Are you headed for a payout or a doughnut?

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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Top performers in finance may be still confident of bringing home the bacon as bonus season approaches, but others fear they will be left with a doughnut (a bonus of zero) as deal making slows and redundancies rise.

The continued slowdown in global mergers and acquisitions activity combined with the lowest number of listings on the London market since the financial crisis means this is a year where for some, keeping their job will be their bonus.

For the third year in a row, the Financial Times is asking readers confidentially to share their 2024 bonus round expectations, and whether they intend to invest, save or spend the cash. 

Our survey can be completed anonymously in less than five minutes by clicking here.

Last year’s survey revealed that even the wealthy were managing their personal finances more cautiously, with fears of redundancy, higher mortgage costs and feared hikes to private school fees influencing readers’ financial decision-making.

Roughly one in six readers said they would use their bonus to pay down a chunk of mortgage debt, but the majority — just over half of all respondents — said they would still invest the majority of any payout.

The 2024 survey gives readers the opportunity to comment on changing market dynamics and what difference — if any — the UK’s removal of the cap on bankers’ bonuses has made to remuneration packages.

“For those fortunate enough to get a decent bonus award this year, buying the latest model of Porsche or luxury watch may rank lower down the list of priorities,” said Jason Hollands, managing director at Evelyn Partners, a wealth manager. “Instead, bonus recipients might choose to maximise pension contributions to reduce burgeoning income tax bills, providing they’re not subject to the tapered allowance.”

This year, we are especially keen to hear how the looming general election is altering financial priorities.

In the coming weeks, FT Money will collate and publish the findings alongside specially tailored content for readers who are keen to learn more about investing their money tax efficiently.

Please ensure your answer reaches us by the deadline of Thursday February 1, and direct any queries to our usual email address, money@ft.com.