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  • 📝 Why you should write a will in your 30s (+ how) 🚉 Rail rage: how to save + 👩‍🦰 FTSE Women in Leadership

📝 Why you should write a will in your 30s (+ how) 🚉 Rail rage: how to save + 👩‍🦰 FTSE Women in Leadership

The 99 - 10 February 2025

March 03, 2025

Good morning and welcome to The 99: the home of financial news and insights made simple. You can count on accessible, trustworthy, and unbiased news insights every Monday.

This week, you’ll find your usual round-up of must-know financial stories, plus:

  • The free will campaign is back! Last Autumn we worked with the brilliant team at Octopus Legacy to give anyone who wants one, a free will in partnership with charities across the UK - with the GFY community raising £1,298,190 for charity through gifts left in wills 🎉🎉🎉 

    • The campaign is back meaning you can write or update your will for FREE using GFY’s link until 31st March. 

      Also, this year we’ll be sharing even more content to support you when will writing AND sorting your Lasting Power of Attorney.

      You can write your will 👩‍💻 Online, 📲 Over the phone, or 👥 face-to-face

    • The cost of the will is covered by whichever charity you choose, saving you up to £150 – many choose to leave a gift to charity as a thank you - but it isn’t required to claim the free will offer.

  • Why You Should Write a Will in Your Thirties and How to Do It

  • Why You Should Sort Your Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) Today

Struggling to view the whole email? Somewhere above this text you’ll see ‘view on web’.

As always, if you have any feedback, questions or content requests, just reply to this email. We would love to hear from you.

Alice & the GFY team x

Lookout

27%

of women in the UK feel confident in financial decision making compared to

40% of men

That’s according to new research commissioned by Mastercard ahead of International Women’s Day 2025.

The study was commissioned by Mastercard, with fieldwork conducted by independent research agency, Opinium. 42,500 general population (21,000 within Europe, 2,000 within UK).

Keir Starmer’s visit to the White House + Trade deal

The UK PM 🇬🇧, Keir Starmer met with the U.S. President 🇺🇸 Donald Trump at the White House last week Thursday (Feb 27); the PM’s first visit to the White House since Trump’s inauguration in Jan 2025.

The PM presented Donald Trump with a letter from King Charles III inviting him to the UK for a state visit*, which he accepted.

*State Visit - A state visit is a formal visit where monarchs, presidents or prime ministers are invited to meet the King - it is the highest level of international visit, and its purpose is to confirm the good relationship between the countries concerned.

What did they discuss?

  1. 👌Maintaining the relationship between the US & the UK,  the nature of the relationship between both nations, and their commitment to shared security and prosperity.

  1. 🤝 A ‘US/UK’ Fair Trade Deal i.e., how both countries enjoy a fair, balanced and reciprocal economic relationship and how they would work together to agree a trade deal focused on tech, highlighting a possible deal without tariffs.

  1. 🪖 🕊️ The Russia Ukraine Lasting Peace Talks to be achieved by collaboration. The PM reiterated the UK’s commitment to supporting Ukraine’s future security.  Also, informing Trump of the decision to lift the UK’s defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027.

  1. 🚩 Chagos Island Deal* transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, where the US has a critical military base, to Mauritius; which was backed by President Trump.

*The Chagos Island deal refers to an agreement between the UK and Mauritius to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius. This agreement allows for the continued operation of the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.

Responses from both leaders 

🇺🇸 Donald Trump: “The US & The UK have a special relationship, like no other, passed down through centuries and we're keen to keep it that way”...I think we could very well end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn't be necessary. We'll see”. 

🇬🇧 Keir Starmer: "This has been a very good and very productive visit and it's good to know that the UK has a true friend in the Oval Office”. He also praised Trump for his role in working towards peace in Ukraine and that he had created a moment of ‘tremendous’ opportunity.

Overall… A positive outlook

  • The visit seemed positive and has been well received by both countries, also cementing Sir Keir and President Trump's personal relationship, with possibilities of a fair trade deal without tariffs for the UK. 

  • Analysts and political commentators have noted that the UK is in a good position to become a bridge between the U.S. and Europe following deteriorating relations, due to the Russia Ukraine conflict and US threats to impose trade tariffs on the EU.

Update on US Tariffs: Donald Trump going ahead with the Trade Tariffs + Other  Reciprocal Tariffs 

↪️ Recap:

  • The US President, Donald Trump had announced a 25% tariff on all goods coming from Mexico and Canada, with a 10% on Canadian energy products, and an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports and in response, Canada and Mexico announced counter tariffs on US goods.

  • His intention is to use the tariffs as a tool to tackle illegal migration, smuggling of opioid fentanyl and other drugs to the US, and to reduce or control the US trade deficit*. 

*Trade Deficit - when a country buys or imports more than it sells or exports, also known as a trade imbalance.

  • Subsequently, the tariffs were suspended for 30 days following last minute negotations with Canada & Mexico.

⌛ Update:

  • However, Donald Trump announced that his proposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods will now take effect on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, along with an extra 10% duty on Chinese imports.

  • He stated he was going ahead with the proposed tariffs and the additional tariff on China due to insufficient progress on curbing fentanyl flows in the U.S.

  • According to Reuters, Canadian and Mexican officials were set to meet with Trump administration counterparts on Thursday and Friday, to prevent these tariffs which could greatly affect the North American economy.

  • Donald Trump is also expected to announce further “reciprocal tariffs” across the world on April 2, following the investigation into tariffs and balancing US trade with other countries, especially for countries which have higher tariff rates on US exports, when compared to the US tariffs on their imports.

Rail rage: annual price rise hits travellers

💸 National rail and TfL Underground fares have increased by 4.6% from Sunday 2nd March, 1% above July’s Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation rate of 3.6%.

Regulated fares, such as commuter season tickets, certain off-peak return tickets for long-distance travel, and flexible tickets within major cities, will all be affected.

The government has described this rise as “the lowest absolute increase in three years,” though fares in the past two years rose below RPI inflation.

Since 2013, regulated fares have only exceeded RPI inflation once, in 2021, when the industry suffered significant revenue loss due to the pandemic.

🚀 Why are fares rising?

  • About 45% of fares on Britain’s railways are regulated by the Westminster, Scottish and Welsh governments.

  • The government links regulated rail fares with the RPI, meaning that fares generally go up in line with the cost of living.

  • There’s often an extra percentage point added to fund infrastructure improvements and maintain the network.

🚊 Response

Campaigners have raised concerns, with Campaign for Better Transport stating that higher fares makes public transport less attractive and affordable, hindering efforts to tackle climate change, congestion, and air pollution.

Andy Bagnall, chief executive of Rail Partners, agreed, arguing that “the focus must be on growing passenger numbers, not making current passengers pay more.”

📈 What the fare hike means for you

  • A single Tube journey within Zone 1 has increased from £2.80 to £2.90 at peak times and from £2.70 to £2.80 off-peak.

  • A Zone 1-4 Tube journey is up by 20p, now £4.60 at peak times and £3.40 off-peak.

  • ScotRail fares will increase by 3.8% from April 1, while some regulated fares on Transport for Wales’ network could increase by as much as 6%.

  • Most railcards will now cost £35 per year, up from £30. The railcard for disabled passengers won’t change.

🛟 How to save on train travel

1.      Railcards: Although it’s too late to beat the railcard price rise, they still offer a third off fares if you travel frequently. There are nine main types of Railcards available, including the Network Railcard, which is for anyone over 16 travelling in the designated area, mostly in the Southeast of England.

2.      Book ahead: Booking around 12 weeks in advance is often the best way to secure a discount.

3.      Splitsave: Split your ticket into different segments to find the cheapest fare - apps like Trainline apply this automatically, though be aware of potential fees.

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Progress and Challenges: Women in Leadership Roles in UK Companies – 2025 Review

A new report by the FTSE Women Leaders Review has revealed that women now hold almost 45% of positions on company boards of FTSE 100 companies.

Looking across FTSE 350 companies, more than 43% of board roles are now held by women.  This puts the FTSE 350 in second place for progress on women on boards compared to other G7 countries, with France taking top spot.

‘FTSE’ stands for ‘Financial Times Stock Exchange’ and is the index of the biggest listed companies in the UK.

About The Review:

The Review started in 2011, in partnership with UK Government and currently sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group and KPMG.

The 2025 report has been published shortly ahead of International Women’s Day (March 8th); an opportunity to reflect on representation of women in senior positions in UK businesses, as well as wider actions and awareness of gender equality topics.

Companies in the FTSE 100 which currently have the highest number of women on boards:

(based on data 10th January 2025)

Companies with women on their boards:

Of the companies in the FTSE 100 with the highest market capitalisation (the market value of a listed company), the women on boards stats are:

  • AstraZeneca (42.9%)

  • HSBC Holdings (57.1%)

  • Shell (41.7%)

  • Unilever (40%)

  • Rio Tinto (42.9%).

None of these companies currently have a woman as CEO, but some are making progress in representation in other key roles.

GSK, Taylor Wimpey, Aviva, Diageo, Severn Trent, United Utilities, Vodafone, Admiral Group, and BT all have women in the CEO seat.

Entain, the company which owns bookmakers including Ladbrokes and Foxy Bingo, has Stella David as its interim chief executive.

There is still progress to be made more widely on women in CEO positions and the other ‘key roles’; Chair, Senior Independent Director, and Finance Director. This is one of the key recommendations in the report, as well as:

  • increased target aiming for gender balance

  • locking in progress on FTSE 350 Boards

  • encouraging progress across a wider spectrum of British business (e.g. more private companies)

“We must break down the barriers that stop many women being represented in decision-making roles, so that top talent reaches the highest levels of leadership in businesses driving economic growth across Britain” –

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves.

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Sources/Read More:

Keir Starmer’s visit to the White House & Trade deal

Rail rage: annual price rise

Women in Leadership Roles (progress & challenges)