With next month’s Budget fast approaching, speculation over what the Chancellor might announce is already starting to shape financial decisions.
But history suggests that acting on rumours before the red box is opened on 28 October can leave people worse off.
From taking pension cash early to selling investments, rushing into gifts or simply sitting on cash instead of investing it, experts warn that trying to second-guess John Healey’s plan can turn an understandable desire for certainty into an expensive mistake.
Shorts
There has been plenty of Budget speculation in previous years, with rumours of changes to pension rules and taxes prompting people to bring financial decisions forward. In some cases, the changes never materialised.
