In his first speech of 2023 last week, Rishi Sunak announced that he wishes to implement plans for all pupils to study maths until age 18.
Sunak’s Reasoning
Sunak is stressing the importance of numeracy as “our children’s jobs will require more analytical skills”.
He also said that he wants people to feel “more confident” when it comes to finances and mortgage deals. If this is the case, why not supply financial education instead?
Ambition without Substance
At this moment, Sunak’s plans seem entirely unattainable given that he’s failed to give any indication as to how they will be achieved.
There are no new qualifications immediately planned and no plan to make A levels compulsory
There is an enormous shortage of maths teachers. In 2021, there were under 36,000 maths teachers in English state secondary schools, compared to 39,000 English teachers and 45,000 science teachers. Sunak has not stated how he plans to magic up more maths teachers to carry out his plans
Sunak has not said what his plans will mean for those studying humanities or creative arts qualifications
Currently, it seems like more of an empty aspiration than a concrete plan…
The Importance of Financial Education
Whilst financial education and mathematics have areas of overlap, the two should not be conflated… they are not the same thing.
If Sunak’s plans go ahead, we need to make sure that this studying of maths is something that can actually be applied to the real world. Whilst a strong grasp of maths can help with aspects of financial management, such as budgeting, it does not overlap with all financial needs.
For example, studying maths might help you understand how percentages work. However, a financial education carries this even further as you can start using these percentages in the ‘real world’, such as with taxes. Instead of simply understanding the percentages of each tax band, you can know what to do if you are taxed wrong, what the different tax codes are, how to fill out your own self-assessment tax returns, and so much more.
Sunak says he wants people to feel “more confident” in managing their finances and understanding things like mortgage deals. In that case, surely we should be providing a meaningful financial education to pupils instead? Understanding the numbers is not enough…
If you want to read more about the importance of a meaningful financial education, click here.
by Red Star Wealth
Separation and divorce can be difficult enough without also having to worry about the effect on your finances.
Does Divorce Affect my Credit Score?
In isolation, being divorced does not affect your credit score. Your credit report does not take into account the legal status of your relationship.
However, divorce can massively disrupt people’s finances, which in turn can affect their credit scores if they start failing to make payments for bills and loans.
Additionally, many people have financial agreements in both spouse’s names when married, whether it be a utility bill or a mortgage. If you take out shared finance with someone else you are now financially associated, which does show up on your credit report.
Joint Accounts
As long as a joint account stays open with both names on it, both parties are legally responsible for it, including responsibility for any payments of bills and subscriptions.
If you break up with your partner or spouse and agreed they will make these payments and they fail to, you will also be held responsible for the missed payments.
Therefore, it is important that you close any shared accounts, or convert them into individual accounts. When divorcing, you will have to sort out the division of assets before doing this, which you can use a divorce mediator or solicitor to help with.
When you do close any joint accounts, make sure you make note of any direct deposits so that you can contact the parties involved to change the transactions to your account.
What is a Financial Association?
If you have joint finances or a joint credit account with another person, you are financially associated.
Financial association is not bound to marriage or cohabitation. Marrying someone or living with someone does not automatically make you financially associated. Because of this, when a relationship or marriage ends, the financial association does not automatically end with it.
Financial Associations and your Credit Report
Financial associations can have a big impact on your finances. This is because lenders can take into account the credit reports of your financial associations as well as yours. Any negative information against your financial associations’ names can therefore hurt your credit applications.
Financial associations will stay on your credit report indefinitely unless you request for them to be removed. If you break-up with someone or get divorced, your credit report won’t automatically update itself and remove your ex as a financial associate.
It’s important to note that financial associations cannot harm your credit score. Your credit score is personal and belongs completely to you to reflect your own creditworthiness. So, financial associations cannot affect your credit score itself, just the outcome of any credit applications you make.
Once you remove someone as a financial associate, their credit history doesn’t have a permanent mark on your finances where they’ve been able to lower your credit score.
Out with the Old and in with the New
Check all of your accounts even if you think they are solely in your name. If your ex is listed as an authorised user, ring the relevant account provider to remove them.
You can check your credit report to see if you want any financial associations removing. If you do, you should submit a disassociation request to the relevant credit agency.
The credit reference agency then has 28 days to respond. Therefore, it is best to remove associations as soon as you divorce or separate, rather than waiting until you are trying to apply for credit.
by Red Star Wealth
As we are coming up to a new year, you might be thinking of making some changes to help improve your financial stability and happiness. Let’s have a look at some New Year’s Resolutions you can make to do so…
Prioritise my own Mental and Financial Wellbeing
Don’t stretch yourself too thin in order to please or impress other people. You are the main character in your own book of life!
Improve my Credit Score
A good credit score means you are more likely to be approved for loans and be offered lower interest rates on repayments. This resolution is particularly worth considering if you are thinking of getting something like a mortgage in the next few years. Some examples of steps you can take to improve your credit score are registering on the electoral roll and paying your credit card balance in full every month
Pay off More than the Minimum Payment each Month on my Credit Card
Even if you don’t pay the full balance, paying for than the minimum required payment is a good idea. This is because you reduce the amount of time you will be stuck making repayments and being charged interest. We talk more about credit cards on our sister company’s blog…
Increase my Pension Contributions
Pensions work on a system of compound interest so the earlier you start building your pension pot, the more it will be able to grow over time. If you are able to, increasing your pension contributions is definitely worth considering, especially if you are a woman… let’s close that gender pensions gap!
Build my Savings
Whether you’ve got something in mind you want to save up for or just want to create an emergency fund, savings are really important. LINK It sometimes seems impossible to save money because we think ‘too big’. For example, you might have a goal to save £1,000, but it seems unmanageable. However, when we break it down in terms of the amount we would need to save each week or month, it seems less daunting and more achievable. Maybe you could start by getting an un-openable tin money box, or enabling the round up transaction feature on your online banking if your bank offers this
Don’t open any New Credit Cards
Try not to increase your debt!
Tackle my Debt
Is 2023 the year of going debt free? One way of managing your debt is to pay off the ones with the highest interest rates first, in order to slow the rate of growth of the money you owe. It’s also worth checking out:
