And so the backlash begins. The new government hasn't even announced what it intends to do with capital gains tax but there’s already a frantic reaction to the seemingly inevitable increase.

Those who have invested in work-based Save As You Earn schemes – popular with companies such as retailers and banks whose staff tend to be lower earners – will be among those affected by any tinkering of the threshold at which the tax kicks in. This currently stands at £10,000 but could go down to as little as £2,500 if plans suggested by the Liberal Democrats are implemented.

Just as alarming is the prospect of elderly people who live in nursing homes receiving less money than they had planned when they finally come to sell their old house, in all probability so they can afford the cost of remaining in care.

After three years of living in care a resident’s former home is counted as a second property and is therefore liable to capital gains tax on any profit made during those years above £10,000. A rise from the current level of 18% to anywhere near the 40% that has been bandied around could have a significant impact, particularly if house prices start to spiral again.

Whether these scare stories have any effect on the government’s intention remains to be seen, but there will be millions of people with relatively modest savings or equity anxiously sifting through the emergency budget on June 22.

Hard to credit

We all make the occasional review of our finances, and act with good intentions when we take eminently sensible decisions such as switching balances on credit cards to low-interest or even interest-free accounts.

Yet a staggering 63% of people who have taken the time to do this then proceed to make new purchases and pay interest at the lender’s standard rate, according to a survey, despite a third of these not intending to do so.

For the moment, at least, this is an expensive mistake as any payments made are likely to clear off the cheapest debt – that earning no interest – first.

Fortunately, this will change from the start of 2011 but anyone intending to actually use such cards would be well advised to at least consider the standard rate – often one of the higher ones on the market at the time of the offer – that will kick in after six months when deciding which card to go for.

Alternatively, they could face facts and acknowledge they will continue spending, pick a separate card for such frivolities and use the six-month interest-free period on the other to make a real inroad into reducing the balance.

Mis-sale extension

Meanwhile, anyone who feels they have been caught up in the mis-selling of payment protection insurance and whose claim was rejected by the company in question now has more time to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, after the Financial Services Authority extended the usual six-month deadline.

The extension, which is temporary while the FSA develops its own set of rules for the industry, means anyone whose claim was rejected between 28 November 2009 and 28 April 2010 now has until 28 October 2010 to take the matter further, potentially opening the door to 500,000 people who could be entitled to compensation.

Home comforts

Still on the theme of theft, Aviva has released a survey into the most common items that are reported as stolen in home insurance claims, in what is as much an insight into people’s lives as it is a reminder to check your own insurance policy is up to date.

Top of the list is a 32-inch Toshiba television, followed by a Samsung laptop and a Sony PlayStation 3 Slim 120GB console. After this come a Samsung Tocco Lite mobile and an Xbox 360 Elite console. Anyone would think we’re a nation of couch potatoes and gadget-freaks, and they’d probably be right.

But if the aim of the survey was to scare people into taking out insurance to counter the threat of thieves it rather backfired. Less than half of home insurance claims are down to theft, with much more mundane incidents under accidental damage – such as spilling red wine on a computer – accounting for half of claims. Still, with an average value of £350, it’s a good idea to check you’re insured – and for the correct amount.

Phone nasties

Finally, a word of warning for anyone going to the World Cup who is thinking of using a mobile phone in South Africa: Don’t.

Consumer Focus is reminding people that caps on the cost of making calls, downloading data and sending texts which apply in the EU do not stretch to South Africa (which should be fairly evident if you’ve even glanced at a map of where you’re heading to).

Perhaps a less obvious pitfall is the high cost of downloading web pages or photos, which are often covered as part of the overall contract in the UK but which can cost up to £8 a megabyte in South Africa. Call charges are expensive too – at between 80p and £1.50 a minute – while texts are more reasonable, at between 25p and 50p a pop. Costs on a match day could be as much as £100, the watchdog claims; more than the face value of a ticket to most games.

Anyone who simply can’t live without rubbing in the fact they are at one of the greatest sporting tournaments there is by posting up pictures on the internet might want to enquire about their provider’s travel packages or ask them to cap call or data roaming costs.

Another option would be to use a local or international SIM card, or to explain to your other half that unfortunately you’ll have no choice but to only communicate with them by text as you follow England’s quest for glory.

Whether they’ll fall for that after the cost of the flights and the tickets is anyone’s guess, but it’s got to be worth a go.