Some People Just Have Got It Right!

Being content with your life is not too difficult but some people manage to do it with ease and at a much slower pace than others accepting the cards that they have been dealt and making the most of their lives.

Over the last 2 or 3 weeks I have been running around like...I don't know what.  Meetings here, networking there, golf, rugby, football etc and visits to the Cheltenham Literary Festival and on Sunday last to Swindon for dinner with my elder daughter whose birthday it was on Tuesday.  I think that the expression is "burning the candle at both ends".   To crown it all I had designated Monday to take a 500 mile plus trip to Cornwall to see a client that I hadn't visited for a little over 4 years. 

I have acted for the client, a holiday park owned and run by a husband and wife team, since they bought the park around 16 years ago and until recently had visited them every year, and sometimes twice a year.  Over that time we have become good friends.   Rather than bring their children up in South London they chose to give up the day job and move to the quieter, prettier countryside of Cornwall and the business is very much a lifestyle business.  The husband is now 58 years old and his knees are the worst for sporting injuries in his younger days, his wife a little younger but now they are looking to sell the park together with their home. 

Once I had reached their part of Cornwall and driven the half mile or so down an unmade road to their home I was greeted as an old friend and as we chatted over a coffee they were eager to know news of my family (my elder daughter once called to deliver some records back to them when she was camping in Newquay) and of my own health.  They remembered about the back operation that I had had some 4 years ago a short while after they had last seen me and how it had left me.

So what is unusual about that I hear you ask?  Well when they bought the Holiday Park they had 2 sons, aged 4 and 1, and within a year of moving the younger son was diagnosed as autistic.  The lifestyle business was not necessarily always good for him as he needed more care, more supervision and more time devoted to him than sometimes the business would allow.  However the solitude of the location meant that there was plenty of space for him to run around in and let off steam and my clients have managed it magnificently.

Their elder son is now at University almost 200 miles away from home and has always had his parents time when needed or wanted.   He also has helped with his brother, who now clearly misses him.   I recall being there on one occasion a few years ago and he was off to football practice.  Someone was picking him up to drive to the practice from the top of the lane but he didn't ask his parents for a lift the half mile or so.  As I was just leaving I offered him a lift and for a teenager he was a very well balanced and articulate young man.

Given the circumstances you can imagine my surprise around 8 years ago when they told me they were going to adopt a young girl of 7 years of age.  She had a number of behavioural issues at the time and because of the family unit that has been created not only has she learnt to deal with these, she also has helped with the care of her adoptive brother.  Their daughter is looking to train as a teacher for children with special needs.

One reason that they are looking to sell their business is that it will allow them to spend more time with their younger son once he leaves school as he will most probably need to have permanent care. 

A friend of mine once told me that he would only work with people that he would invite into his home and these people are just those kind of people.    There is no resentment in the family simply love and love for their friends and extended family. 

I think that they deserve to have a happy retirement, don't you?

The Computer Says No

The idea behind this blog is to provide information that helps strategy - it is not a forum to have a general moan but I thought that I should highlight 2 things I came across today that enables me to get matters off my chest but at the same time teaches us lessons, even if they are only that these are things we shouldn't do.

The first involves my old friends (?), HM Revenue & Customs. For some months, I have been attempting to get a tax underpayment collected monthly, through a PAYE code, rather than being paid in one lump sum. I won't bore you with the technical details of why HMRC objected to this but today they have finally admitted that the procedures, that prevent coding, could be overwritten (and regularly were) until July 2009, when they had a new computer system. Since then they have to do what the computer says.

The moral of the story is to never design anything that removes the possibility of personal intervention and the insertion of good old common sense.

The second thing is that we were exhibiting at the Worcester Expo at WRFC today. As it was busy, I was directed to the normal car park rather than the "Event" parking spaces. There was a barrier at the entrance that was raised by an attendent, without asking the nature of my business. There was a second attendant who raised another barrier for those leaving.

The point here is why have the barriers down at all, for all the good they were? They weren't preventing anyone coming or going. Why weren't they left up just as they were when the Expo finished. It is amazing what can be achieved, particularly financially, by cutting out this kind of waste and "waste audits" are extremely valuable. Needless to say this is something Crowther Beard could help with.

More Saving

More tax saving tips.

1. Consider whether you are paying National Insurance Contributions needlessly. If you are a trader making low profits (below £5,315 currently) or even losses you can claim exemption from paying the weekly self employed contribution of £2.50.


2. Consider the tax benefits of converting business loans into personal loans or vice versa. As long as the circumstances are correct, many personal loans used for business purposes qualify for tax relief.


3. If you are a sole trader or partnership, consider making key employees partners to save National Insurance and tie them to the business.


4. Make sure you claim tax relief for losses on shares. In many cases, it is possible to clain income tax relief, not just capital gains tax relief.


5. Consider the timing of capital purchases to ensure that capital allowance claims are maximised.

Tax planning

In my day to day work I come across tax planning in all its forms. This ranges from, advising people on how to arrange their affairs to take advantage of the more familiar (well to me anyway) tax breaks open to them, right up to discussing the more complicated options that are open to them. The more complex options usually have a price tag on them but, as the tax saved under these is normally substantial, the price may well be considered well worthwhile.

A recent survey showed that one of the aspects most valued by clients is simple tax planning advice and this is very rewarding for me, as I earn my crust by giving such advice. I would however like to know how people view the more complicated solutions. I am sure it is my duty to inform people of what is available but I would be interested to know whether you feel that this is all that should be done or whether such solutions should take a more prominent position in the advice given.

It has been long held by the Law Courts that anyone is able to order their affairs in such a way as to minimise taxation and my question is how far you feel that we should go in this respect. Just keep to taking advantage of the tax breaks open or invest in something that was designed just for the tax benefits.