Paying for the Care of the Elderly
I’m getting there fast and hopefully, I’ll have enough money to keep me in my old age, but others will not.
There is an article in today’s Times, which lays out whether the state or families should pay. It is a difficult question and judging by some of the comments, a large number of people find it unfair that they should pay extra, after they have contributed all their life.
In my view we have to radically change several things.
The first is that we will all have to work later. I have no intention of giving up on work at 65, as my father did and it killed him. But seriously many of us do jobs that we can continue to do on a full or part-time basis for a few more years. If I was Chancellor of the Exchequer, I would give a tax advantage to older workers, as the longer they work the greater the savings will be to the government’s coffers.
I would also abolish Inheritance Tax. I’ve had letters published about this in the Financial Times and know that it can be funded by perhaps two pence on Income Tax. This would give those who wanted to pass on their wealth much greater flexibility and many would move into much smaller well-equipped homes, that would allow them to stay self-sufficient for longer. I’ve been told that some stay in run-down large houses to minimise tax Inheritance Tax liabilities. That is wrong on many fronts.
Inheritance Tax will never be abolished though, because of the politics of envy. Unless of course someone does it in the EU, like Spain or Italy, and everybody rushes to the sun to avoid paying the tax.
We must also find some way to reward those who have looked after their finances. Many others have been profligate and have no assets when they can no longer cope. How this will be done is the difficult part, but perhaps we should give extra tax relief for pensions and savings. This could actually be paid for by making the systems a lot simpler, so that you didn’t have to use one of the armies of pointless intermediaries.
But it is not all gloom!
All of these elderly will be a big market for new products and services. Just take the StairSteady, which is an invention to help the elderly and infirm climb stairs. There are loads of things that need inventing.
In a few years time, a large proportion of the retired will be Internet-savvy. This in itself will enable local self-help groups to be created. New hand-help devices will also make things better.
We often tend to say that it will all get bad and even worse. But often we realise that the doom-mongers are wrong. As an example what happened to the Millennium Bug?
How Banks Treat Competitors
As you know I’m a great fan of Zopa. I started with a post called Peer-to-Peer Lending – Zopa in July and have posted several since. Just click the “Zopa” tag.
Have the banks found a way to stop this upstart competitor? This has just been posted on the Zopa web site.
What’s happened to debit cards?
You may know that in order for a business to receive debit card payments, a merchant services licence is required. When we started out, our business model was unique and something of an unknown; as such, RBS Worldpay (the body associated with our banking partner that grants the ability to receive debit card payments) declined our application for a merchant services licence. We felt that debit card funding would be a useful service to offer our lenders, and found an alternative solution with the support of a third party in the anticipation that it would be a short term arrangement.
Given Zopa’s growth – and thanks to all your fundings – this year we thought it an appropriate time to revisit the application for our own merchant licence, with a solid track record to prove both that our model is working and that debit card business is popular with very little risk of liability to the merchant services provider. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts RBS Worldpay refuse to accommodate Zopa’s model, and have openly shown no appetite to work with us in coming to an arrangement or indeed in understanding our business. Equally, our volumes are such that the short-term process is no longer sustainable so it’s become unavoidable for us to draw the debit card funding service to a close.
The transfer will now take two days as opposed to being virtually instantaneous.
Why is it that banks assume that they are special? They are no different to any other company and should live within the same rules. But they don’t!
A New Bank
Years ago, I worked as a consultant for a major bank writing a software system to calculate the cost of the various operations of the bank. What was interesting, is that a significant part of the cost of transactions such as clearing cheques, standing orders, direct debits etc., was the cost of the buildings and premises. In fact, when a new branch opened, because of the premises cost, it was a long time before that branch’s costs were down to the average level.
So the suggestion of one of the callers on Radio 5, that banks open branches in areas that are poorly served, although admirable will never happen. Or only after intense pressure and inducements.
But!
We live in a technological age, with nearly everyone having a mobile phone. Also about 50% of the population bank on-line and about 70% or more of the population have access to the Internet.
So any new bank must maximise this technology to provide a service to everyone.
Banks too, need to introduce more personal service and if customers can’t get to see the bank manager, then the managers should go to the customer. How many people have ever had a visit from a bank manager? I rarely have and I’ve dealt in seven figures sums with banks for many years.
Returning to my costings of a major bank. Small sub branches were an interesting way of providing service in areas away from the main branch. They have now been replaced by cash machines, but why do we not see such branches in places like supermarkets, hospitals and garages?
Whatever happens, a new bank must innovate and draw on the experience of the past; good and bad.
Infuriating Excel
I plot all of my Zopa investments in Excel. This gives me a good hold on how they are performing.
But about a week or so ago, the date axis on the chart disappeared. Strange because on my other computer the chart still works in the same way.
No matter what I do, I can’t seem to get them back. I get no message to say what is wrong either.
I hope I don’t write software like that!
I’ve done a bit of investigation and I’ve found that on the machine where the chart works, the version is Excel 2007 SP1 (12.0.6331.5000) and on the other machine that doesn’t it is Excel 2007 SP2 (12.0.6504.5001). I’ve since found that Windows updated my Office and probably Excel on the 27th of October.
Bankers and Bonuses
Years ago, I was part of team that created a technology company. When we sold it, we went to enormous lengths to avoid paying tax as it was then 80%. If you increase taxes then companies like this will set up in more favourable regimes and the loss of employment from these sectors will be great.
After all, I live near Cambridge and they’ve just announced a £900 million investment in research and facilities at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Some of those researchers will make a very large sum of money, but they will save a large number of lives and improve all out lot significantly.
So do we have one set of morals for bankers and accountants and another for scientists, doctors and engineers? Judging by the fact that crap like X-Factor is bread and circuses to most of the population, it would appear that reality TV stars rate a lot higher, than both groups. No-one complains when some Z-list celebrity gets a drug addiction. They just feel sorry for them!
You can’t tax bankers without taxing others who risk everything to create world-changing companies and ideas. And dare I say it the jobs we need for the future.
Gambling Addiction
There has been an article on BBC Breakfast this morning talking about on-line gambling.
In a piece entitled Gambling, Zopa and On-Line Bots, I wrote.
A strange thing is that since I’ve been using Zopa, I have cut down my gambling on things like horse racing.
I think that using Zopa is a bit like on-line gambling with a bit of the same buzz, as you check the results of what has happened every day about 10:30 at night. Or it certainly seems so to me. But perhaps I’m more an information man, than a true gambler.
I can’t remember the last time I had a bet. In fact since I started doing detailed accounts with my new software product, there is nothing in the column marked, Gambling.
So perhaps we all need the buzz of gambling, but we need to channel it into something less risky and perhaps even productive.
Fair Treatment of Widows by the Banks
I didn’t have a particularly bad time when my wife died from the banks. But many others do!
I’ve just listened to the influential MP, John McFall, complaining that many widows have difficulty accessing money that will come to them. I didn’t, but the endless sending of death certificates to get information just makes the bereavement process worse.
It’s not just the banks but part of a much larger and very important area.
It is now over nearly two years since my wife died and I can now think rationally about what has happened since. And especially about some of the nauseous paperwork that has arisen! I should also say that I’ve not had it difficult, compared to some stories I have heard.
I was prompted to write to The Times about this and they published my letter on April the sixteenth, 2008, albeit with a few modifications.
Sir, I was widowed last year, and it is only now that I’m starting to get my life together. The response of the various government and local authority departments in handling all the paperwork involved has been very patchy.
Registrars: excellent, very sympathetic and efficient; Work and Pensions: bereavement allowance came through with a few hiccups, but not too difficult; Premium Bonds: system worked but could have been better; council tax: this was reduced automatically on signing a form by St Edmundsbury — totally painless; DVLA: its online systems worked well; winter fuel payment: found difficult to claim and missed it for last year.
The private sector wasn’t that much better, with some companies having people whose sole job appeared to be to deal with bereavement faring much better than those that didn’t. Some wanted death certificates, some accepted faxed copies and others took my word.
We need a lot more joined-up thinking in this important area, as, with nearly a million deaths in the UK every year, it would surely help the bereavement process for those left behind if every company, organisation, government department and authority were automatically notified. After all, if St Edmundsbury can do it here in supposedly sleepy Suffolk, then surely everyone else can.
They left out the piece where I praised The Carphone Warehouse, but severely criticised a large British company, who find it impossible to take my wife off their mailing list. The former showed how it should be done and the latter are a disgrace.
As I said in my letter, my local council met the Gold Standard and the Registrar effectively started the process of adjusting the Council Tax.
In tracing my wife’s credit cards, I ended up talking to a Fraud Manager at a well-known bank. We felt that it should be possible to have an automated system that would flag the cards of those that had died. Apparently, these cards are an area that is aggressively targeted by criminals.
He’d also had problems with some shares that had been held by his late mother. This is a common problem and was noted in some of the replies to my letter in The Times. Luckily, my wife didn’t hold any shares except for a few in a now-floated Building Society.
But I’ve since met several people, whose husbands or wives have died abroad and they’ve had problems with getting bodies home and others where the Death Certificate has been delayed because there was an inquest. If you haven’t got the Death Certificate, then the Banks won’t give you access to the bank accounts!
So I had it easy. But I know now, how I can make things even easier.
Beware of Calls from VISA/Mastercard – 2
I have just had another call from these crooks.
I thought that I should phone my credit card company and ask if there is anywhere where the scam can be reported.
They said there wasn’t! They also said that nothing could be done as they are abroad. But if enough people reported the calls to a central number, then at least the country of origin could be traced and shamed in the press.
So we’re all on our own on this one, then!
Loan Fraud
I assume that these two e-mails I received this morning are up to no good.
This one is from Homesteel Loan Management.
This is HOMESTEEEL LOAN MANAGEMENT, a private loan lender.We provide funding for companies and individuals that need funding. We work domestic as well as international companies. Our funding sources specialize in creative solutions to meet your needs for expansion, growth etc.
Our company do grant loans to individuals and companies as the loan grant varies from $5 thousand to $5 million Dollars with an interest rate of just 2.5 %.Borrower’s Information Needed
Full Names:…………………………………………
Country:……………………………………………
Phone Number:……………………………………..
Loan Amount Needed:…………………………….
Loan Term Duration:……………………………….Contact us today with the above information at honorablekalebcole1@gmail.com,mrkalebcole@sifymail.com
Company Name:HOMESTEEEL LOAN MANAGEMENT.
Registration Number: EA-ASL/941OYI/02/LN-UK
Telephone: +44-701-112-8005
Fax: +44 91-791-52-20Regards,
HOMESTEEEL LOAN MANAGEMENT
homesteelmanagement@gmail.com
And this one is from Eagle Loan Management.
This is Eagle Loan Management, a private loan lender.We provide funding for companies and individuals that need funding. We work domestic as well as international companies. Our funding sources specialize in creative solutions to meet your needs for expansion, growth etc.
Our company do grant loans to individuals and companies as the loan grant varies from $5 thousand to $5 million Dollars with an interest rate of just 2.5%.Borrower’s Information Needed
Full Names:…………………………………………
Country:……………………………………………
Phone Number:……………………………………..
Loan Amount Needed:…………………………….
Loan Term Duration:……………………………….Contact us today with the above information at eagleinvestment@sifymail.com
Company Name:EAGLE LOAN MANAGEMENT.
Registration Number: EA-ASL/941OYI/02/LN-UK
Telephone: +44-701-112-8005
Fax: +44 91-791-52-20Regards,
EAGLE LOAN MANAGEMENT
eagleloan.2009@gmail.com
Note that the registration, telephone and fax numbers are all the same.
Obviously, both of these e-mails are the same fraud. I suspect, that you will pay a lot of up-front fees and never see any money.
There is also the possibility that just phoning the numbers will be very expensive. In fact it is a good idea never to phone any UK number beginning with 7, unless you know who it belongs to! Many are mobiles, but some of them are linked to very expensive personal numbers.
Don’t whatever you do have anything to do with these crooks!
A Double Cliche
Someone said something like this on the radio, when discussing their predictions for the recession.
We think it will be a saxophone shaped curve, but that would be blowing our own trumpet.
I bet that was pre-planned.
The Anonymous Widower 