Worldwide Financial Planning

The common sticky misconception of a secured loan is its cost. In the old days, a secured loan was always significantly more expensive than a mortgage and often the last port of call, but costs are very different now, as is the competitiveness of loans.

In the US, the job market remains healthy and doesn’t suggest a recession is imminent, although a closer look does reveal a few signs of weakness. In Europe, the European Central Bank was at pains to stress that it doesn’t intend to change course whatever the data, at least for now.

The total UK credit card debt stands at over £200 billion. The average credit card rate is just over 23 per cent giving a total credit card interest of over £44 billion a year. This would cover the wage demand for the extra needed for nurses three times over.

Inflation in the US continued to slow, although it remains far too high still, employment growth is still strong, although not as strong as it was, and the UK and Europe are growing a bit more than expected.

In the last 35 years of financial planning, there have been one or two scenarios where we have had to set financial plans for the customer. Whether the customer is very wealthy, or without a penny at the end of the month, the strategy is broadly the same.

There are further indications that inflation may have peaked, while the US Fed has been busy telling markets that they are not taking its willingness to tackle inflation seriously enough. Other themes from 2022 which are likely to continue this year are the UK economy is set to lag other developed nations, while Covid retains the potential to disrupt the global economy due to its impact in China.