A Proud moment: He had thought ahead about his position on the pitch and, as his defending team mate won it, the ball was played through the middle of two opposing midfielders into his path as he made his way from the half way line… with two team mates flanking him for support and defenders trying in vain to catch him, he raced towards the keeper at the opposite end… time seemed to slow down and, with a dip of his shoulder, he sent the keeper to his left then lifted the ball over the floundering keeper into the back of the net!

Who was this I describe? Van Persie with yet another phenomenal goal for the gunners, Walcott or the skills of a returning Henri?…

Not quite, it was my six year old son last Saturday and, as you can probably tell, I was pretty damn chuffed to say the least!

As if that was not enough, my wife had also come to watch and happened to be videoing the match at that point…. I have only watched the replay about, oh, 50 times so far!!!

A rather proud moment indeed…

My working week was never going to come close but it has been a busy and interesting week all the same with a diverse range of clients needs to address with long term care; inheritance tax; investing and some cash flow forecasting (for a couple who are planning their retirement over the coming years ahead) forming the main discussions.

It feels as though I haven’t seen much of my desk this week as most of it has been spent in meetings or I have been out of the office but then I guess that is the objective really isn’t it?

A few articles I thought worth mentioning below and I note that inheritance tax is becoming a bit of a regular topic again. Perhaps people are feeling that they do need to plan ahead as they would rather their heirs receive the benefit than the state?

Have a great weekend!

This Week …

Estate Planning

Party leaders back charity legacies: http://bit.ly/yTpq3j
Gerry Rafferty’s fiancée sues for cut of estate http://bit.ly/ypUkRD
Proposals to Give Inheritance Rights to Cohabiting Couples: http://bit.ly/xANzQU

Long Term Care

How can we pay for long-term care?: http://bit.ly/wtOvBF
Long term issue: http://bit.ly/zjJ5I5

Retirement

IFA fights for clients income: http://bit.ly/xDUhX9

Investments

UK inflation rate falls to 4.2% in December http://bbc.in/z1DV24

Regards
Kieron

2012 is now well and truly here is seems, with Christmas a dim and distant memory as far as I am concerned.

The children are all back at school and nursery, so we are trying to get back into our “normal” routines once again, which I will confess, has been a struggle…

Having put off my “to do” list at home over the Christmas period in favour of the obligatory family/friends visits, I now face the prospect of catching up!

My working week has once again been spent speaking about care fees, rounding off nicely with our monthly “Protecting Your Assets” seminar last night being well attended. We even received applause at the end, which was nice!

It’s been a quiet week this week in the news, well as far as personal finance is concerned at least, but some interesting articles have still emerged.

Having vowed to get a Will, the personal finance editor of the telegraph finally keeps his word but not without those thought provoking moments that we all go through and some contentious views from the British Bankers Association on the making of Wills.

It’s emerged that over half of all care home residents are self funding in some way and, whilst the Sefton ruling could be good news for Care homes, I guess the question remains, at what or who’s expense?

No surprises in the fact that private pensions are declining nor, dare I say it, that interest rates were held at 0.5% where they have been since March 2009.

To finish off, you may have heard about the guy who gave up his job a few years ago, went travelling and, whilst doing so posted videos of himself dancing on the spot in various locations?

Not sure how true it is but I heard this week that after he returned (having clocked up tens of millions of views on you tube), a corporate company sponsored him to go and do it all again for the next year’s version?!

As always, do let me know if you have seen anything of interest?

Have a great weekend!

This Week …

Estate Planning

Personal Finance Editor – “I kept my word and finally made a will”: http://bit.ly/yoJjfT
Consumers don’t need to use a lawyer to write their will, banks tell LSB http://bit.ly/y8dc8M

Long Term Care

Care home population continues to move towards private payers: http://bit.ly/wTDDmU
Sefton ruling puts councils on notice over fees: http://bit.ly/xO6gxN
Age UK urges care professionals to back Care in Crisis campaign: http://bit.ly/zXTuaO

Retirement

Private sector pensions in seismic collapse http://bbc.in/sj1sKE

Investments

UK interest rates kept on hold at record low of 0.5% http://bbc.in/z91nny

Regards
Kieron

Did you manage to enjoy the festive period and get any sort of break? Is it good to be back if you did?

Despite the 10 day break opportunity for myself, most of the “jobs” I planned to do at home ended up being postponed as we visited friends and family instead – looks like this weekend will be a busy one now?!

It normally takes a few days to get back into things after some time off but we have definitely hit the ground running so far this year with my diary almost completely full for January, I am now booking clients into February as opportunities to see them prior to this are fast disappearing.

This is great but has involved somewhat of a gear change to say the least!

Looking at the news over the last week or so, long term care is still featuring heavily with suggestions from the Prime Minister to reform how health and social care are treated, the extra cost of home care revealed as well as some local news relating to an old brewery that is to be converted into a private care home.

Elsewhere an example of using charitable donations in lieu of inheritance tax is reported and a suggestion for a “fairer” way to charge for it is reported.

Back in November (http://wp.me/pN2hX-od) I mentioned an episode of the BBC’s inside out programme which revealed a company that was offering seminars advising on “how to avoid care fees”.

Taking action to “avoid care fees” is something that could be interpreted as a deliberate deprivation of assets as far as a local authority is concerned and is a moot subject.

As the programme pointed out at the time, deliberate deprivation of assets to avoid care fees is something a local authority can “undo” and there is no time limit to how far back they can go.

Of course, the other aspect to mention on this is that if you do succeed in removing assets from your estate and later require assistance from the local authority when it comes to care fees, you also rely on the local authority to decide which care home is adequate for you to receive care – the choice is not necessarily your own.

The reason I mention this is that the company in question is holding seminars in Tunbridge Wells this month.

Oh well, I hope you have a great weekend… I guess I should get ready to tackle that jobs list now!

This Week …

Estate Planning

Portrait given to museum in lieu of inheritance tax: http://bit.ly/uR1hsU
An inheritance tax reform?: http://bit.ly/tbwXwk
Time to consider succession issues: http://bit.ly/v8WS4R

Long Term Care

Old brewery site to convert into a new home: http://bit.ly/rNkx6R
Stealth rise puts home care fees at £7000 a year: http://bit.ly/shQpmC
Government unveils £150m extra care home funds: http://bit.ly/sEaJrN
Why the system is close to breaking point: http://bit.ly/xXv5hv
David Cameron orders merging of health and social care: http://bit.ly/zNrKmN
Responses to Health and social care integration: http://bit.ly/xK97H6

Retirement

Government reveals ‘alarming’ pension shortfall: http://bit.ly/s1O3tl

Investments

New Year’s Resolution – Treat Customers Fairly: http://bit.ly/tPFrL3
Invest and plan for the future in 2012: http://bit.ly/zkqb6j
Venture Capital Trusts: http://bit.ly/y47TPT

Regards
Kieron