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Read moreMonday Musings 11/09/2023
Ok, ok, I know I had my pop at SJP last week but honestly this gem of a headline landed in my lap on Friday and I couldn’t resist sharing ‘SJP firm’s school fees tax strategy falls foul of HMRC’. I promise I’ll behave now – on with what I really wanted to say this week…
Money doesn’t sound like a topic that should involve emotion. Cold hard cash, right? But of course it does. Your finances should be geared to help you achieve your lifetime aspirations, and to your emotional needs as well as practical needs when it comes to providing for your family long term, even after you’re gone. What do you want to achieve? Desire – it’s a powerful thing!
One emotion I experience quite often on the wills side is embarrassment. Its not unusual for me to meet with people who have never had a will done, and who feel embarrassed about this. If this is you, please don’t be. The figure for the percentage of people who pass without a valid will in place is shockingly high. It fluctuates a little each year, but hovers around the 70% mark. 70%! So just by starting the conversation about wills, you are, to my mind at least, ahead of the game.
And then I get clients who feel embarrassed about asking questions, or not knowing things. That’s exactly what I’m here for – to know things for you, and to answer questions. Sometimes the questions people ask me can be revealing, and make me realise there’s something on a client’s mind that perhaps I wouldn’t have been aware of if they hadn’t asked the ‘silly questions’. Often there’s a worry I can easily take away for them. Its amazing what can come out of the woodwork if you pay attention.
But when should you get your first will done? Ideally, when you purchase your first significant asset – for a lot of people this will be their first home – or have your first child. How many of you have grown children who have reached this stage but don’t have this essential document in place for the protection of your grandchildren? Even the simplest of wills has an important job to do.
And what if you already have a will? If its older than 5 years, review it. I’ll happily take a look and talk to you about whether or not there’s scope for improvement or changes that should be made. And if there isn’t anything to be done, the conversation is free, so what do you have to loose?
In the words of a recent client of mine (which I’m sharing with their permission)
“We would both like to thank you Caroline for making the experience of drawing up our wills a pleasant experience. You explained everything so we fully understood and answered any questions we raised. Completing what we anticipated would be a drawn out process within just a week. We will not hesitate to recommend you to anyone in the future.”
So, to the markets
30.12.2022 | 08.09.2023 | % Change on year | % Change on week | |||
FTSE 100 | 7451 | 7478 | Up 0.36 | Up 0.18 | ||
Dow Jones | 33147 | 34576 | Up 4.31 | Down 0.75 | ||
Nasdaq | 10466 | 13761 | Up 31.48 | Down 1.93 | ||
S&P | 3839 | 4457 | Up 16.10 | Down 1.29 | ||
TOPIX | 1891 | 2359 | Up 24.75 | Up 0.39 | ||
Hang Seng | 19781 | 18202 | Down 7.98 | Down 0.98 | ||
Shanghai | 3089 | 3116 | Up 0.87 | Down 0.53 | ||
CAC 40 | 6473 | 7240 | Up 11.85 | Down 0.77 | ||
DAX | 13923 | 15740 | Up 13.05 | Down 0.63 | ||
I had a strange encounter on Facebook this week (sounds silly, bear with me…). A new mum put a post up on a local group asking for help. She said.
Read moreAs I’m sure is the case for you, I’ve been watching the coverage of the Israel – Hamas war with horror. The loss of innocent civilian lives, the impact of.
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