My pre-Budget advice as Rachel Reeves tax grab looms. Don't work, don't save, just get out

Normal chancellors encourage people to build wealth and give them incentives to do so. They cut business taxes so companies can reinvest profits and create jobs. They make work pay by letting people keep more of what they earn. And they encourage saving through pension tax reliefs and Stocks and Shares ISAs.

Normal chancellors also understand human nature. They realise many are driven by the desire to pass on something to their children.

So sensible chancellors keep inheritance tax and capital gains tax within reason. They know if they squeeze too hard, people stop trying.

They also understand the importance of wealth. They encourage people to build it, then tax it sensibly.

The richest 10% already pay around 60% of all income tax. Drive them away, and everyone ends up poorer. Ordinary chancellors know that. They don't need telling.

Unfortunately, we don't have an ordinary chancellor. We have Rachel Reeves. Who talks like a robot and taxes like a zealot.

So my usual pre-Budget advice no longer applies.

Normally, as a personal finance journalist, I'd offer tips and advice telling readers what to do before each Budget.

If there's talk of cutting pension relief, I'd suggest paying in more before the potential change.

If the ISA allowance might shrink, I'd say use it now. If an inheritance tax (IHT) raid is on the cards, I'd say get gifting.

If capital gains tax (CGT) is likely to rise, consider taking profits while you can.

I'd warn against panic moves based on speculation, such as drawing your 25% pension tax-free cash years early. Wait and see what the chancellor actually does.

But these aren't normal times. In her first Budget, Reeves launched the biggest Budget raid in more than 30 years. On November 26, she'll do it all over again.

Under Labour, every traditional route to building wealth, such as incomes, pensions, ISAs, property and family businesses, are under attack.

What's the point of working, saving and investing if it only makes you a target? Visit any left-wing website and you'll see the mindset.

People who've built something are treated with loathing. Success is viewed as luck, inheritance or privilege. The more you've achieved, the less you're deemed to deserve it.

Why?

Because if people haven't worked for their wealth, it's easier to take it off them.

The left bang on about the super rich but ultimately, their tax raids will fall squarely on ordinary homeowners and pensioners.

Many are quietly drawing the same conclusion. The only way to protect your money is to stop accumulating it - or get out while you can.

So yes, my pre-Budget advice has changed. I'm not going to tell people to shuffle around their savings and investments. It's gone beyond that.

Don't work, don't save, don't invest, Labour will only take it from you. If you've got wealth, spend it. And if you're tired of having a target on your back, flee to a country that will treasure your efforts, not punish them.

That's not normal financial advice, but these are not normal times. And yes, it's a little tongue-in-cheek. But not much.