It will be some time before the dust from the Budget settles.

Until we see how much the changes affect our take-home pay, the increased National Insurance contributions to support the NHS will be a good thing.

It is only when there is a bit of month left over and the money runs out we will realise the full price of the good thing.

It is a tribute to the power and presentation of Chancellor Gordon Brown that his budget speech left Britain looking like a sheepish bunch of sixth formers given a dressing down by the headmaster.

"Buck your ideas up and prepare to pay for the relaunch of the National Health Service" was a message which few dared to contradict - just in case they had a heart attack the following week. In this guilt-ridden climate, is it right to plan a personal post-budget financial strategy?

Yes, says Bradford and Bingley The MarketPlace, the independent financial advisor, because we were generously paying large sums to prop up ailing public services even before the Chancellor opened his mouth.

The MarketPlace surveyed typical families before the budget in the UK, France, Germany and Spain and found 29 per cent of gross income in the UK went on income and wealth taxes and social contributions, principally National Insurance.

Comparable figures were France 22 per cent; Germany 30 per cent; Spain 30 per cent; and Italy 27 per cent.

For the British, the comparison was harsher than it seemed. Our average disposable income of £24,400 was higher than our European neighbours but we worked harder - 8.7 hours a day on average - and had fewer public and annual holidays. We have 28 days off on average, against France's 47.

Gordon Brown's figures can work only if we continue to consider financial self-interest.

David Bitner, of The MarketPlace, said: "The Chancellor says healthcare cannot be left to the public to fix for themselves. So taxes must rise to foot the bill.

"However, if the Chancellor applied his approach on healthcare to savings, particularly investments and pensions, he would need massive tax rises to meet liabilities.

"Either we recognise it is crazy to spend everything we earn or the long-term tax bills for looking after us in retirement will be back-breaking."

This is how the budget effects your financial planning:

Pay: Robin Amlot, author of a new guidebook, Managing Your Finances In Uncertain Times from Bristol and West subsidiary MX Financial Solutions, believed the main impact of the budget was on the link between employer and employee.

He said: "Employers are concerned by National Insurance rises. Employees should start talking to them now to see if benefits can be paid which don't attract the higher rate. Share incentive plans, for a minimum five years, allowing the company to hand over free shares are one possibility, another is channelling pay into the pension fund rather than salary.

"Other benefits in kind which don't attract National Insurance are mobile phones and computers. In smaller companies, accountants will be looking for ways of limiting the impact of the higher contributions."

Savings: The £7,000 annual limit on individual savings accounts (ISAs) is untouched. Prudent savers should set three to six months' current earnings aside for emergencies and a cash mini-ISA.

Mortgages: The weight of opinion has moved against fixed-rate loans in recent weeks. If rates only rise one per cent this year, it might be worth staying flexible on a standard variable rate loan and checking into the cheapest deals as they come along. So long as rates stay low, borrowers should try to overpay each month to clear loans off early.

Yorkshire Bank claims its Rapid Repay mortgage could save an average home owner with a £50,000 standard repayment loan £24,300 by clearing the loan 14 years early.

If you overpay, you are also taking effective defensive action against the danger of endowment shortfalls.

Buy to let: This has been the lifeline for investors through three years of dull stock markets. But there are tell-tale signs, in London and the South, of an over-supply of rented property.

Wayne Gibbs, from the Brighton office of brokers Charcol, said the peak of the price boom might be the time to sell up and take profits which would be free of capital gains tax if joint owners show a capital gain of under £15,000.

Investors could then move the money to under-valued property. Charles Reed, at UCB Home Loans, said demand was rising for buy-to-let properties in Scotland, the Midlands and the North.

Shares: No significant action was taken in this area in the budget and that, said Jason Hollands of bestinvest, was a lost opportunity.

Failure to scrap stamp duty means serious long-term investors buying shares can get a big tax bill.

For many months to come, equities only look sensible on a five-year view. Threadneedle Balanced Managed Growth Fund is a mix of bonds and equities from around the world and cautious investment trusts like Witan or Foreign and Colonial are also safe harbours in a storm.

On individual stocks, Damion Larkin, of The Share Centre, tips companies in support services to benefit from NHS and education spending.

Private health: Private cover would be worth having for many years ahead but employers, hammered by National Insurance increases, would be increasingly reluctant to hand it out.

If company schemes are closed to you, try to get into group personal plans offered to particular groups of workers and affiliated groups. They are invariably cheaper than buying a single plan for the family.

As you get older, accept a much higher excess on your policy while setting aside regular savings in a cash mini-ISA. Policy holders still get rapid access to a good surgeon under their scheme, with their own cash as a backstop to meet bills which private insurers wouldn't accept.