https://compoundmoney.co.uk Sensible, jargon-free guidance on building long-term wealth in the UK. en-gb Mon, 21 Sep 2026 10:42:59 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-bonus-tax https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-bonus-tax There is no bonus tax. There is your marginal rate, National Insurance on top, and a band where a £10,000 bonus leaves you £4,800. What you keep at four salaries, and the way to keep all of it. Mon, 21 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-emergency-fund https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-emergency-fund Three to six months of essentials is the rule everyone quotes. Here is what it means in pounds, what holding it costs you, and why it still beats the alternative by a distance. Mon, 21 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-income-trust-vs-tracker https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-income-trust-vs-tracker A yield is not a return. What the trust is charging you for, what the dividends cost in tax, and the one situation where the income version earns its keep. Mon, 21 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-tax-on-savings-in-retirement https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-tax-on-savings-in-retirement Three allowances stack in a fixed order, and between £12,570 and £17,570 of pension income they shrink by a pound for every pound. Where the cliff is and how to sit above it. Mon, 21 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-small-pots-loophole https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-small-pots-loophole Three £10,000 pots, taken as cash, without losing your annual allowance. It is real, it is taxed, and at 45.0% for someone on £100,000 it is dearer than most people think. Thu, 10 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-first-1000-in-the-market https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-first-1000-in-the-market The order that matters more than the fund, the wrapper before the investment, and what £1,000 plus £100 a month actually becomes. Wed, 09 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-time-in-the-market https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-time-in-the-market Waiting five years to start cost £77,525 on a £90 a month plan, for £18,000 less paid in. The arithmetic of getting on with it. Wed, 09 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-diversification https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-diversification Owning forty funds is not diversification. What actually spreads risk, what just spreads fees, and the four axes that matter. Fri, 04 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-marriage-allowance https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-marriage-allowance £252 a year, backdatable four years to £1,260, and it takes ten minutes. Plus the trading, property and savings allowances that go unclaimed. Wed, 02 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-child-benefit-charge https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-child-benefit-charge Between £60,000 and £80,000 the charge takes back 1% of your award for every £200 you earn. With two children that is 11.7% on top of everything else. Thu, 27 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/research-small-pension-pots https://compoundmoney.co.uk/research-small-pension-pots Taking three £10,000 pots is often described as free money. It is taxed, and the rate peaks at 45% for someone earning £100,000, higher than for someone on £150,000. Thu, 27 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-rent-vs-buy-2026 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-rent-vs-buy-2026 Renting is not throwing money away, and buying is not automatically winning. The answer turns on three things, and only one of them is the monthly payment. Wed, 26 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-employer-pension-match https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-employer-pension-match It is the only place in British finance offering a guaranteed, instant, risk-free return of 100% or more. Millions of people quietly leave it on the table. Tue, 25 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-lifestyle-creep https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-lifestyle-creep Nobody decides to spend their pay rise. It just happens, one small upgrade at a time, until a much bigger salary somehow leaves you no better off. Thu, 20 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-corporation-tax-trap https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-corporation-tax-trap Between £50,000 and £250,000 of profit, every extra pound is taxed at 26.5%. Above £250,000 it drops to 25%. Marginal relief is not the discount its name suggests. Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-optimal-salary-dividend https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-optimal-salary-dividend Every guide tells company directors to take the personal allowance as salary and the rest as dividends. Whether that is correct depends on one question almost nobody asks. Mon, 10 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-park-cash-2026 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-park-cash-2026 Cash is not for growing your wealth. It is for keeping some of it safe and instantly available. Get that job right, and stop leaving free interest, and free tax breaks, on the table. Thu, 06 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-4-percent-rule https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-4-percent-rule It is the most quoted number in early retirement. Trouble is, it was built on a century of American market history. Here is what it looks like once you run it through British reality. Mon, 03 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-scotland-marginal-rates https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-scotland-marginal-rates Scotland's top rate is advertised as beginning at £125,140. For anyone earning over £100,000 it begins nearly £8,400 earlier, and almost nobody mentions it. Mon, 03 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-salary-sacrifice https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-salary-sacrifice One tick on an HR form can cut your income tax and your National Insurance in the same stroke, and quietly hand back benefits you thought you had lost. So why do so few people use it? Wed, 29 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/research-marginal-tax-rates https://compoundmoney.co.uk/research-marginal-tax-rates The 60% tax trap between £100,000 and £125,140 is well known. Less understood is how it compounds with the Child Benefit charge and student loan repayments to produce marginal rates as high as 77%. This page maps every combination for the 2026/27 tax year, so you can find your own rate. Sat, 25 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/research-profession-tax-traps https://compoundmoney.co.uk/research-profession-tax-traps Most coverage of the 60% tax trap talks about abstract salary bands. We did something different: we took published national pay scales and mapped the actual pay points onto the 2026/27 tax bands. The result is that some entire career structures are built through the worst rates in the system. Sat, 25 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-1m-retire-early https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-1m-retire-early A million pounds is the headline figure everyone fixates on. The honest answer to "how much is enough" has almost nothing to do with it, and everything to do with your spending. Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-60-percent-tax-trap https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-60-percent-tax-trap It is the harshest marginal rate in the British tax system, it is almost entirely invisible on a payslip, and one pension contribution can make it disappear. Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-build-wealth-30s https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-build-wealth-30s Forget hustle-porn and hot stock tips. Real wealth is built by a handful of dull decisions, made early and repeated for decades. Here is the whole plan on one page. Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-frozen-tax-thresholds https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-frozen-tax-thresholds No rate has gone up, no politician has to announce anything, and yet almost everyone is paying more tax. Welcome to fiscal drag, the stealthiest tax rise there is. Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-global-index-fund https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-global-index-fund The most powerful investment strategy for ordinary people is also the laziest: buy the whole world, cheaply, and do nothing. Here's why it works. Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-hidden-fees https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-hidden-fees The most expensive number in investing is the one you never see leave your account. A single percentage point, compounded for a lifetime, is staggering. Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-isa-vs-pension https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-isa-vs-pension The most common question in British personal finance has a surprisingly simple answer, once you follow the money in the right order. Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-kill-expensive-debt https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-kill-expensive-debt Overpay the mortgage or top up the ISA? Clear the card or start investing? There is a right order, and it's decided by one number: guaranteed return. Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-lifetime-isa https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-lifetime-isa Up to £1,000 a year from the government towards a first home is genuinely one of the best deals in UK personal finance. It also has a penalty that catches people out. Both are worth understanding before you open one. Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-pay-yourself-first https://compoundmoney.co.uk/article-pay-yourself-first The single most effective money habit isn't budgeting harder. It's removing yourself from the decision entirely, with a few standing orders set to fire on payday. Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000