Author: Martin Evans

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Fed blusters and delays US interest rate hike

The long awaited Federal Reserve decision to fire up US interest rates with another hike turned out to be a damp squib yet again. Fed chair Janet Yellen and her team of policymakers have hinted that the time is right to ratchet up the rate since the last rise from 0.25% to 0.5% in December 2015.

Despite sending signals and blowing smoke about putting interest rates up, the Fed has done nothing this year. The rate-setting committee only meets three more times before Christmas, including November when the USA goes to the polls to elect a new president. Traditionally, the Fed is unlikely to make such a major economic change.

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Dubai Property Prices Fall – But At A Slower Rate

Property prices in the glass and steel city of Dubai have fallen for the sixth quarter in a row. Home values dropped by 12% in the past year with prestige and luxury homes hit by the worst price declines. Prices were also down 2% in June compared to the first three months of the year, according to property specialists CBRE.

Rents were also down by close to 2% in the year to the end of June 2016. The firm blames the continuing property price slowdown on the strengthening US dollar and Brexit economic uncertainty unsettling the confidence of buyers.

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Saudis Demand Expats Take Out Private Health Cover

The Saudi Arabian government is at least taking steps to make health services more available to expats.

Health care is one of the most expensive expat hidden costs of moving to a new country – and can easily be overlooked.

The Saudis have set up a private health care insurance umbrella for expats with insurance companies linking up with more than 2500 hospitals to offer cover.

Although most expats from Europe and the USA to Saudi Arabia are typically high-paid consultants or diplomats, nearly seven out of 10 of the country’s population of population of 30 million are expats.

Most are from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and work in poorly paid jobs, often in bad conditions where they are exploited by local businesses.

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Gulf expats lost power and water subsidies

Expats in Kuwait face higher energy and water charges after the government voted to raise utility costs for foreign residents and businesses.

 Kuwaiti nationals and their businesses are exempt from the tax.

 The bill still has to pass the final hurdle in the Kuwaiti parliament at the end of April 2016.

 The proposal is to increase utility bills for apartments from 0.2 fils a kilowatt to 0.5 fils a kilowatt.

 The parliament heard that Kuwait pays $8.8 billion a year to subsidise water and power charges.

 The Kuwaiti government is also mulling over plans to put up petrol prices.

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Plunging Annuity Rates Hit Rock Bottom

Annuity rates are sinking without trace despite more retirement savers opting to turn their pensions into a guaranteed income for life.

Since April 2015, the income from an annuity has dropped by 10%, according to research from independent financial firm Moneyfacts.

Figures from the firm’s Personal Pension and Annuity Trends Treasury Report show that returns from the investments are at the lowest ever.

 The report looks at the size of pension funds and returns on annuities and compares them with those of a year ago.

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7 Reasons Why Women Don’t Have Enough Savings

 Women struggle to save enough to pay a decent income in retirement – but why is there a gender pension gap?

Salary is not the only factor.

Many women earn less than men even though they do the same job, but new research has found even when women earn the same as their male colleagues, they manage to save less money for retirement.

Only 52% of women over 30 years old earning at least £10,000 are putting enough money aside for retirement, compared to 60% of men.

Also, one in four are not saving anything – when the figure for men is nearer one in seven.

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Negative Interest Rates Good For The Price Of Gold

Negative interest rates are having a positive impact on gold prices, according to trade body The World Gold Council.

Statistics show that gold prices have surged by 16% since the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan cut some interest rates to below zero.

Policymakers see negative rates as tools for controlling pressure within the economy leading to deflation and a way of devaluing currencies.

The council argues negative interest rates are good for investors holding gold.

Historically, returns on investment during negative rate terms are double those at other times and investors should increase their gold holdings to take advantage of this, argues the council.

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World’s Top 10 Destinations For Expats

International removal specialists have drawn up a list of favourite destinations for British expats – and the list does not hold too many surprises.

The list of Commonwealth friends and European neighbours is interspersed with a couple of surprise locations.

So here is the Movehub list of countries expats choose for their new homes:

America

The USA is a surprise as the number one destination. The cities of San Diego, Phoenix and Miami are popular for sunshine, while many British expats cluster around the north east of the country near New York and Boston

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Budget 2016 – Osborne Means Business

Chancellor George Osborne piled a number of tax giveaways in the arms of small businesses in his Budget 2016.

On a day when he was feeling benign about helping entrepreneurs and business, the only taxpayers to really suffer were contractors who work for their own companies.

From April 2017, he contractor can no longer decide whether they pay tax under IR35 rules or more relaxed ordinary business profit and loss calculations.

Instead, the ‘end user’ makes the tax compliance decision, deducts the right amount of income tax and national insurance and leaves the contractor to argue the merits of the decision with HM Revenue and Customs.

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Tax Residence Is All Important For Expats

Taxes

 Leaving the UK to become an expat is easy – just jump on a boat, plane or train, but cutting tax ties is much harder.

While thousands of expats will be sitting down putting the finishing touches to their tax returns due for filing on January 31, many more will believe they are expats and do not owe the long arm of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) any money.

The problem is the term ’expat’ is a dictionary term for someone living in a country other than the one where they were born.

Under tax rules, the term means nothing but residence status means everything.

The conundrum is that it’s possible to live overseas for many years as an expat, but still remain tax resident in the UK.