Worldwide Financial Planning

In monthly terms, CPI was 0.3% (consensus: 0.1%), compared to 0.6% in March. Similarly, core CPI inflation (ex-energy, food, alcohol and tobacco) came in at 3.9% (consensus: 3.6%) vs 4.2% in March.

After three months of CPI creeping up, the small decline allowed traders to breathe a little easier, allowed the recent rally in government bonds to continue and added to the equity rally that only a few weeks ago appeared to be running out of steam. Potentially more significant is the slight slowdown in US consumer spending.

Owning a home will give you the most control, however. A little improvement alteration here and there on a rented property will be fine, but bigger changes are wasted money and may not even be allowed.

This needs to be kept in context as the economy is around 0.2% bigger than this time last year, but at least this is going in the right direction. This will no doubt be welcomed by Rishi Sunak who can chalk off another of his five pledges, although progress on the remaining three remains elusive.

Retiring just as the market takes a nosedive is like parachuting into a storm. It’s known as sequence of returns risk and poor timing can jeopardise the longevity of your savings.

This week has brought some much needed clarity on two big issues: How closely does the market’s view of inflation match the Federal Reserve’s? And, how bad are Rishi Sunak’s chances of re-election?