16 The Sunday Times February 13, 2022
MONEY
Contact us Money,
The Sunday Times,
1 London Bridge Street,
London SE1 9GFThe amount
saved with the
Treasury-backed
NS&I bankSource: Bank of EnglandValue of notes in circulation
£5 £10 £20 £502014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021£80bn6040200Considering that we
are becoming an
increasingly cashless
society, there are still a
lot of banknotes —
581 million more £5,
£10, £20 and £50
notes last year than in
2020, according to
Bank of England tallies
on the last day of
February. There was a
380 million increase in
£20s after the release
of the new polymer
note featuring the
artist JMW Turner.CHART OF THE WEEK MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
£205bn
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or call him on 07917 598422HMRC is answering one in
four letters and emails from
taxpayers within its target
time of 15 working days.
The tax office has given
poor customer service during
the pandemic, with staff
consistently missing targets
for answering the phone and
replying to correspondence.
Its latest performance
update, covering October to
December 2021, showed that
in December 24.2 per cent ofSlowly, slowly the taxman cometh
697,500 letters or emails
about personal taxation had a
reply within 15 days. This is
worse than November, when
it was 27.8 per cent, and
October (36.5 per cent). By
contrast, in September 2020
the figure was 74 per cent.
The department’s call
centre performance has
improved, however. One in
five callers (17.7 per cent)
never got through at all in the
last quarter of 2021 compared
with 25.8 per cent in the first
quarter. HMRC said: “We aresorry that we haven’t been
able to get to people more
quickly and thank them for
bearing with us.”
On Friday, the House of
Commons Public Accounts
Committee published a
report listing a “litany of long-
standing concerns” about
HMRC, including its poor
customer service, the late-
running Making Tax Digital
programme, and the billions
of pounds stolen from the
department’s Covid-19
support schemes.David ByersNow you can borrow 5.5 times your pay
First-time buyers now need
only a 5 per cent deposit to
borrow five and a half times
their income from
Nationwide.
The five-year deal was
previously available only to
those with a 10 per cent
deposit. Those with a 5 per
cent deposit will pay an
interest rate of 3.49 per cent
but it goes down to 2.64 percent if you have 10 per cent
equity. On a £200,000 loan
over 30 years, you would pay
£896.97 a month at 3.49 per
cent and £804.88 at 2.64 per
cent.
The catch is that you can
only borrow up to £275,000.
This may exclude first-time
buyers in some areas. Homes
cost an average of £308,000
in the South West of England,
£336,000 in the East,
£369,000 in the South Eastand £520,000 in London,
£183,000 in Scotland and
£200,000 in Wales,
according to official statistics
from November. The average
price for the UK as a whole is
£270,000.
Borrowers seeking the
Nationwide deal must earn at
least £31,000 a year if buying
solely or £50,000 together if
buying jointly. It is not open
to the self-employed or on
new-build homes.George NixonA
imee Fuller represented
Great Britain at two Winter
Olympics and is now
presenting the BBC’s
coverage of the Beijing
Games alongside Clare
Balding. Fuller, 30, was the
first woman to land a double
back flip at the X Games, an
annual extreme sports
event. She grew up in Kent, the United
States and Belfast, and now lives in
London. Since retiring from
snowboarding a year ago she has worked
for the Olympic Channel and the BBC’s
Ski Sunday. She has a sports podcast,
Monday Mile, and presents the BBC
podcast The Olympic Mile, which is on
Radio 5 Live during the Games.How much money is in your purse?
I usually have £20 on me in case I’m at a
bar with friends and we split the bill so I
can say: “Hey mate, here’s 20.”Do you prefer debit or credit cards?
I prefer Apple Pay because I’m always on
the go and in different locations.Are you a saver or a spender?
My aim has always been to work hard so
that I have financial freedom to get
something without feeling guilty. My last
big-ticket buy was a super-rowdy £1,200
leopard print jacket from Bicester Village— very much up my street. I like going
shopping sometimes and often buy stuff
when I’m just having a [retail] cruise.Do you own a property?
I own two in Belfast, which I rent out. I
bought the first, a four-bedroom house
close to the waterfront, three years ago
for a medium six-figure sum. I’ve also got
a four-bedroom terraced house in the
city, which cost a lower six-figure sum.
The rental income covers the mortgage
and helps pay rent on my flat in London.Are you better off than your parents?
It depends what better off means really.
My younger brother, Josh, and I had an
adventurous, outdoorsy, relatively
comfortable upbringing. I imagine that
my mum and dad, who run a holiday
home letting business in Belfast, have
more assets than me. Josh, who had a
mobile barber’s, has a new property
business, Fuller Homes, and is managing
my Belfast properties for me.What was your first job?
Professional snowboarder. I got
sponsored aged 16 by Roxy [part of the
Boardriders surf and boardwear
company that also owns Quicksilver],
just as I was applying for a job in the
local Tesco. Its one-year, £3,000
sponsorship enabled me to travel, so I
got to take part in tournaments where Icould win a bit of prize money — a few
thousand pounds. I’m still sponsored by
Roxy, but my contract changed quite
substantially when I became an
international athlete and the global face
of the brand.How much did you earn last year?
The lockdowns forced me to get
creative, and last March I started my
podcast. I invested in it, which helpedattract new brand deals, so managed to
stay in a broadly similar earnings bracket.When did you first feel wealthy?
I first felt financially comfortable at 20,
by which time I was securing valuable
sponsorship deals, allowing me to
pursue my passion while enjoying a
good standard of living.Have you ever worried about
making ends meet?
In 2009 I didn’t have enough money for
a competition in Europe. So a friend
invited me to hitch a lift with her and
sleep on the sofa in her hotel room. I
went on to win the competition and
prize money and so hit the incentives in
my sponsorship deal, securing a four-
figure bonus. Back in the day I’d also getAfter collecting a stash of prizes, a few broken bones
and some flash watches, the Olympic snowboarder
has made the leap into TV, she tells York Membery
What’s best for retirement —
property or pension?
I haven’t got a pension so let’s hope it’s
property!What was your best investment?
My personal Monday Mile podcast,
which isn’t sponsored by any brands. I
put my own money in, worked with a
cameraman and a graphic designer to
get it off the ground. That has driven lots
of opportunities.What has been your
best business decision?
Retiring from snowboarding. It’s a
dangerous sport; it’s not a matter of if
but when you get hurt and I fractured
my eye socket and broke my coccyx, ribs
and collarbone. So to move on and find
something — TV — that gives me the same
adrenaline rush has been fantastic.What about your worst investment?
A pair of £900 Louis Vuitton designer
trainers. They were white for a day.
Then I went for a bike ride through
London and destroyed them. Hopefully
I’ll learn one day!What’s your money weakness?
Eating out with my friends three or four
times a week, which probably sets me
back £150-£200. But it’s also a chance to
nurture your soul and be social, which is
good for your mental health,
particularly at times like these. Maybe I
should do a bit more cooking at home?Your most extravagant purchase?
Probably my collection of watches,
which cost between £4,500 and £12,500
each. I started investing in watches
when I first won prize money and now
have a nice collection. Another
extravagant spend was my £1,200
Burberry leather jacket. I only wear it
once in a while, but when I do it always
makes me feel special.What’s your financial
priority now?
Buying more properties so that
I can make a living from the rental
yield; everything else will be a bonus.
My long-term goal is to buy five rental
properties in Belfast and another in
London that will be my home.What if you won the lottery?
I’d buy my mum and dad their dream
house — a box-fresh new-build down by
the seafront in Belfast, and give my
brother some money so he can get a
place in the Holywood Hills, Co Down.
I’d also support the charity Campaign
Against Living Miserably. We sadly lost
one of our snowboard coaches to a
mental health issue some years ago.What is the most important lesson
you’ve learnt about money?
I believe in chasing the opportunity
rather than the immediate financial
gain. You need to think of the bigger
picture and assess how something is
going to impact your career long-term.Fear Less, Live More by Aimee Fuller is
published by Aster at £12.99FAME AND FORTUNE AIMEE FULLER
My last
big-ticket
buy was
a super-
rowdy
£1,200
leopard
jacket —
very
much up
my street
‘I eat out with
friends three
times a week.
It’s nurture
for your soul’
a bonus if I made the cover of a
snowboarding magazine.What has been your most
lucrative work?
Some of the one-off ambassadorial gigs
I’ve done for companies like Procter &
Gamble have been quite lucrative, but
it’s the long-term partnerships that I’ve
built up with sponsors such as Roxy and
Barebells [makers of protein bars and
shakes] that have ultimately been the
most rewarding. The biggest game-
changer was appearing at the Winter
Olympics and the increased profile it
gave me — it’s an event guaranteed to put
your name on the main stage.Do you invest in shares?
No, I’m more interested in property.Aimee Fuller owns two homes in Belfast, but doesn’t have a pensionNICK EAGLE/BBC CREATIVE*