The success of the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out brings hope that June could really mean the end of restrictions on daily life. With many people forced to tighten their belts over the last year, the focus in this spring issue is on both personal and national financial recovery.

Other stories for this edition include:

• What can we learn from the Covid-19 pandemic? The lesson of being prepared was never more important than over the past 12 months. Having insurance in place and some savings can help withstand the shocks of unexpected events.
• Intergenerational appeal of ESG investing The last year has seen a significant rise in the popularity of ESG funds. New legislation will soon ensure that financial advisers must discuss ESG investing with their clients as joins the mainstream.
• State pension rise still locked The triple lock means a rise in the state pension of 2% above inflation for those receiving the old and new state pensions, but the level still falls behind the National Living Wage.
• What is £1 million really worth? A lot of big numbers have been bandied around over the last year – with £2.1 trillion the size of both the UK economy and the government debt. But even £1 million won’t go as far as you might think.

In our feature for this edition of our newsletter we examine the Chancellor’s long-awaited recovery plan following the extraordinary spending throughout 2020/21 and the start of 2021/22. Some tax changes are as predicted: the corporation tax rate will rise considerably, although not for another two years, while expected adjustments for inflation for IHT did not materialise. Instead, IHT joined a host of other tax thresholds frozen for the next five years, with implications for your real tax rates in the future.

We are happy to talk you through any of the issues addressed in our newsletter. Our next edition will be with you in the Summer when we all hope to have turned a corner towards a more familiar future.