Is Anyone preparing/hunkering down for 'after the budget'

[IsUnemploymentRising]

The news is today seems to be full of headlines such as unemployment is going up, housing markets are softening, budget is make or break.

Lots of people such as Andrew Bailey quoting things like markets could crash due to debt and AI bubble etc

I just don't see how RR or anyone else for that matter can get us out of our current situation without considerable cutbacks and pain.

Raise Taxes - lots of people think this is maxed out now with rich leaving and businesses already hit (thus rising unemployment)

Cut Benefits - will they try this again. If so what will all the people on benefits actually do to live. Will they all get jobs. Is there jobs?

So are you hunkering down?

Me personally I wish they would just get on with it. I hope to move house in next few years and whilst I'm still committed to it I can see another frozen housing market coming where only forced sellers sell and everyone else sits tight.

I'm retired (although not getting any pensions yet as too young) and definately worried about pension values (ie stock markets, bonds etc). It's very difficult to plan when your pensions are dependant on things outwith your control. (not applicable to those with final salary/defined benefit schemes of course)

State pension is a good 14 years away for me (I'm fully paid up) but I worry it will be eroded when I have built it into my calculations for retirement not to mention the freezing of tax brackets which means we are all getting taxed more each year by stealth.

I'm probably in a better position that many to weather the storm as no mortgage or debts and holding cash etc but even then I worry about our currency being worth nothing soon if they go down the route of printing money again.

Am I being overly pesimestic. I mean how are they actually going to get us out of this. For those on benefits (apart from worrying, being scared etc) how will you actually cope if your benefits are cut.

I would prefer income tax to rise to 1980s levels. It’s been far too low for far too long.

lol

That would be bracing @stargirl1701 ! Why do you think the government would spend the money more sensibly than you?

A major difference today is house prices vs salaries. In the 80s it was 3/4 your salary, higher housing costs today mean it's very difficult for government to lower the basic rate of tax.

OK, I believe it will stop cash in hand, and tax evasion, whether that is dodgy tradesmen or backstreet barbers.
The benefits tracking will be to stop benefit fraud, something we all want surely. I am a big supporter of people getting the benefits they need, and also stopping those who are committing fraud.
Hopefully it would make it more difficult for a lot of criminals too but I haven't really thought about that side of it.
I don't believe it means the government will dictate how you spend money, or turn the future dystopian, that is just scaremongering.
Im sure it will happen soon anyway, I can't remember the last time I used cash, and even my elderly parents use online banking now.
We have a drop in hub near us that operates as a different bank on different days of the week, eg Barclays on a Monday, so people can still speak in person to someone if needed.

I agree with this. Our social care budget is ridiculous. Thousands spent on taxis per year just for one person eg. We need a massive rethink about how we care for the vulnerable.

I'd like to see them get benefits under control but they just seem intent on putting them up currently. I don't mind paying a bit more tax if it's going to the right people or the NHS.

Hopefully it won’t happen soon anyway. I’m fine with having both ways to pay.

Some other countries also give tax relief for workers' commuting costs, tax relief for workers' childcare costs and private healthcare costs. We're so far behind the curve in the UK, it's an embarrassment.

This is how I feel. My fixed term contract is coming to an end soon. I feel like I'd rather just stop work early and live a frugal life on my small savings until I can take my private pension at 60 than continue getting out of bed everyday to do a job I don't particularly enjoy which ironically involves helping others to claim benefits for doing nothing. No- one else seems to have an issue with milking the system for every penny and whilst I wouldn't actually qualify for anything due to savings it would mean I wouldn't be paying towards others choices to just give up work or work very few hours. I am not talking here about people who have no choice but to claim due to disability or caring responsibilities. I've worked constantly for 40 years and have had enough.

Like other aspects of society people have desperately tried to smear anyone who queries as bigoted, and batted off any debate as ableist.

A little while ago I worked at a local council and it wasn’t unusual for individual children to be costing hundreds of thousands a year. Many hundreds of thousands. These weren’t children who needed round the clock nursing care and complex equipment management for which this cost would be understandable. They were children with ‘SEMH needs’ - basically totally unruly, living chaotic lifestyles, running away and having a police helicopter out every 5 minutes while their hapless parents moaned about how ‘the government weren’t sorting it out’. Said child would inevitably end up running riot at a ‘specialist unit’ and require a taxi to ferry them to and from it every day. This is far from an unusual scenario - I would guess there are hundreds of them in every county. That’s just the local authority spending btw, not the inevitable benefits on top.

It’s painful to watch.

Ever since the 80s governments - not just the British - have been telling people they can have lower taxes and better services. Partly by flogging off public assets. And outsourcing aka doing things on the cheap. But it was a cruel lie.

Time for Reeves to tell the truth and shame the devil. If Labour lose next time so be it. At least do something. Look what Attlee achieved in a short time - 1945- 51. And the mess he inherited was next level. Don't waste time and energy whoring after the racist vote , you'll just lose everyone else. Tax wealth. Build houses.

If Russian hackers get into the National Grid, cash will be useless as you won't be able to buy your weekly shop nor fill your car with petrol if there's no electric!

We had that exact scenario during Storm Desmond a few years ago when flooding knocked out our city's electrical sub station. It was very frightening to see literally everything closed due to having no electric. Even the train station was closed and trains didn't stop, buses weren't running, etc., because the railway/bus station couldn't open without heating, lighting and security systems working!

Ever since the 80s governments - not just the British - have been telling people they can have lower taxes and better services. Partly by flogging off public assets. And outsourcing aka doing things on the cheap. But it was a cruel lie.

And the 70s but @Abhannmor people don't want to hear the reality.

the UK government has never kept hold of windfalls and invested - just spunk it away on election promises

I agree - the tax system is just not fair. Working people should not be paying disproportionately more than those living off investments. Business has had to withstand increased corporation tax, ni contributions, but the proposed changes to employment rights are more concerning and off putting for our small business.

That is a problem where resilience/fail-safes aren't a standard built-in feature of most modern infrastructure. It's failure to prepare. But then the lack of preparedness stems from these sorts of storms not being particularly common. It's like the idea of installing AC into every home despite only having 2 weeks of heatwave per year, but it keeps those who really struggle with heat comfortable, at great cost I might add. Our energy prices are ridiculous.

This is probably where the British stiff upper lip comes from. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

I digress.

Cash is king. Remove it if you want, but I personally don't like the idea of the government controlling how I spend my money.

Oh yes and efficiency savings that never happen.

Agreed 💯. Richard Murphy has the right idea. Stop penalising work and production. Investment income , dividends, rents should be taxed like any wage. Empty properties, land left idle by property companies - many based abroad - should be taxed as well.

How are working people paying disproportionately more than those living off investments?

If all you're worrying about is where to put your savings you don't have much to be concerned about.

The people who are struggling to eat and heat their homes should be our concern.

I will absorb any increase in tax etc, my savings won't increase as quickly but in the grand scheme of things I'm so much better off than many.

(A few interest rate rises would soften the blow for me but anyone with a mortgage will want to crucify me for saying that).

They can't penalise workers any more - workers are already bearing the brunt with fiscal drag, student loan repayments, workplace pensions, etc.

Not to mention wage stagnation

I’ve been through many hopeless governments and a few recessions, and I no longer worry.

I protect as much as I can from the taxman and just get on with it.

It all passes.

I hope we don’t, some will be ok but many do get stung in a recession.

It all passes.

Does it? The 08 financial crash didn't pass, we never recovered from it.

I really want the budget to bloody well raise the rate of income tax, it's the only way to fund the improvements needed. And raise the thresholds at the same time to massively lessen the effect on lower income people.

Then a) massively improve public services, b) reduce / limit benefits to a much more sustainable level c) financially motivate both working and saving, make both of those really worthwhile for everyone.