Podcast Summary
Finding Hidden Talent on LinkedIn and Investing in Stocks for Income: LinkedIn is a platform for discovering potential candidates for small businesses and investors seek income from stocks, including consumer staples and utilities, but dividend reliability is uncertain, while Brexit offers a currency boost and unconventional assets/investment trusts are popular for income generation.
LinkedIn is a valuable resource for finding professionals who aren't actively looking for new jobs but could still be great candidates for your small business. Sandra, the professional mentioned in the discussion, wasn't found through other job sites, but on LinkedIn. Additionally, investors seeking secure income streams are turning to stocks that behave like bonds, such as consumer staples and utilities, due to the low interest rates. However, the reliability of income from these stocks' dividends is questionable, with several high-profile companies cutting their dividends in recent years. Despite this, Brexit has provided a small boost for investors through the weaker currency. Another trend is the exploration of unconventional assets and investment trusts for income generation.
Investment trusts offer attractive yields from illiquid assets: Investment trusts provide access to illiquid assets, such as infrastructure and student accommodation, offering attractive yields. HMRC proposes a new approach to simplify tax process for freelancers with Making Tax Digital initiative.
Investment trusts offer a way for fund managers to invest in illiquid assets, such as infrastructure, renewable energy, peer-to-peer lending, and even student accommodation, providing attractive yields. For instance, Empiric Student Property yields 5.2%, and an infrastructure fund offers a 4.5% yield. However, as demand increases and share prices rise, dividend yields can be affected. Fund managers are constantly seeking the next popular asset class, with some currently considering private equity investment trusts. While these investments can offer higher returns, they come with increased risk. Meanwhile, HMRC is proposing a new approach to encourage tax compliance among self-employed workers and freelancers. The Making Tax Digital initiative aims to have all taxpayers make quarterly returns instead of annual ones, and pay taxes as they go through the year via a smartphone app. This voluntary option is intended to help freelancers avoid tax-related issues and simplify their tax process.
New UK tax system concerns for smaller businesses: New tax system raises doubts for smaller businesses due to potential implementation issues, assessment errors, and concerns over security and ease of use.
The rollout of the new tax system in the UK, which starts with self-employed individuals and unincorporated businesses, has raised concerns about its implementation and potential issues for certain types of businesses. Andy Chamberlain, deputy director of the Institute for Self-Employed Professionals (IPSE), expressed doubts about the wisdom of starting with smaller businesses, suggesting that larger ones with more resources might have been better equipped to handle the change. He also raised concerns about the speed of implementation, potential assessment errors for seasonal businesses, and the ease of getting refunds. Additionally, there are questions about the security and ease of the new system, particularly regarding potential money laundering concerns and the ease of making payments versus getting refunds. While the intent of the new system is to simplify tax reporting, there are still many unanswered questions and potential challenges that need to be addressed.
Reducing wasted medical research funding: Donors can influence the reduction of wasted research funding by funding only researchers who commit to reporting the results of all their research
A significant portion of medical research funding, estimated to be around $170 billion globally and $85 billion in the US alone, is being wasted. This is due to several issues, including research asking the wrong questions, poorly designed studies, and lack of reporting of research results. Sheila Lane from Sense About Science emphasized that while it's great that people donate to medical research, it's essential to ensure that the contributions are not going to waste. People who donate have the power to influence this by funding only researchers who report the results of all their previous research and commit to reporting the results of their current research. This simple yet effective step can help reduce the amount of wasted research funding and ensure that research is conducted efficiently and effectively.
Effectively funding medical research: Build on existing knowledge, ensure well-designed studies, and ask for a comprehensive account of previous research to avoid duplication, increase likelihood of answering important questions, and lead to more impactful research outcomes.
Key takeaway from the discussion with Sheila Lane, director of campaigns and policy at Sense About Science, is that when it comes to effectively funding medical research, it's crucial for organizations to build on existing knowledge, ensure well-designed studies, and ask for a comprehensive account of previous research. By doing so, they can avoid duplicating efforts, increase the likelihood of answering important questions, and ultimately, lead to more impactful research outcomes. Additionally, listeners can look forward to articles on pension misbuying, saving for first properties, and house price trends in the weekend's Money section of the Financial Times.
