If you're buying a property with someone else; a partner, a friend, a sibling... there's a very important decision buried in the paperwork that most people breeze past without really understanding: Should your ownership status be Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common? It sounds like a technicality, but it really isn't. Get it wrong, or leave it undocumented, and it can cost you (or your children) your share of your house, years later. This post explains what the choice actually

Over half of UK adults don't have a will....so if you're one of them, you're in good company, but that's not much consolation for the people you'd leave behind. I get it. As a former IT business owner, I know how easy it is to keep pushing "sort the will" down the priority list. There's always something more urgent. In fact, even when I started working as a financial adviser....I kept avoiding my own wills and LPA for ages. I couldn't bear the thought of all the admin (and co

Most owners think about selling their business the way most people think about their will: something to sort out later. But the uncomfortable truth is that the value you eventually receive is decided years before the sale, not in the negotiation. Incidentally...if you click the button, you can take the "Am I Ready To Sell My IT Business?" ScoreCard...and see how close to prepared you really are. By the time a buyer is at the table, the business either has the qualities they p

Almost every successful IT business is built by someone who is brilliant at the actual work, the engineering, the code, the sale. That 'mastery' is what gets a company off the ground. But the very skill that builds a business to a certain size is rarely the skill that takes it further. At some point the job has to change from doing the work to leading the business, and that shift from founder to CEO is one of the hardest a business owner ever makes. I actually borrowed the ti

Most IT business owners I meet are exceptional at what they do. They started their company because they were outstanding engineers, developers or salespeople, and that expertise built something real. But there comes a point where the very thing that got you here starts to hold you back: you are so busy working in the business that you never get to work on it. That is often the moment a non-executive director (NED) earns their keep. A good NED is not another cost or another bo

I did not set out to build a career in IT distribution. In fact, after studying leisure management, qualifying as a tennis coach and following a passion for health and fitness, I took a very different turn into the fast-growing IT industry, and ended up building, turning around and selling technology businesses. The most instructive of those was InterQuad, which we grew into the number one Citrix distributor in Northern Europe before a management buy-out and, eventually, a tr

Pay less inheritance tax A Political Hot-Potato Without a doubt, inheritance tax is a polarising subject. Many feel that it is an unfair tax, levied on people already having paid significant amounts of income tax and capital gains tax through a lifetime of work, and as a consequence depriving their loved ones of hard-earned financial security. Others believe that in a time of increased disparity between the richer few and the poorer majority, it is a fair re-distribution of w

Invest In Different Asset Classes Gambling Everybody knows the expression that "gambling is a mug's game!" Placing a bet on a horse, pouring cash into slot machines or even buying a lottery ticket, generates a bit of a thrill, and for the lucky few might even result in a win, but most people know that they are likely to have lost their money. When it comes to investing for your future, gambling and hoping for a win is not a good strategy for success. This is what one might ca

Christchurch Priory Dorset came top of a list of the best places in England and Wales to retire, in a 2014 report scoring highly for quality of life factors such as good health, property ownership and marriage. The Independent article outlining the details suggested that in an analysis done using Office of National Statistics data, the insurance company Prudential ranked local authorities in England and Wales from best to worst as places for retirement. The county of Dorset s

Stanpit Marsh Dorset, located on the south coast of England, is a great place to retire for many reasons. With its stunning scenery, beautiful beaches and charming villages, it offers a perfect blend of natural beauty and traditional charm. The county is renowned for its Jurassic coastline, which is a World Heritage site, and its rolling hills and countryside, dotted with picturesque towns and villages. It is also home to the famous Dorset cream teas and the iconic Jurassic c

Enable Your Children To Care For You Properly What is a Lasting Power of Attorney? Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that allows someone to appoint another person, known as an attorney, to make decisions on their behalf about their health and welfare in the event that they lose capacity to make those decisions for themselves. This is an important consideration for anyone who is thinking about estate planning, as it ensures that their wishes are respected and

Trusts Create Ultimate Inter-Generational Protection Trusts have been in use for many hundreds of years. A trust is a legal entity, established for the administration of assets for the benefit of specific people. One or more people (the trustees) manage money or other assets in the trust (the trust property) for the benefit of others (the beneficiaries). The person that placed the assets in the trust is known as the settlor. Trusts are a way of defending your assets from lega

Inheritance Tax Planning Inheritance tax planning was once something only considered necessary by the rich, but over the years a combination of rising house prices, inflation, "frozen" tax allowances and other factors, have created an environment where it is now quite common for many people to exceed the total asset level which attracts a tax penalty on their death. This has the effect of reducing the value of their estate which can be passed to their loved-ones. In a UK Gov

The Importance of a Will According to a recent survey, 55% of UK adults do not have a Will.....are you one of them? There are a number of good reasons why you should write a Will, but here we will look at the top five: 1. Without a Will, your estate and requests are administered based on the law, not your wishes. One of the main reasons why you should write a Will is because without one, you would die ‘intestate’. This means that any thoughts you might have had about protect