I saw a widow recently. She’d booked in to talk about inheritance tax, which is usually where these conversations start and almost never where they end. Before we got anywhere near gifting or trusts or any of the clever stuff, we did the dull, necessary thing and read her will. It had been drafted only […]
Give With a Warm Hand Read More »
Being successful in business involves multiple different factors that you control and a dose of luck. Some of the attributes of running a business, such as building a senior leadership team and constantly reviewing the company’s performance are crucial to success. However they don’t necessarily translate into how to run a successful retirement. When you
Don’t Run Your Retirement Like You Did Your Business Read More »
Spend enough time on social media you will come across maniacs selling a certain lifestyle. They tend to start with something along the lines of: Of course, it is nonsense (no one can sprint on a stomach that full of chia seeds). Most of us go to work to earn enough money that we can
What is Contentment? Read More »
I once met a recently widowed wife of a Kodak retiree (in a former life, we used to have the contract to advise all of their staff). She was livid with her recently deceased husband, whom she had just found out had £100,000 stashed in savings, she knew nothing about. “I cycle everywhere. What
Should You Spend More in Retirement? Read More »
It is a natural human instinct to think that our achievements, our position in life, is down to hard work and good choices. The narrative on social media runs that if only we adopt the five key behaviours of these famous entrepreneurs, we too could be rich. We want to believe this because it means
Is Your Success Down to Luck? Read More »
The story of Sonia Vallabh is an extraordinary one. She and her husband Eric were successful lawyers when Sonia’s mother started to decline rapidly. She died painfully and quickly. The autopsy turned Sonia’s life upside down, her mother had died of genetic prion disease. Sonia had a 50/50 chance of developing the same. How would
How do I Find Purpose in Life? Read More »
I was once asked to go and see a couple at home. They had a modest looking house but once inside, it was filled with expensive antiques. In fact you could barely move for pricey looking objects. Their query was a simply one, could they raise a mortgage on their home to fund an extension they
Dumb Ways to Go Broke #1 Read More »
There is a secret to qualifying in any sport to play for your country… Outlive all the players that are better than you! I was in Spain last week watching the England over-80s Football Team compete in the Nations Cup. These players (including my father-in-law) were not playing for their country when they were in
How You Can Guarantee a Spot Playing for Your Country Read More »
Extraordinarily in 2025, it is easier than it has ever been to steal the estate of someone who has passed away. The government website Bona Vacantia contains the names of 6,000 people whose estates haven’t been claimed by anyone. It is freely available online and has been for a while. Whilst we at Altor are
The Easiest Fraud There Is – Fake Wills Read More »
In his brilliant book about human psychology and money, The Soul of Wealth, author Daniel Crosby writes about the ways in which our over confidence can hurt us. He quotes research that reports; 95% of people surveyed rated their own sense of humour as better than average. In another survey, 100% of men believed they had
Could Serena Kill Me First Serve? Read More »
