Another Drive4show 'Anything goes' thread

[dynamark]

First topic message reminder :

Hi folks not been around much lately due to new job and no access at work.
Digs I would avoid franchises and any long term property commitments connected to the business.
I very nearly bought into a coffee shop /café a few years ago and in the end it was the hours and time involved which put me off but the lad who bought it is flying .He will be open this morning and doing good business.Anything like that is all about position of course.One of the best businesses I have seen is a café bar in Bristol on the hill up to the Clifton area .opens at seven in the morning and closes at two in the morning.Change of menu and prices late afternoon and lighting /music for the evening trade.
Seen a few things in my new job with a large housing association providing social housing for the unwashed,unemployed,unfit,mentally ill,etc.One surprise is that they have properties and areas where only set religious groups are allowed to live.They call it 'creating communities'?
Hope all are well.

[MustPuttBetter]

Def go variable Goldy. You'll get a much better rate than 4%. You can always fix later if rates go up and it looks a bit hairy.

Plus you can move if you to with no redemption!

[BlueCoverman]

Well the house my mum and dad bought in the late 70's was bought for 20k and sold for a million 5 years ago.

 
 
I hope that they have sorted out their IHT planning mysti, otherwise a fair chunk of that will be disappearing into Government coffers one day. Inheritance Tax has to be one of the most unfair and outrageous taxes of them all.

[goldwolf]

Def go variable Goldy. You'll get a much better rate than 4%. You can always fix later if rates go up and it looks a bit hairy.

Plus you can move if you to with no redemption!

Yeah think I will, I dread to think how much extra they've got from me the last 5 year's!

[MustPuttBetter]

The Tories want the IHT nil rate band to be at £1m for married couples so if they can survive a few more years they might not have to worry!!

[mystiroakey]

Def go variable Goldy. You'll get a much better rate than 4%. You can always fix later if rates go up and it looks a bit hairy.

Plus you can move if you to with no redemption!

Yeah think I will, I dread to think how much extra they've got from me the last 5 year's!

If it gets hairy the fixed will just go up !! There is no such thing as a free lunch
I

[MustPuttBetter]

Me too Goldy!!

Of course it will Mysti. He'd have to keep an eye in the fixed rates and if it looks like getting hairy then fix. I thought that bit was obvious....

[mystiroakey]

I think SJ is slyly referring to Mysti's minimal salary and dividends to max out his basic rate tax band set up more than you Super

It means i pay more corp tax!

Which is cheaper than taking a salary and paying higher rate rate plus employer and employee NI

I'm not complaining, tax advice is what I do! Just pointing out I think that's what SJ is referring to

But as i have only recently found out- I can't get the same mortgage amount as I could have by paying myself a higher salary!

I would rather be better off as I am, but it does wind me up that I am treated as self employed!

[mystiroakey]

Me too Goldy!!

Of course it will Mysti. He'd have to keep an eye in the fixed rates and if it looks like getting hairy then fix. I thought that bit was obvious....

Well yes it is obvious , but unless you know something that the banks don't- the fixed rates will be up before you realise the rates will go up!

Either track it throughout or go fixed after fixed. The worse thing to do is react and make 5 wrong decisions during your mortgage term!!

[BlueCoverman]

That will be too late for my family MPB. My parents started married life without two pennies to rub together and worked incessantly all their lives. My widowed Father is in the later stages of dementia (what an evil and terrible disease that is) and our Solicitors have just warned us that we will face an IHT bill in excess of £1m when we lose him. We will have to sell the family home that they worked so hard to build just to pay the bill. Makes me feel sick just thinking about it to be honest.

[MontysMerkin]

That's awful BC, I really feel for you. The terrors of growing old.

[mystiroakey]

That will be too late for my family MPB. My parents started married life without two pennies to rub together and worked incessantly all their lives. My widowed Father is in the later stages of dementia (what an evil and terrible disease that is) and our Solicitors have just warned us that we will face an IHT bill in excess of £1m when we lose him. We will have to sell the family home that they worked so hard to build just to pay the bill. Makes me feel sick just thinking about it to be honest.

That is unreal. what is the rate(50% or something)

what i hate about INT or stamp duty is the fact you allways have to pay on the lot over the difference. Its never staggered..

[BlueCoverman]

40% on anything over £325,000 mysti. (£650,000 for married couples)

[mystiroakey]

So you do get relief on the first 325 then!

Thats good but still 40% is shocking

[BlueCoverman]

It is shocking and more and more families who have got a half decent house and a few investments are getting caught by it

[mystiroakey]

There are obviously ways around it.. However when your parents are old and possibly ill its not really the best time to start having those discussions is it!


The whole thing works against us!

[MustPuttBetter]

What are you talking about Mysti?
If you know how much the max monthly mortgage you can pay is you can keep an eye on the rates and think about fixing once you're getting near it. In the meantime stay variable and cash in the saving as long as it may last.
Of course rates go up before you know they go up?

[BlueCoverman]

Give it all away and then make sure you live 7 years basically!
 
Anything gifted over 7 years prior to your death is IHT exempt

[MustPuttBetter]

Blue, nasty indeed. Your fathers estate must be circa £3.1 million which dare I say it, is the level of wealth IHT is designed to catch.
Doesn't make it anymore bareable mind you. Was it Monty earlier who was saying the rich should pay more? I'll leave you two to have that discussion

[MustPuttBetter]

He doesn't have to survive 7 years Blue. It's tapered. Survive 3 years and you've saved 20% of the IHT, survive 4 and it 40% and so on up to 100% at 7 years.

Also ask your solicitor/accountant about regular gifts out of excess income. Depending on the level of your dad's pensions etc and how long he survives you might well be able to get a fair bit out that way

[MontysMerkin]

Blue, nasty indeed. Your fathers estate must be circa £3.1 million which dare I say it, is the level of wealth IHT is designed to catch.
Doesn't make it anymore bareable mind you. Was it Monty earlier who was saying the rich should pay more? I'll leave you two to have that discussion

Not the rich so much as equitable all round.
I can see why the IHT exists, but that doesn't make it easier to swallow for the individual. I'm sure when they come to pick apart my estate they will find I've spent the chuffing lot!
Another point to make is that (and no disrespect to anyone going through such harrowing times) you basically use 90% of the cost of healthcare in the last year of life. I know when visiting my Granny just before she died (RIP) and hearing her screaming that she just wanted to die was very difficult indeed and made me question the amount of effort that was being put in just to keep her going when it was obvious she'd had enough (she was 98 and played golf twice a week till she was 93).
The IHT I suppose is to redistribute wealth like any tax, and if it wasn't there then it would just encourage hoarding of resources even more. Doesn't mean I won't be bummed out when I see what's left of my Dads estate but I'm certainly not banking on getting anything - why would I?

[BlueCoverman]

He did do well MPB that I won't deny, but it was only through sheer bloody hard work and determination. Probably something to do with the fact that he lost his 33 year old Father in 1943 fighting for King and Country in WW2, leaving his Mother to bring up 5 kids on her own in those post-war years with food rationed and no money. Nothing much in the way of benefits or hand-outs in those days! Dad was 14, the youngest was 18 months old...Christ how hard must that have been for her!
 
So he worked hard (still working into his seventies) and paid top rate of tax most of his life. Now a further 40% will have to be paid on his estate when he passes away.
 
Perhaps his mistake was to be so honest, diligent and conscientious. Never one to be extravagant, his reward is just to the taxman's advantage. How can that be right?

[MustPuttBetter]

I agree. I do IHT work and it's never nice having to explain to someone. Especially when, like your dad, it's self made money upon which that person has already paid a boatload of tax

Just imagine how many jobless housing benefit claimants spare rooms all that tax has paid for though.....

[MontysMerkin]

He did do well MPB that I won't deny, but it was only through sheer bloody hard work and determination. Probably something to do with the fact that he lost his 33 year old Father in 1943 fighting for King and Country in WW2, leaving his Mother to bring up 5 kids on her own in those post-war years with food rationed and no money. Nothing much in the way of benefits or hand-outs in those days! Dad was 14, the youngest was 18 months old...Christ how hard must that have been for her!
 
So he worked hard (still working into his seventies) and paid top rate of tax most of his life. Now a further 40% will have to be paid on his estate when he passes away.
 
Perhaps his mistake was to be so honest, diligent and conscientious. Never one to be extravagant, his reward is just to the taxman's advantage. How can that be right?

Sounds like one hell of a man, the sort this country seems to have run out of. Still, he won't miss it when he's gone, cos you can't take it with you.

[MustPuttBetter]

I'm serious about gifts out of excess income by the way. Ask your advisors to get it set up for you. Very easy to do but must be done correctly.
If you want me to help let me know

[BlueCoverman]

That you can't Monty, obviously he should have pi$$ed it up the wall like everybody else...

[BlueCoverman]

Appreciate that MPB thank you.
 
He did do some IHT planning but in retrospect probably not enough. He was diagnosed with dementia in February 2008 and so we are getting to the later stages of the illness now. He can no longer stand and so can only be moved with the aid of a hoist and can barely speak the odd word. It is very distressing to see, an awful disease that I would not wish on anybody.

[MontysMerkin]

Again, deepest sympathies BC, life is a rotter and no mistake.

[McLaren]

Well the house my mum and dad bought in the late 70's was bought for 20k and sold for a million 5 years ago.

 
 
I hope that they have sorted out their IHT planning mysti, otherwise a fair chunk of that will be disappearing into Government coffers one day. Inheritance Tax has to be one of the most unfair and outrageous taxes of them all.

Either you get it, or state gets it.

What makes you think you are more deserving than the state?

Further, I like the idea that wealth cannot pass between generations of the same family as it means a more level playing field and better chance of social mobility.

[super_realist]

Why should the state get it, we are talking about earnings and assets which have already been subject to plenty taxes and simply because you are dead, your family needs to pay even more.

Why should society benefit from the hard work of a particular person and not the direct relations of that person?

Seriously Mac, you should move to Cuba with those views.

[MustPuttBetter]

Not something anyone should have to deal with, your father, the family, anyone.
Before I worked in tax I did a stint as a care assistant at a BUPA home and so have some experience in what you're having to cope with

[MustPuttBetter]

Sensitive as ever Mac.....

[beninho]

I know little to nothing about inheritance tax, in one way it does seem a bit harsh, but in others, the country works on a tax the rich basis, and has done since forever i suppose. Though a quick wiki shows IHT been around since 1800. Suppose if you dont tax everyone and everything, how will the country make any money?

Personally though, when i am dead i wont care what happens.

[BlueCoverman]

Mac is entitled to his opinion, personally it is not one that I share and SR has reasonably summed up my argument in reply.
 
Simon Cowell shares a similar opinion though, quoted recently as saying he intends to leave his £200m to charity.

[beninho]

on a lighter note...i have just read that Chas & Dave have reformed. A bit cockney for some, but brilliant nonetheless.

[MustPuttBetter]

No IHT on gifts to charity so he won't be leaving anything to the state

Oh and I bet he doesn't!

[JAS]

Oh no...a moment of misplaced bravado a few months ago has come back to haunt me....Totally forgot I had applied but today the postman delivered the fateful news.....I've got a place in 2014 London Marathon via the ballot!!

Just back from the gym and my first treadmill session for weeks & weeks....it's gonna be a long long 6 and a half months!! :-/

[super_realist]

Well done Jas, I've done it a few times and have applied too. Not heard back yet though.

[kwinigolfer]

Didn't Kirkygolfer run in it - think some of us helped him raise money?

[BlueCoverman]

Nice one JAS...trust all that training won't interfere with the golf schedule too much!

[mystiroakey]

Well the house my mum and dad bought in the late 70's was bought for 20k and sold for a million 5 years ago.

 
 
I hope that they have sorted out their IHT planning mysti, otherwise a fair chunk of that will be disappearing into Government coffers one day. Inheritance Tax has to be one of the most unfair and outrageous taxes of them all.

Either you get it, or state gets it.

What makes you think you are more deserving than the state?

Further, I like the idea that wealth cannot pass between generations of the same family as it means a more level playing field and better chance of social mobility.

If I have kids and don't have anything to leave them I will have failed, and there is no way they wont have every penny i leave!

[mystiroakey]

What are you talking about Mysti?
If you know how much the max monthly mortgage you can pay is you can keep an eye on the rates and think about fixing once you're getting near it. In the meantime stay variable and cash in the saving as long as it may last.
Of course rates go up before you know they go up?  

1. Mortgage fees !
2. you seem to be confused between the fixed and the tracker rate- say the average fixed is 4 and the variable is 3. once the variable has gone to 4 the fixed will be at 5- You can't fix it at 4- only at 5!!
3. The rate may just jump straight over the top of any fixed rate offered without any notice anyway!



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