Families thinking about how to save and invest most efficiently during 2020 shouldn’t overlook pensions for children. Many people don’t realise that in addition to their own pension contribution allowances they can put money into someone else’s savings.

And even if the recipient is a non-taxpayer, as most children are, they’re still entitled to tax relief on the contribution. Investing £3,600 a year, the maximum allowed, on behalf of a child will cost you only £2,880. The provider you choose then claims an additional £720 from the taxman to top up your contribution.

Setting up a pension for your children might seem odd, not least because there’s a good chance you won’t be around to see them cash it in. But HM Revenue & Customs said last year that 60,000 families have opened pension plans for kids. The key argument in favour of such arrangements is the power of compound investment returns over the long term. If you pay the maximum into your child’s pension each year until they turn 18 and the plan achieves a return of 5% a year, they’ll have a pension fund worth £1m by the time they reach age 64.

The downside to pensions is that they’re inflexible. Under current rules, you can’t cash in a pension until the age of 55 and this limit is due to increase over time as the state retirement age creeps up. So all the savings you’re putting by won’t be available to help children with financial priorities early in their adult lives: the cost of further education, buying a first house or starting a family, say. Nevertheless, those priorities are exactly why many people don’t get round to starting a pension plan until later in life.

Even among occupational pension schemes, opt-out rates are much higher among younger people. And since pension saving works best the earlier you start, taking this worry off your children’s hands could prove very useful indeed. One caveat is that future governments could change the rules so that pension saving becomes less tax-efficient. It’s now also much easier to pass on pension savings to your heirs.

So one alternative to setting up designated plans for children is to maximise your own contributions in order to increase the chances of there being money left over. If you die before 75, your heirs will usually inherit what is left of your savings free of tax; even after age 75, you can still bequeath pensions cash, though it’s likely that tax charges will be payable.

Hot Bodies

I’ve noticed that after the weekend, our office is always several degrees colder than it is later in the week, even though the heating has been left on. Increased computer activity plays a part, but so does human activity. The staff come into the office, they give off body heat and it warms the building.

Now this is happening everywhere. The amount of heat energy given off by the population must be huge. So is there a way to harness it? It turns out that there is.

Over 200,000 people pass through Stockholm’s Central station each day. Jernhusen, a property company given the job of remodelling the station, have come up with a way of transferring the heat generated by all these people to an office building across the road. The stations ventilation system includes heat exchangers which convert all this heat energy into hot water. It’s reported that the result is a 25% reduction in the buildings energy costs.

Needless to say, green energy is on everyone’s agenda at the moment, and initiatives like this are likely to be on the increase. Perhaps something to invest in, or even participate in for those with the skills and resources.

Today’s National Day   

NATIONAL GIVING HEARTS DAY!  

PUBLISHERS NOTICE

“HE JUST WON £1,460 IN TWO DAYS! “

Dear Streetwise Customer, 

  “OMG, Ludlow 3:45…two horses to back. Bott N Brown WON at 25/1 !!!
Average odds taken on Betfair exchange 80/1. I backed for £12 winning me £960. Can you please thank Bill for me.”

                                             G.B – 6th February 2020

    Many thanks. Thursday OMG Newcastle 5:30. Special Lady WON 50/1. Won £500.

                                              G B – 7th February 2020  

A couple of weeks ago we wrote to you about The Hermes Strategy, a unique approach to horse racing created by Bill Burrows. I’ve reproduced word for word, two emails I received this week from one of our customers who tried the strategy for the first time just a few days ago.

He just won £1,460 in two days!

Needless to say, he’s pleased!

Now we don’t get 80-1 and 50-1 winners every day (although it looks like we do at the moment!) but because this strategy looks at the whole thing from a VERY unusual angle, long odds winners come along pretty regularly alongside more mundane wins.

It all adds up to a great second income for anyone able to spend 7-10 minutes a day putting the strategy to work.

For full details, take a look HERE

You could very easily be up and running and copying Bill within a few hours of reading about this. Everything you need is at your fingertips.      
         

Best Wishes  

John Harrison 

 www.streetwisenews.com/hermes

More than half of us haven’t written a will, even though this means we could leave a terrible mess behind when we die. Many assume that if we die without a will our estate will still make its way to the right people, but this is not true. When there is no will your assets are split according to the rules of intestacy. This means that if you are married anything you own jointly will pass to your spouse. But everything else won’t.

In England and Wales your spouse will get the £270,000 and half of the rest. The remainder is then split between your children, or if you have no children your parents and siblings. There is no such thing as a common-law partner under UK law so even if you have lived together for decades, if you aren’t married (or in a civil partnership) and you die without a will they will get nothing.

If you are unmarried your estate will pass to your children, parents, siblings, distant family … or even Prince Charles. Prince Charles ends up getting plenty of money as a result of our general failure to write a will. If you die without one and have no family your estate goes to the crown, unless you live in Cornwall where the Duchy of Cornwall – Prince Charles – gets your assets. This has resulted in Prince Charles receiving over £1m, which he has handed on to charity.

The only way to ensure that your money goes instead to the people you want to receive it is to make a will. You can stipulate not only who gets what from your financial assets, but it also provides you with the opportunity to distribute your treasured possessions to the people who you think will most appreciate them. In order to ensure you get a legally binding will that reflects your exact wishes you should see a solicitor. You will typically pay around £140-£240.

If you and your partner both need a will you can keep your costs down by getting mirror wills. This is where both wills are exactly the same leaving everything to each other or your children and you just reverse your names on them. Alternatively, March and October are Free Wills Months. In these months anyone aged 55 or over can get a will written or updated by a solicitor for free. You are encouraged to make a donation to charity in your will in return for getting free legal advice. If you are worried about inheritance tax, note that if you give at least 10% of your estate to charity you’ll reduce your inheritance tax charge from 40% to 36%.

Once you have a will, don’t rest on your laurels. Review it at key stages in your life: births, marriages, deaths or the end of a relationship. Bear in mind that when you divorce your ex-spouse is automatically removed from your will, but if you only separate, they could still benefit even if you die years later. When writing your will be aware that anyone will be able to read it after you die. All wills become public documents that can be found via the Gov.uk website.

Become An Online Expert

If you’re an expert in something…and most of us are an expert in something or other…you can offer your advice online and turn it into profit. Small business owners are particularly well placed to cash in on this opportunity because they tend to know their field very well. Michele Gorham, owner of Cookie Central Bakery, is one small business owner who has turned her expertise into online profits.

She has created hundreds of blog entries about how to build a business, run a bakery, and other helpful topics, and she answers customer’s direct questions through various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Yelp. Because of Gorham’s content contributions, her listings on various sites are highly trafficked and are regularly found by search engines – generating more sales for her business.

Is this a strategy you could emulate in your own field? Give it some thought. You may have a great deal more to offer than you at first realise.

Today’s National Day   

NATIONAL DRINK WINE DAY!  

PUBLISHERS NOTICE

FINALLY REVEALING IAN’S
“INCOME FOR LIFE”
SECRET!

 Hello.          

Are you worried you’re going to have to “work until you drop”? 

    Are you tired of working all day, every day to make someone else rich when it’s YOU who should be the one becoming wealthy? 

     Ian once shared that grief, but now he never has to worry about money again…

    Here’s a PROVEN way to make enough money to retire on as soon as you want, never work again and enjoy a fabulous income for life.

   And it’s not like you even have to quit your job if you don’t want. You can keep your regular paycheque coming in if you’d like while you follow the specific steps of this blueprint in your spare time. 

     Let us show you everything about this when you click the link below:

   www.streetwisenews.com/wizard

Best Wishes  

John Harrison 

For most of us the New Year heralds plans to get fit, eat better and generally be a better human. But have you thought about what you could do to improve your finances in 2020? There are a several simple steps that could make you significantly better off next New Year’s Eve.

Firstly, this is a good time to reassess your investment portfolio. Gauge whether the spread between different asset classes still suits your appetite for risk and the time you intend to be invested. The asset classes you choose to invest in will ultimately determine how your portfolio performs, usually more so than the specific investments you choose.

  While you are at it check what fees you are paying; these can greatly reduce long-term returns. You may be able to save thousands by the time you retire by switching to a cheaper investment platform, in which case it would be daft not to do it. When it comes to your household finances, plan to tackle one bill at a time. Millions of people have lapsed from their initial-offer rates onto standard rate for all manner of bills, from electricity and gas to TV services and the gym. Pick one bill each month and cut the cost.

Your mortgage is likely to be your biggest monthly expense so take strides towards paying it off. Plunging interest rates mean now is the time to strike to knock years off your home loan term or save thousands in interest. Find out what interest rate you are currently paying and whether you would pay any charges to switch now.

Then look to see if you could get a lower-rate deal. If you can get a lower rate – which you probably can in the current market – switch, but keep your mortgage repayments the same. Moving from a rate of 4.24% to 1.39% but keeping your repayments the same would allow you to shave seven years off a £150,000 mortgage, saving £8,871 in interest. Finally, keep an eye on your credit-card statements. It’s so easy to sign up for things on trial, then forget to cancel. Check your spending, cancel any subscriptions you no longer use and raise any suspicious activity with your card provider.

Testing Your Business Idea

Just read an article by Jason Cohen, founder of Smart Bear Software, which reminded me of something incredibly important for anyone thinking of launching a business.

Cohen says that many would-be entrepreneurs invest huge amounts of time money and effort into their business idea without doing something very fundamental – they don’t ask people whether they would buy from them. He argues that if you can’t find ten people who say they would buy from you, you don’t have anything. Most would be entrepreneurs simply don’t ask the question before committing to the business they’re scared of getting a negative response.

I think Cohen is right up to a point, but he doesn’t really go far enough. In my experience, it’s not enough to have someone say that they would buy if the product/service was available – you need them to make a real commitment. It’s very easy to tell someone what they want to hear, but less easy when there’s real money at stake.

I can’t pretend this is easy for all businesses, but if you can find some way to get a real financial commitment from your perspective customers, you’ll get a far better idea of the potential of your business idea than by merely asking a question.

Today’s National Day   

NATIONAL NO ONE EATS ALONE DAY! 

PUBLISHERS NOTICE 

 FINALLY REVEALING  IAN’S
“INCOME FOR LIFE”
SECRET!

  Hello.
    

    Are you worried you’re going to have to “work until you drop“?

    Are you tired of working all day, every day to make someone else rich when it’s YOU who should be the one becoming wealthy?

     Ian once shared that grief, but now he never has to worry about money again…

    Here’s a PROVEN way to make enough money to retire on as soon as you want, never work again and enjoy a fabulous income for life.

   And it’s not like you even have to quit your job if you don’t want. You can keep your regular paycheque coming in if you’d like while you follow the specific steps of this blueprint in your spare time.

     Let us show you everything about this when you click the link below:

www.streetwisenews.com/wizard

Best Wishes

John Harrison