Complex Algebra or Rates of Income Tax?

You’ve probably heard of the term ‘adulting’. I’ve heard it used when it comes to moving house, buying a car, getting life insurance, booking a boiler service, the list could go on.

In the same breath, I hear people saying they wish they’d been taught more life skills in schools as opposed to complex algebra that few (there will be some that do) of us use in our daily life.

This lead me on to thinking about key skills that young people could benefit from being taught in school or college. If I were to ask a 14-year-old what the minimum hourly wage is, would they know the answer? Would they even know where to look to get that information? I know I didn’t when I started my first job as a waitress in Brewsters (Brewer’s Fayre).

Self-employment and flexible employment is on the rise and this is reflected in the number of people joining our umbrella solution on a weekly basis, and those longer-term contractors that are setting up a limited company; but setting up a limited company or working out how much money you need to set aside to pay your tax bill are not things that our clients were taught in school. Were you?

The number of self-employed increased from 3.3 million people (12.0% of the labour force) in 2001 to 4.8 million (15.1% of the labour force) in 2017. [Office of National Statistics.]

Money can be a challenging topic for people to discuss openly but we are seeing shifts in people talking about it. Take a look at The Money Girl, the first Social Enterprise in the UK set up by female millennials to improve the Financial Literacy amongst young women under 35 and Vestpod, “here to teach you everything you’ve never learnt about money.”

We all need financial education, thank you @HarrietAgnew @FT for the interview ? @VestPod https://t.co/jZ6Np4M6al

— Emilie Bellet (@emilieldn) May 10, 2019

Each UK household has an average of £2,688 unpaid on credit cards, with the Money Advice Service saying that 8.3m of us are over-indebted. [Source: The Motley Fool]

We also know that some people’s strengths lie well away from the numbers but that shouldn’t leave them feeling disempowered.

At ICS, we want our clients to feel empowered and this is the same for young people who are yet to get their first job. On our blog we hope to address common myths and give useful advice – helping you to feel informed, not overwhelmed. When it comes to sharing this with young people, we’ve got some ideas which we’ll share in the coming months.

For now, why not have a go at this ;)
5(- 3x – 2) – (x – 3) = -4(4x + 5) + 13

Instead, you could click here to view the 2019/20 tax factcard including tax rates, NI contributions and statutory payments.