As we continue to take stock of the budget and its impacts across the generations, the chancellor has confirmed a certain tax break for pensioners – but there is a caveat. Scroll down to find out more – where we’ll also bring you the latest consumer and personal finance news.
Friday 28 November 2025 12:45, UK
Beer giant Asahi says the personal details of 1.52 million customers may have been leaked in a cyberattack.
Information on 114,000 contacts and 275,000 current and former employees and their families may also have been exposed on 29 September.
The attack caused widespread outages in order processing, shipping and call centres, as Asahi joined a growing list of victims of cybercrime in recent months, including other big brands like M&S, Co-op and Jaguar Land Rover.
Asahi, which also owns Fuller’s Brewery in the UK and European brands like Peroni, said the attackers breached its data centre and deployed ransomware.
At risk are the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of customers who contacted the customer service centres of Asahi Breweries, Asahi Soft Drinks and Asahi Group Foods.
Credit card details were not included in Asahi’s list of leaked data.
People relying on the state pension will not pay income tax, the chancellor has revealed.
The full state pension will soon be worth more than the tax-free personal allowance, but pensioners will be exempt if it’s their only source of income, Rachel Reeves said.
They won’t have to fill in a tax return form either, she told ITV’s The Martin Lewis Money Show.
“I make that commitment for this Parliament,” she said.
The state pension stands at £11,973 annually and, due to a policy known as the “triple lock”, will increase by 2.5% each year.
This means that it will soon exceed the proportion of your income you’re allowed to earn tax-free, £12,570.
“You’re right, 2027 looks like the time that it will cross over,” Reeves said.
“We are working on a solution, as we speak, to ensure that we’re not going after tiny amounts of money.”
But she declined to make the same promise for pensioners who have other small sources of income.
By Daniel Binns, business reporter
The FTSE 100 is up slightly this morning, as the markets continue to respond positively to the chancellor’s budget this week.
Retailers will also be hoping for a boost today, as shoppers take advantage of Black Friday offers.
The calm this morning has also been helped by US markets closing yesterday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Derren Nathan, of Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “The FTSE opened up around 0.25% this morning, taking it about 2% higher than when the week started, with the chancellor delivering what was widely seen as a fiscally responsible budget.
“Gilt yields remain below where they were on Monday, a sign of growing trust by those who lend to the Treasury.”
Shaan Raithatha, an economist from Vanguard, adds: “Market reaction has been measured so far, with gilt yields edging lower and sterling modestly firmer, reflecting improved fiscal credibility.”
One of the top gainers this morning is easyJet, which is up around 2%, after the budget airline reported better-than-expected profits earlier this week.
Gold strength
In the commodities markets, Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst from Swissquote, notes that gold is gaining again amid growing expectations that the Federal Reserve in the US will cut interest rates next month, coupled with lower US yields.
She adds: “That’s good because gold is acting as you would expect, shrugging off the impact of the speculative moves of late summer.”
Meanwhile, motor trade body the SMMT reported this morning that UK car production was down nearly a quarter last month, with 59,010 vehicles rolling out of factories – 18,474 fewer than in October 2024.
It blamed the ongoing impact of the cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover at the end of August, which caused disruption to production.
The overload of promotions facing shoppers on Black Friday can make it hard to separate the deals from the duds.
That’s why we’ve got some quick tips on how to spot an offer worth taking.
Comparison tools
Web tools like Google Shopping and PriceRunner allow you to see prices across retailers, to make sure the promotion you’re seeing is the best on the market.
Price trackers
“Discounts” are often advertised against a product’s Recommended Retail Price, rather than how much it recently cost.
Some websites can help you if the price you’re being shown is genuinely cheaper than at other times during the year. 
CamelCamelCamel lets you analyse Amazon, while PriceSpy tracks multiple retailers.
Value check
That red sale sticker can be tantalising, but would you pay the price if it were absent?
Ignore the flashing, brightly-coloured “DISCOUNT” stickers and ask yourself if the product is worth your cash.
Sticking to site-wide sales can also help ensure you’re looking for a deal on something already on your list, not an impulse purchase.
Department stores
If specific brands don’t have the discount you’re looking for, check department stores that might include them.
In the post below this one, we outline the cheapest and least busy days for a winter trip abroad. 
But if you’re hoping to be one of the millions flocking to the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone or Yosemite, there’s something else to consider.
That’s because they are now among 11 US national parks that will ask foreign tourists to pay an extra $100 (over £75) on top of existing fees for access, as the National Park Service announced this week.
The price for an annual pass to the parks will also jump to $250 for international visitors, up from $80.
Throughout the year, there will also be eight “resident-only patriotic fee-free days”.
The new “America-first entry fee policies” will take effect from 1 January next year.
They follow an executive order from Donald Trump, who directed the parks in July to charge foreign tourists higher fees. 
National parks saw more than 330 million visits last year, while facing the strain of a major staff reduction and severe budget cuts.
Expedia has identified days to fly over this winter holiday season when you could save some money or enjoy a quieter flight.
Its data reveals the least busy days are:
And the cheapest are:
“The cheapest days to travel vary this winter, with the lowest international fares in early December and domestic bargains at the beginning and end of February,” Melanie Fish, spokesperson for Expedia Group, said. 
“Keep those time frames in mind to find the best deals, and don’t forget to bundle your hotel and flight, and you could unlock more savings.”
We’ve spoken to travel experts to help you make the most of the cheapest travel months – they recommend 26 winter holiday destinations, from European cities where it hits 17C in February to more adventurous locations further afield…
While the big news on Wednesday was that Rachel Reeves froze income tax thresholds until 2030 – she also froze one of the student loan repayment thresholds.
The chancellor announced that the salary threshold for university graduates in England on a plan 2 loan will stick at £29,385 until 2030. 
Once graduates earn more than this amount, 9% of their earnings go towards paying off the loan. 
Students who started their course between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023 are likely to be on a plan 2 scheme. 
The repayment thresholds for the other student loan plans have not been frozen. 
The decision came at the same time the chancellor decided to hike the national minimum wage by 4.1% next year to £24,800. 
While that is still below the repayment threshold, it paves the way for future minimum wage increases to take people very close to repaying their debt. 
By 2030, the Office for Budget Responsibility expects the national minimum wage to hit £28,995 – just £400 shy of the repayment threshold. 
Of course, as minimum wage increases, other earnings can follow suit to reduce the gap between junior and senior staff wages. 
“Graduates generally benefit from higher earnings, and ensuring that they repay more of their loan is fair for those workers who have not gone to university. This does not increase the level of debt for these graduates,” the Treasury said.
It’s important to remember that you are also charged interest on your student loans, so repaying them earlier will help to bring the cost of borrowing down. 
Simply put – the less time you have your loan, the less interest you will have to pay. 
The interest rate you pay is set annually in September, using the Retail Price Index inflation figures from the previous March. 
For plan 2 loans, it ranges from 3.2% to 6.2% – and this rate has been frozen by the government.  
If you don’t end up repaying your loan, the remaining balance is eventually written off. 
For those on plan 2, this happens 30 years after you have started paying it back. 
We’re signing off for the day – we’ll leave you with a plug for this week’s Money newsletter, which we’ll send in the morning…
Each Friday, subscribers get exclusive money-saving tips and features from the team behind the award-winning Money blog, which is read by millions of Britons every month.
Sign up today, and this coming Friday you’ll find the following in the newsletter:
So join our growing Money community – and thanks to the thousands of you who already have.
Transport for London has signed a new sponsorship deal that will see JPMorganChase replace Google Pay as “official payment provider” across the Tube, DLR and Overground.
That comes with perks for users of Chase debit cards, whose cashback scheme now extends to the TfL network.
Chase customers will qualify for getting up to £15 back a month, totalling £180 a year. 
The bank’s cashback scheme applies to all its card users in the first year and to those who meet a monthly minimum spend of £1,500 thereafter.
The new deal will also change the visual appearance of the Tube: Chase-branded card readers have started replacing the Google Pay version at 12 major London stations this week, including King’s Cross, Victoria and Waterloo. 
The remaining 260 Tube stations will be rebranded in January.
The US bank also announced today it plans to build a new tower in Canary Wharf, which will serve as its London headquarters.
As the dust settles, more of you have been sharing your views on the budget. 
There is still a lot of anger, in particular around the two-child benefit cap…
“What a shambles. First Labour tell us they want to get more people off benefits and into work then they hand out more money by removing the two-child benefit cap. What’s that about?”
LD72
“Disgraceful for electric car drivers – because we don’t pay fuel tax we are now being charged per mile on top of electric and VAT on the energy to be able to use our cars. What’s next? Kids’ scooters/bikes, disabled scooters? This budget is a slap in the face for UK citizens.”
mortimus
“Our family home has trebled in value since mum and dad bought it nearly 24 years ago. They are on pensions now, how is it just they will have to stump up £2,500 extra when we could never ever afford that house today? Disgusted!”
Joe
“This budget is poor, it’s simply to me saying if you work we will tax you more.”
Disgruntled
This reader took things pragmatically…
“You’ll only pay more tax if you get a salary increase. Not had one for three years, and the way things are, not likely to get one any time soon. So right now and for the forseeable future, I will not be paying any more tax or NI.”
Mr S
And some readers have expressed sympathy for the chancellor’s choices and the constraints she was facing…
“I dont think the chancellor had much of a choice than to raise taxes. People need to realise if you want to improve the NHS, education, policing it needs to be paid for.”
Georgecray
“It’s easy to sit on the outside and point the finger, but unless you have plausible alternative plans to raise funds, best keep quiet. I’m no fan of Rachel Reeves – she hasn’t bit the bullet and gone after those who can afford it – but not much wriggle room.”
Oz1511 
“I’m a newly single parent of four… Not all parents have children expecting to become a single parent. This two-child benefit cap has been devastating. Thank you!”
Momof4staffs
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