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Advertising Feature GIVE A PRESENT YOUR FAMILY WILL REMEMBER FOREVER

As Peter Harding, Dorset expert 昀nancial adviser explains, at this time of year our thoughts turn to our families at Christmas... With families in mind there is a major arrangement in our lives, which is often put off until it’s too late or completely forgotten. This important arrangement involves reducing your Inheritance Tax (IHT) liability. In this article Peter highlights 昀ve options you can consider and discuss with your family at a time when you are all together.

1. Give now (to your family)

Giving away money and assets while you’re alive is perhaps the most rewarding way to reduce a future IHT bill. You can give away up to £3,000 a year, as well as make any number of small gifts up to £250. The value of those gifts will fall outside your estate immediately. It is also possible to utilise any unused gifting allowance from the previous tax year. By combining individual contributions, couples can potentially gift up to £12,000 by 5 April. 2. Give away income you don’t need

There’s no limit on the number of regular gifts you can make out of your income, provided these don’t affect your standard of living. Keeping a record will speed up checks made later by HMRC – something you should remember for any gifts you make. 3. Save more into a pension

Money saved into a pension is not normally subject to IHT. Should you die before you’re 75, the proceeds from your pension can be paid as a lump sum or income to any beneficiary free from tax. After 75, beneficiaries will only need to pay tax at their marginal rate on withdrawals. 4. Review your Will*

The surest way to make sure that your intentions are carried out after your death is to draw up a Will. Most couples who are either married or in a civil partnership leave everything to each other, since this doesn’t usually attract IHT. But if you have a partner who falls outside this category, they could lose out to parents or children. 5. Buy life assurance in a Trust*

Sometimes, it isn’t viable to fully mitigate a future IHT bill. Taking out a life assurance policy where the sum assured covers the likely IHT bill, and placing it in a trust, could save your family from having to sell any of your assets to meet the liability. The trust ensures that the value of the policy falls outside your estate. It also means your executors will have the funds available when they need them, to settle your estate. If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything, it’s the importance of being prepared. None of us knows where the next global or personal crisis will come from, only that we can help mitigate any impacts through effective planning. The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested. The levels and bases of taxation, and reliefs from taxation, can change at any time. The value of any tax relief depends on individual circumstances. *Will writing involves the referral to a service that is separate and distinct to those offered by St. James’s Place. Wills and Trusts are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

To receive a complimentary guide covering Wealth Management, Retirement Planning or Inheritance Tax Planning, contact Peter Harding Wealth Management on 01202 830730 or email peterhardingwm@sjpp.co.uk

New postcode system will ease deliveries

By Adrian Fisher MBE

83% of human activity consists of moving things, people, information or ideas across the surface of the earth. The other 17% consists of doing something with it. This latter part is called Added Value content. Actually, all of it is Added Value content, in the sense that both parts are needed to “get a jab into every arm”. As a litmus test, if it attracts Value Added Tax, it’s added value. Actually, I’ve always been confused about this; if a barrister fights your legal case and fails to win, they have provided you with no advantage, so you should only pay VAT on the value they have provided – which is nil. At the festive season approaches, the roads are filled with white delivery vans. There was a time when nearly all such vehicles were in the red livery of the Royal Mail. Times have changed. Online shopping has taken a massive market share away from high street retailers, and delivery companies have proliferated. And what is the most glaring barnacle on the bottom of progress? The British postcode system. It was designed when each postcode was for one postal worker’s round, and the final part of the address was known to them in their head. Nowadays with so many different delivery drivers, business and social visitors and emergency services, this is pathetically imprecise for Dorset villages. For example, 57 addresses in Durweston share one postcode scattered around hundreds of yards of roads and lanes. I had a recent deliveryman who first unsuccessfully tried his SatNav, then Google Maps (which he said is usually good because it shows tracks and driveways), then geowessex.com (which shows each property but not each access route) and finally had to call me to ask for directions. Typically visitors waste ten to 15 minutes trying to find us when using SatNav, before phoning us for directions. All that is needed is another couple of characters to each postcode, and we could reach every address precisely. Odd numbers for the front doors; even numbers for the car parking spaces (for when cars drive themselves, as one day they will). Thus it is all the more astonishing to hear that the Post Office already had such a system from the beginning, using one extra letter and numeral. But the Post Office does not use this system, nor let anyone else know about it. Now THAT would be a welcome seasonal present. Happy Christmas!

ON THE HEDGE: The Snowflake Hedge Maze at Stockeld Park in Yorkshire, designed by Adrian Fisher

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Mortgage and Protection Adviser M: 07394 945021 E: alice@fivefinancial.co.uk W: fivefinancial.co.uk