More like not enough time to say anything... having moved into our new house at the end of May - we still don't have broadband at home... oops. and am spending a bunch of time doing DIY and similar and so havn't has time to blog at all. Apologies to both my (used to be regular) readers.
Anyway - not really enough time to say much, politics seems to be a bit dull at the moment - summer so Browns not really got his feet under the table properly, Dave's still awaiting the result of his focus groups to tell him what to say, and Ming seems to have gone into hibernation.
Financials - believe I said something in my New Year predications about credit spreads blowing out... sub-prime seems to have been the excuse. Are we though it all - probably not. Is a big issue if you are a long-term equity investor - No. Will volatility continue to be high - probably.
Newcastle Utd - planning to go to the pompey match in November - anyone want to join me?
Showing posts with label Finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Finance. Show all posts
Friday, 31 August 2007
Monday, 23 April 2007
Mortgage Brokers are scum of the earth...
...no seriously... still having problems with house sale / purchase. Large delays caused by Buyers of our flat having a Mortgage Broker that seems to take forever to get no progress, charge a fee in the middle, and all for something that any half intelligent person could find out using 15mins on Google or similar.
Apologies, Rant over... but as you can see, House things taking up more time than anticipated... still...
Apologies, Rant over... but as you can see, House things taking up more time than anticipated... still...
Wednesday, 10 January 2007
Inheritance Tax - unfair, or not fair enough?
I have, for various reasons, been thinking about inheritance tax recently; what it's for, how it affects people, and what a liberal and christian attitude towards it is. This also lead me into thinking a bit about philanthropy and the attitude we have towards it in this country compared to the attitude prevalent in the US.
Personally, I am of the belief that rather than being too high at 40% (as most people, and all readers of the Daily Mail seem to think); inheritance tax is not high enough, and should be 100% with a noticeably lower threshold. Before you all start throwing things at me in rage and disgust, hear me out as to how I come to this thought;
As a christian, and as a political liberal, I fundamentally believe in the idea of fairness (in some nebulus form) and against the idea of subserviance. This leads to a belief, not in equality of assets as the socialists (communists) would aim towards, but in equality of opportunity. I think that most people would agree with some kind of nebulus idea like this ("yes, of course everyone should have an opportunity to go to University, although clearly it is not right for everybody" etc.), although probably not have developed or refined it particularly.
The problem with inheritance is that in effect, it is random. If you inherit a large amount of money, it is not a reward of your endeavour or skill (unlike a high job income would be), nor of your financial need (unlike state benefits in theory), but is essentially random. (ie you happened to be lucky enough to have wealthy parents).
It goes even further - in some cases, the burden of inheritance is unbearably high. I have met and spoken to people who knew from a very early age (due to incredibly successful parents or grand-parents) that they would never have to work a day in their lives. Obviously there are exceptions, but a fair proportion appear to be totally unable to lead happy, contented lives. The reason seems to be that they have a low self-esteem (due to not having acheived anything for themselves) and are permanantly worried about investments crashing and them losing all the money - they know that were this to happen they would have no idea how to cope and constantly worry about it.
Surely what should be encouraged is a culture of philanthropy. If you have a large estate at your death, then great - why not leave as a legacy, not a large amount to your children for them to bicker and fight about, but to a charitable cause close to your heart. What Bill Gates is trying to do in the United States with his charitable foundation is clearly to be applauded and encouraged and shows some of this theory. In the US they seem to have a better attitude towards this - which contrasts strongly to the overriding thoughts here of - 'but I deserve my parents money - it's my right'.
Personally, I am of the belief that rather than being too high at 40% (as most people, and all readers of the Daily Mail seem to think); inheritance tax is not high enough, and should be 100% with a noticeably lower threshold. Before you all start throwing things at me in rage and disgust, hear me out as to how I come to this thought;
As a christian, and as a political liberal, I fundamentally believe in the idea of fairness (in some nebulus form) and against the idea of subserviance. This leads to a belief, not in equality of assets as the socialists (communists) would aim towards, but in equality of opportunity. I think that most people would agree with some kind of nebulus idea like this ("yes, of course everyone should have an opportunity to go to University, although clearly it is not right for everybody" etc.), although probably not have developed or refined it particularly.
The problem with inheritance is that in effect, it is random. If you inherit a large amount of money, it is not a reward of your endeavour or skill (unlike a high job income would be), nor of your financial need (unlike state benefits in theory), but is essentially random. (ie you happened to be lucky enough to have wealthy parents).
It goes even further - in some cases, the burden of inheritance is unbearably high. I have met and spoken to people who knew from a very early age (due to incredibly successful parents or grand-parents) that they would never have to work a day in their lives. Obviously there are exceptions, but a fair proportion appear to be totally unable to lead happy, contented lives. The reason seems to be that they have a low self-esteem (due to not having acheived anything for themselves) and are permanantly worried about investments crashing and them losing all the money - they know that were this to happen they would have no idea how to cope and constantly worry about it.
Surely what should be encouraged is a culture of philanthropy. If you have a large estate at your death, then great - why not leave as a legacy, not a large amount to your children for them to bicker and fight about, but to a charitable cause close to your heart. What Bill Gates is trying to do in the United States with his charitable foundation is clearly to be applauded and encouraged and shows some of this theory. In the US they seem to have a better attitude towards this - which contrasts strongly to the overriding thoughts here of - 'but I deserve my parents money - it's my right'.
Monday, 1 January 2007
New Year Predictions (Financial)
The Financial Year Ahead (maybe?)
- There will be a (small) credit crunch in an Emerging Market Country at some point in 2007 - and spreads across the board will widen
- Despite good (upwards) housing data the MPC will leave UK Interest rates unchanged for the first 6 months of 2007
- As an economic slow-down affects the USA and then Europe, Stock marktes will trade flat to slightly upwards during the year, but with volatility through the year, and a great difference between sectors. (ie Large-Cap, steady will do well (eg GE, Microsoft) whilst small growthy will do badly)
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