Winter Fuel Payments
A former minister, Paul Burstow is suggesting that winter fuel payments be means-tested. It’s here on the BBC.
I’m over 65 and get a state pension, winter fuel payments, free travel in London through my Freedom Pass and discounts in lot of places including on National Rail through my Senior Railcard.
I would like to get a statement each year, as to how much I’ve received. I could then give an equivalent amount to charities of my choice. Probably, I’d to that on my birthday to celebrate cheating the Devil for another year.
If the government didn’t pay me, they’d only blow in on some ridiculous project.
A Public Vote On Chuggers
I know it’s only a newspaper poll on this page in Her Majesty’s Daily Telegraph, but it does give a definite result. On the subject of chuggers, where 641 have voted, 621 voted to say that a crackdown on chuggers was necessary and only 20, has said their tactics were sometimes necessary. This means that 96.88% are in favour of a crackdown.
So I think that this animosity, doesn’t do charities any good!
As I’ve said before, I never support any charity that I see chugging.
These days too, I usually have a few pound coins in my pocket for coffee, good buskers and worthy tins waved in front of me
Julian Knight Hits Two Targets With One Stone
I have a trawl looking for peer-to-peer lending stories and it picked up this article in the Independent by Julian Knight.
He starts by giving an excellent review of peer-to-peer lending and the broadening of financial services in general, saying it is broader in the United States. He concludes by saying.
This, I’d argue, is one of the reasons why in the US they are more entrepreneurial and start-ups get a chance to, well, start up.
He then goes on to talk about some of my least favourite people; chuggers. This his concluding paragraph.
The town of Shrewsbury blazed a trail by banning these individuals last year and now we seem finally to be consigning chuggers to the same place as the likes of the squeegee merchants.
Incidentally, a chugger at the Angel last week, virtually chased me into the road. If there’d been a policeman about, I’d have made a complaint. On the other hand, life is too short.
I shall follow Julian in future.
Spam From The NSPCC
I’ve just received a series of spam e-mails from the NSPCC.
That’s the last time, they get any money from me!
I tried to unsubscribe, but all it asked me to do was donate.
Is This Proof That The Lottery Is A Tax On The Stupid?
This story from the BBC says it all. Someone bought a lottery ticket and then failed to claim a multi-million prize.
That makes them doubly stupid in my book.
All the lottery does is encourages more people to waste money they don’t have.
If you want to give a little to charity through the lottery, you are probably better to give it directly to a suitable charity.
I do gamble occasionally, but only where some degree of knowledge or mental skill is involved.
Hell’s Angels
This was the title on the second leader in The Times today and it talked about a charity called Riders for Health. It has been chosen as one of the newspaper’s charities for Christmas.
I think what they do is brilliant and it’s so simple. Providing transport in the rural areas of Africa must surely get better healthcare.
Don’t-Get-Mad-Get-Even-Charities
There has been a sprouting of charities lately, where people who have lost a near and dear one have setup an appropriate charity.
I came across the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust, some months ago. In the last few days, three more charities of this type, have been the subject of lengthy reports on BBC Television.
It can’t be anything but a good thing, as obviously the money is properly targeted to help write the awful wrong, they have suffered.
Should Well-Off Pensioners Pay More Tax?
I’m not in favour of the proposal of the Liberal Democrats that well-off pensioners, like myself should pay more tax.
If the government keeps the money, it’ll only spend it on something of which I disapprove, like more quangos to employ the so-called great and good, many of whom have never done a real day’s work in their lives.
I prefer to give more than equivalent donations to charities of my choice, which I do on my birthday each year, in thanks for surviving another twelve months!
Birthday Charity Giving
I’ve had some more positive responses on my idea for giving to charity on your birthday, which I outlined here.
It just seems to hit a chord with people, to give to celebrate another year of life, hopefully well-lived.
So I’ve now given it a name of Birthday Charity Giving. It was the only sensible name I could think using the first letters of the names of my wife, son and the late company accountant, who set me up with the good pension I enjoy.
Kiva – On-Line Microfinance
Kiva is almost a cross between peer-to-peer lending and micro-finance.
You choose an entrepreneur with a business in some faraway country, who needs some finance to either start or expand their business. The business might be a recycling business in Pakistan or a cafe in Vietnam, but the list is endless. You then contribute something like $25 to the loan they require.
The About page on their web site tells you more. I just signed up and then lent $25 through my PayPal account to a pharmacy in the Congo to buy more drugs. Of the pukka sort that is! It was a very simple process, where you just sign in and then start lending in chunks of $25 to those borrowers you choose from a map of the world. I have since made a loan to a woman starting a restaurant in Ecuador. I chose Ecuador, as I have experience of the country, so know a bit about the way they work.
So far they claim they have lent over $337 million dollars and they have a near 99% repayment rate.
I regard any money, I give to Kiva as a donation to charity. If I get any money back, then that is a bonus. If I get all my money back with interest, then that’s an investment.
I think the big disadvantage of Kiva is that it appears you have to pay by PayPal or a credit card, whereas Zopa or funding Circle can be fed using a direct bank transfer.
Perhaps if you’ve had a clear-out and got rid of unwanted clutter through eBay, Kiva is a good way to spend your PayPal funds creatively.
Remember too, that most of our charity donations are either made by cash or credit card, often through something like JustGiving. A lot of these will be increased by Gift Aid.
The Anonymous Widower 