Jasmine Birtles

One of the many oddities about the Autumn Statement – and Budgets generally – is that really important, long-term affecting policies are often largely ignored by media and voters generally. Changes to the taxation of dividends is one of them. No one really cares about the ‘rich’ being taxed – and that’s how it’s seen when it comes to dividends. But actually the taxing of dividends affects anyone with a pension…and that’s the majority of the country now, thanks to auto-enrolment.

As pension funds are largely invested in the stock market (particularly now that the bond market is so dodgy) any increase in the taxation of dividends is going to make it harder for fund managers to build up decent pension pots for us, their clients.

Yet again, workers are looking at working longer, for less, in order to afford their retirement!

i did a few years ago and it was really handy. However, I now find that you have to pass a test to get in and the last time I tried (a few years ago) I failed!

It is a really good thing to do if you can get in, though, as you get all sorts of freebies. I used it as a way to go out to eat for free. It was good for me too as I have opinions about everything so with mystery shopping I could tell them what I thought as well as getting paid!

Make your covering letter and CV very applicable to the job itself. Don’t just have a general one that you send to everyone the same.

As someone who receives CVs a lot I notice the difference when people have updated it specifically for the job they are applying for.

Also, though, don’t keep talking about yourself and what you want…this is my piece of advice. I never like covering letters that tell me how good this job would be for them. I want to hear what they can do for me!

It’s a point but I’m personally pro the growth plan that Liz Truss tried a month ago. I think the markets were stupid to react as they did. We should have gone with her plan in order to get ourselves out of the recession. Austerity won’t work.

i don’t think crypto is dead – I think it’s taken a battering though. The latest hit was the FTX crash which has tainted all crypto coins and trading platforms. However, Bitcoin still has huge support and I think we will see it rise in popularity in the next year or two as fiat currencies gradually lose support.

I think the vast majority of cryptocurrencies are not worth looking at but Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and a few other interesting ones are worth watching if not actually owning.

However, gold and silver are even better currency alternatives so make sure you have a bit of those in some form if you can, I think.

It is really difficult to know what will happen with mortgage rates at any time but particularly now. Without a crystal ball no one knows what mortgage rates will be next year or the year after.

However, if I were you I would prepare for the worst and start putting money aside from now on each month, if you can, so that when you need to switch mortgage you will have some cash to fall back on. Of course, if you’re able to pay off a lump of the mortgage when you come to remortgage you will have less to pay off so, even if rates have gone up, you won’t have to pay so much extra each month as you will be paying off a lower principle.

Do be aware, too, that if things are really tough for you when you come to remortgage, you could still extend the term of your loan (depending on your age). So even if you have been paying it for five years, say, you don’t have to go for a 20-year repayment term. You could potentially have another 25-year one which would mean you would pay less per month. It’s not ideal. the better way is to pay it off quicker rather than over a longer term, but if things are really tough it’s one way of keeping costs down in the short-term.