Worldwide Financial Planning

Debt is a matter to be taken seriously. It can take away one of your core emotional needs – autonomy. Let’s give you some awareness tips to help you, or potentially other people you may know, in this situation.

Media coverage fixated on the UK being in a bad place this week, with the government under pressure from the bond markets and the pound on the skids. Even setting aside the hysterical comparisons to Liz Truss’s disastrous time as prime minister, it is understandable that some people expected to see bond yields spike.

Plenty of people, even when financially secure, can get stuck in the mindset of “What if I lose it all?”, clutching their savings like a life raft, afraid to use their wealth for anything, even the basics like comfort or health.

Nothing significant has changed since 2024. The pre-Christmas messaging from the Federal Reserve and Bank of England was noticeably cooler on the
prospect of rate cuts and inflation had already ticked up. Weak Chinese growth and Donald Trump’s view that tariffs are the solution to almost
everything have been apparent for some time. So, what has changed to bring about the pessimistic mood in bond markets?

If you’ve ever carried debt, you’ll know it’s not just numbers on a spreadsheet or a balance to clear. Debt can feel like a dark cloud looming over your daily life, pulling at your mind in ways you might not even notice.

2024 was a transformative year for global markets, driven by AI-fueled optimism in equities, central banks shifting from rate hikes to cuts, and major geopolitical and political upheavals reshaping economies and investor sentiment worldwide.