Beau Geste

Not an Economics PhD

[Pension Man @PensionmanUK]

Property portals are groaning under the weight of unsold homes, yet homelessness, already at record levels, is rising fast and the most vulnerable are increasingly being excluded from even social housing on affordability grounds.

https://t.co/5XbNKaON7b

[Beau Geste @thedecentthing]

Britain is experiencing a collapse in housing investment. A perfect storm of government austerity, toxic regulation and private capital flight has left housing in the same parlous state as energy, water, healthcare and education.

https://t.co/MqV1AhYqWd

[Beau Geste @thedecentthing]

Dismantling Britain’s almost feudal system of amateur landlordism, without supplying a viable alternative, has come at a huge social, political and financial cost.

The UK has grown by 2 mln people, but has lost 290k homes, mostly at the cheaper end.

https://t.co/GFqkkxyrvM

[Beau Geste @thedecentthing]

Very kind of @henryhtapper , one of the most prominent voices in pensions, and so much more besides, to give my forthcoming book “Young, Poor and Totally Screwed” a plug ahead of publication August 7th. (https://t.co/FSLNwEUNRc).

https://t.co/xkWvkrkyh1

[Henry Tapper @henryhtapper]

So did you first get Pulp - in 1995 or 2025? https://t.co/p3tr52assy Whether you are 1995, 2025 or came to music in 1975, it’s the music that helps us deal with anything that comes our way – as RAYE reminded us,
-or at least to laugh at it like Pulp!

[Henry Tapper @henryhtapper]

So did you first get Pulp - in 1995 or 2025? https://t.co/p3tr52assy Whether you are 1995, 2025 or came to music in 1975, it’s the music that helps us deal with anything that comes our way – as RAYE reminded us,
-or at least to laugh at it like Pulp!

[Pension Man @PensionmanUK]

Brits have fallen out of love with property with devastating consequences. Prices have lagged inflation, not due to the deflation of a housing bubble, but because ownership costs have spiked. This has consequences for homeowners and the homeless alike.

https://t.co/YrynmC2CX3

[Beau Geste @thedecentthing]

Ordinarily rising rents would draw capital into London’s stressed lettings market. Instead house prices are lagging behind inflation, as both private and, most damagingly public, sector landlords exit. Lopsided energy efficiency policies are to blame.

https://t.co/NF1tOEJZDj

[Beau Geste @thedecentthing]

Labour has burned a vast amount of political capital by u-turning on airport expansion. A more effective u-turn, would have been to fine-tune last October’s budget: mitigating the growth impact, increasing tax fairness and reducing complexity.

https://t.co/lyWmqeJ0Dr

[Beau Geste @thedecentthing]

Welcome to the final Friendly Money Newsletter for 2024. So much has changed both globally and in terms of finance that it’s almost impossible to keep up.

I’ve kept it brief, but there's lots to revisit in 2025.

Take care out there,

Stuart & Vicky

https://t.co/w8wKirpYgE

[Pension Man @PensionmanUK]

Pensions are set to become materially less attractive with investor behaviour likely to change in profound and unhelpful ways. This goes well beyond simply incentivising the wealthy to become economically inactive by retiring early.

https://t.co/xf3TexoH70

[Beau Geste @thedecentthing]

Pension fun! Interviewed on pension drawdown in light of budget https://t.co/CwOUB39e3p

[Beau Geste @thedecentthing]

Last week’s UK budget has profound implications, not just for non doms and the super rich, but for many with just a house and pension! Literally the only winners were people who drink life-threateningly large quantities of draft beer!

https://t.co/OUCocz3irG

[Pension Man @PensionmanUK]

Hemmed in by promises not to raise mainstream taxes and faced with a £22 billion black hole, Labour is set to attack wealth. Yet if it taxes injudiciously, Britain will be “closed for business” and both growth and the deficit will suffer.

https://t.co/5bEmKXKtHH

[Bloomberg @business]

Can Britain's fiscal hole be filled by a wealth tax? The Labour Party would need to carefully calibrate a levy on society's richest members, @PensionmanUK writes https://t.co/u04DkNc3te via @opinion

[Pension Man @PensionmanUK]

Labour’s work on pensions is only half done. The welcome decision not to reinstate the lifetime allowance leaves pensions still open to being abused as tax incentivised, estate planning vehicles. Ending this could raise revenue and stimulate the economy.

https://t.co/ONEQVLwAt0?

[Pension Man @PensionmanUK]

Hamstrung by the Conservative stealth tax poison pill, funding Labour’s spending pledges favours populism over reform.

https://t.co/iA1Xs0fTs8

[Pension Man @PensionmanUK]

Capital gains tax is a powerful fiscal lever for achieving investment goals and social objectives - but not if it’s used for populist, political point scoring.

Here’s a way to make it both fair and effective.

https://t.co/1x7b4iLks0

[Pension Man @PensionmanUK]

Welcome to our first Friendly Money Newsletter of 2024. Thank you to the many who have reached out for coaching. A recurring theme has been the pension implications of a likely change in government.....

Take care out there,

Stuart & Vicky

https://t.co/eWqJvzMUEG

[Pension Man @PensionmanUK]

If you’re investing in bonds you’re probably doing it wrong, as the Bank of England’s traumatic losses on its QE programme demonstrate. Moreover, investing in bond funds negates the single most useful quality of a bond: its fixed value at maturity.

https://t.co/oHn50IbNdN

[Pension Man @PensionmanUK]

Stealth taxes and the hidden cost of complexity

A little light reading for those of you scrambling to complete your self assessment on how stealth taxes kill growth.

https://t.co/qtwGz4YPad