Hopes that coronavirus would be a predominantly Chinese issue were dashed in February as the virus spread around the world. Whilst early days in assessing its severity, stock markets took fright, experiencing some of the sharpest falls since the 2008 global financial crisis. All major markets finished the month in the red.
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The country, and much of the world, is now in lock down. This brings considerable fear and worry as to how this will affect not only our health, but also our financial security and prospects, as well as those in our communities.
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The first month of the new decade proved rather eventful. Early new year optimism evaporated fairly swiftly with the early days of January seeing the surprise assassination of a leading Iranian General by the US.
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The end of the 2019/20 tax year is just a few weeks away. Many of the allowances and exemptions that are available cannot be carried forward to future years, and so if they aren’t used before April 5, they will be lost.
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Self-employment has been a prominent trend in the UK in recent years. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that there are around five million self-employed people in the UK, equivalent to around 15% of the total labour market.
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The final month of 2019 typically proved a rewarding one. Not only was the General Election result in the UK parliamentary deadlock broken with a commanding Conservative majority, but major stock markets continued to rally, capping a strong year. A number of major markets finished at, or close to, an all-time high. This is in total contrast to the end of 2018, when sentiment was quite negative.
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