As a nation, we are all earning more money than ever before. Of course, if you were still earning the £5 weekly wage you took him in 1962, you would be les than pleased. You would be angry and you would be destitute.

In terms of numbers, we are coining it in; but in real terms, things are not getting better. And one of the main reasons is the rising tax burden. The more we earn, the more we pay in taxes, and although Gordon Brown has not brought back the 98% upper rate for income tax of his predecessors (yet), he is taking an ever-larger slice of your pie.

The uppermost rate of income tax is at 40%, and has been so since 1997, when the present government were first voted into power. But since the average wage has also gone up, it means that the canny Government has been catching more money in his net.

When National Insurance contributions rose by 1%, one in ten of you started paying 41% of your income in tax.

Play The System

If you are married, and your partner is earning less and is on a lower band of tax, put the investments in their name. If you sell an investment, releasing the paper profit, you are liable for capital-gains tax on profits.

If you move the investments into your spouse’s name, you can sell them and save the tax. And if they’re using their full quota, you could protect over £15,000 from the Government’s grubby, grasping paws.

You can also invest in your pension. News of late has not exactly made this option all that attractive, but it makes sense. The under 35s can put 17.5% of taxable earnings in a pension, rising to 40% for the over 61s.

Play smart and play clever - because the Rulers are playing with a very loaded deck.

Via [HM Revenue & Customs; Income tax rates]

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