{"id":21968,"date":"2022-04-20T11:03:33","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T11:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smh.group\/?p=21968"},"modified":"2023-02-15T13:18:54","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T13:18:54","slug":"looking-after-your-pennies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/looking-after-your-pennies\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking after your pennies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>With inflation hitting 6.2% in February and outstripping wage growth, make sure you are paying attention to what\u2019s happening to your money. We explore some ways to help keep your money where it belongs.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tip 1: Make sure you have the right tax code<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Now that the new tax year has started, it is worth checking your <a href=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/from-tax-scams-to-tax-codes-the-knowledge-gap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tax code<\/a> if your earnings and\/or pensions are taxed under PAYE. HMRC does not have an unblemished record of setting these correctly and, unless you complete a tax return, you could end up paying tax that you cannot reclaim \u2013 you have just missed the chance to receive a refund for overpaid tax from 2017\/18. Go to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gov.uk\/check-income-tax-current-year\">www.gov.uk\/check-income-tax-current-year<\/a> to check your code.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tip 2: Review what money is leaving your bank account<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is easy enough to set up a direct debit to meet regular expenditure, but it is equally easy to forget about the ones you have already set up. Have a look through your bank statement or, better still, the list of direct debits (and standing orders, if you have any). Are they all still necessary or are you paying for a membership you no longer need or a service you never use now?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tip 3: Consider salary sacrifice to pay your <a href=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/reconsidering-your-pension-contributions\/\">pension contributions <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you are a member of a workplace pension arrangement, you may have the opportunity to make your contributions via salary sacrifice arrangements. In most \u2013 but not all \u2013 instances, this will be preferable to the more obvious method of having personal contributions deducted from your pay because of the savings on national insurance contributions that can be made. At best, your pension contribution cost could be reduced by over a quarter.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tip 4:\u00a0 Check if you can now claim Universal Credit\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In last October\u2019s Budget, the Chancellor announced two changes to <a href=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/universal-credit-eligibility-expands-to-higher-rate-taxpayers\/\">Universal Credit<\/a> (UC): a \u00a3500 a year increase in all work allowances and, more significantly, a reduction from 63% to 55% in the rate at which the benefit is withdrawn. The combination of the two meant that the income limit for UC entitlement increased significantly. You may be able to make a claim this year, which would have been pointless a year ago. For example, a single earner couple with two children paying a monthly rent of \u00a3750 can have income before tax of up to \u00a361,150 before losing all UC entitlement.<\/p>\n<p>By their very nature, financial tips are general, not personal. Do ensure you seek professional advice tailored to your circumstances, should you need it.<\/p>\n<p>To discuss how inflation is affecting your\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/financial-services\/\"><strong>investments<\/strong><\/a><strong> or <a href=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/universal-credit-eligibility-expands-to-higher-rate-taxpayers\/\">benefits<\/a><\/strong>, contact our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/financial-services\/\"><strong>Sheffield based Financial Advisers<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0<strong>0114 266 4432<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:info@smhca.co.uk\"><strong>info@smhca.co.uk<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>The value of tax reliefs depends on your individual circumstances. Tax laws can change. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax and benefit advice.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With inflation hitting 6.2% in February and outstripping wage growth, make sure you are paying attention to what\u2019s happening to your money. We explore some ways to help keep your money where it belongs. Tip 1: Make sure you have the right tax code Now that the new tax year has started, it is worth checking your tax code if your earnings and\/or pensions are taxed under PAYE. HMRC does not have an unblemished record of setting these correctly and, unless you complete a tax return, you could end up paying tax that you cannot reclaim \u2013 you have just missed the chance to receive a refund for overpaid tax from 2017\/18. Go to www.gov.uk\/check-income-tax-current-year to check your code. Tip 2: Review what money is leaving your bank account It is easy enough to set up a direct debit to meet regular expenditure, but it is equally easy to forget about the ones you have already set up. Have a look through your bank statement or, better still, the list of direct debits (and standing orders, if you have any). Are they all still necessary or are you paying for a membership you no longer need or a service you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":21802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,16],"tags":[906,237,245,19,531],"class_list":["post-21968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smh-accounting-business-advisory","category-financial-services","tag-benefits","tag-inflation","tag-pension-contributions","tag-tax","tag-universal-credit"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Looking after your pennies - SMH Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Looking after your pennies - SMH Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With inflation hitting 6.2% in February and outstripping wage growth, make sure you are paying attention to what\u2019s happening to your money. We explore some ways to help keep your money where it belongs. Tip 1: Make sure you have the right tax code Now that the new tax year has started, it is worth checking your tax code if your earnings and\/or pensions are taxed under PAYE. HMRC does not have an unblemished record of setting these correctly and, unless you complete a tax return, you could end up paying tax that you cannot reclaim \u2013 you have just missed the chance to receive a refund for overpaid tax from 2017\/18. Go to www.gov.uk\/check-income-tax-current-year to check your code. Tip 2: Review what money is leaving your bank account It is easy enough to set up a direct debit to meet regular expenditure, but it is equally easy to forget about the ones you have already set up. Have a look through your bank statement or, better still, the list of direct debits (and standing orders, if you have any). Are they all still necessary or are you paying for a membership you no longer need or a service you [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/looking-after-your-pennies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SMH Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-20T11:03:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-15T13:18:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AdobeStock_189104180-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1980\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brendan Hall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brendan Hall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/looking-after-your-pennies\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/looking-after-your-pennies\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brendan Hall\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e\"},\"headline\":\"Looking after your pennies\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-20T11:03:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-15T13:18:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/looking-after-your-pennies\/\"},\"wordCount\":465,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/looking-after-your-pennies\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AdobeStock_189104180-1.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"benefits\",\"inflation\",\"pension contributions\",\"tax\",\"Universal Credit\"],\"articleSection\":[\"SMH Accounting &amp; 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