desperately need to address – for example, funding long-term care for the elderly.

I think the best that can be said about this Budget is that it was devoid of unpleasantries – for example, a hike in insurance premium tax, or an assault on the prudent or entrepreneurial. It was actually rather boring which is no bad thing. After all, Chancellors are sometimes guilty of meddling for the sake of it, making a complicated taxation system even more Double Dutch.

The best reaction to Wednesday’s Budget is to cast your eye over your own finances and see if you can lick them into better shape. I bet you a new shiny one pound coin that you can – and there is no better way to get you in the mood than by absorbing our three-page special report. PENSION freedom took the nation by complete surprise when Hammond’s predecessor George Osborne announced its introduction in his 2014 Budget.

It took a year to kick in – April 2015 – and it was sold on the