\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Chancellor is doing everything possible to get me to spend, but look around: can you blame me for saving for a rainy day?\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n
I was first introduced to the supposed ancient Chinese curse \u201cmay you live in interesting times\u201d at 12 years old, following the 9\/11 attacks on New York, and the feeling that the world we had grown up in had permanently tilted on its axis. I later learned that the Chinese origins of the phrase are dubious \u2013 it was probably coined by British politicians facing fast-moving events of their own \u2013 but still, it has become apt for my millennial generation<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2008, I walked up Northumberland Street in the centre of Newcastle on my way to my university Freshers week, practically as savers queued outside Northern Rock to try and remove their money after the Bank of England pulled its support for the lender.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like many people now in their mid-30s, I studied for my degree<\/a> under the shadow of the global financial crisis, and graduated into a labour market trying to figure out how it would cope with the new norms. In the summer of 2010, as I walked across the stage to collect my degree, the coalition government began implementing its policy of austerity.\u00a0<\/p>\n New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n I have always been cautious with money \u2013 thanks to my parents having to scrimp and save to provide a comfortable life for me as a child \u2013 and have never been a spender. Preferring to save<\/a> for when I want a new iPad or a more plush holiday than a Jet2 getaway. Given my tendency not to splash out, beyond a weekly meal out, I try to put money away for a rainy day. As I grew into adulthood, this mindset was beneficial, as the chaotic events kept on coming.<\/p>\n By 2016, I was in my mid-20s when older parts of the population \u2013 many retirees who\u2019d already made their money and were sitting pretty \u2013 helped take us out of the European Union with the Brexit vote. Still struggling with the consequences of austerity, prices went up and got higher right as I began to have more disposable income and became more secure in my job.<\/p>\n We officially left the EU in January 2020, my 30th year on the planet, as the Covid pandemic struck and sent the economy into a nosedive. Combined, it\u2019s something we\u2019re all still financially (and in other ways) recovering from half a decade later.<\/p>\n Now, as I reach my mid-30s and am trying to settle down and start a family, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves has put in place, seemingly, yet another financial roadblock for millennials<\/a> to try and swerve; another mountain to climb. Is it little wonder my generation is exhausted from it all?<\/p>\n Combined, the changes implemented in the recent Budget mean that those earning \u00a352,000 will reportedly be the biggest losers, rather than the uber rich. That\u2019s down to a purported \u201ctriple-whammy\u201d of tax changes: freezing income tax thresholds, holding firm the salary point at which you start to pay back student loans and reducing the level at which you can contribute to your pension through salary sacrifice schemes.<\/p>\n This will have an impact on my ability to reduce my net income, something I\u2019ve taken advantage of as my career has developed yet tax thresholds have remained static. Being dragged anywhere isn\u2019t a pleasant experience, and fiscal drag is no different.<\/p>\n In making these choices, I feel like Reeves is targeting people like me: middle-aged, mid-career millennials who have tried to be sensible with their cash and savings \u2013 a consequence of living through too many rainy days in our lifetime already.<\/p>\n By slashing the amount available to save into a cash ISA<\/a> if you\u2019re under 65 \u2013 from April 2027 \u2013 we\u2019re being compelled either to take higher-risk bets by investing in the stock market, or see opportunities to try and save for retirement dwindle.<\/p>\n Of course, the Chancellor\u2019s goal in doing so is to unlock cash that is increasingly being put into bank accounts and isn\u2019t washing through the economy, with the goal of stimulating spending.<\/p>\n More than a third of households tell the Bank of England they\u2019re saving more than usual because of a \u201cgreater worry about emergencies\u201d. The Bank itself said \u201cmeasures of uncertainty have, on average, been much higher over the past five years than in the previous decade.\u201d<\/p>\n