Retirement (or Last of the Summer Wine)

Hi all, CONTRACTORS & SUB-CONTRACTORS. I'm having a few catchup jobs done at home, where I've been reminded of some pitfalls to avoid. The job that I'm having done just now, is being undertaken by one man, so he in effect becomes my main contractor. So, when the job is complete, I will pay him. If the job was more substantial requiring more than one contractor, it's an advantage even for fee, to select by agreement the main contractor. He it is who will oversee the total job. Also, it's him who I pay. If a subcontractor asks for a direct payment, when his part is complete, it's important that before making any payment, I make sure that the main contractor gives the thumbs up, otherwise, I could be liable to pay him as well. The rules of liability with contractors & subcontractors are quite complex. Please carry on with your knitting now. Thank you.

Philip, I have contracted my knitting out to my wife. Am I now the contractor and she the subcontractor as I must make sure that no one pays her and all payments come to me from the client who is myself. This is getting complicated.

You are the consumer or customer.

I can't knit. Like playing the recorder, it's a basic skill I never gained at school. I am good at building Ikea furniture and defrosting the freezer, so swings and roundabouts.

Hi all, There are so many adverts nowadays regards what to do with YOUR DOSH, whether property, real estate, pensions... it's never ending. I can't give detailed advice, everyone's circumstances are different, besides I don't know it all either. If I did, I would be living in a palace. If it's too good to be true, the chances are that it isn't true. Please don't rush into doing anything, certainly without your own experts. Those you know & who you can rely on & trust.

I'm on your team, Helen, as I quite like putting Ikea puzzles together even though I sometimes have a few bits left over. I'm also hand with the hairdryer when defrosting the always overly frosty freezer.

Hi. Pay attention, pay attention. Your classification, depends on your taxation status. Contractors are issue with an I P or C certificate of tax exemption. It means Inland Revenue know who you are. Without that cert, any payee, private or corporates, must deduct the standard rate of tax from the labour element of any completed work, & pay it to their local tax office. Inland Revenue do enforce this. A local old folks home management (if that's what they are called) were caught out on this during the summer. The contractor who wasn't in possession of a tax exemption cert, went bust, the old folks home were then liable for the tax shortfall. PS. Some tax districts use a tax voucher system, but it is essentially the same means of ensuring tax is recovered from any payments to contractors. This includes gardeners. So please be careful. The care home management involved in my example resemble Vernon Scripps, from Heartbeat.

Philip, it's getting too complicated to continue employing my wife and I cannot make her redundant as she will be on maximum redundancy pay out and I can't afford that, so I think that I will have to arrange a takeover from someone and hope that she doesn't object.

Hi Argon, I was being factual with my reply for the benefit of members generally, but I wore my little lady out. I'm able to speak freely on that, as she wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Best wishes.

Philip, I hope that anyone reading my posts realises that they are completely facetious. I read them to my wife before I post. Zelda has the same silly streak as I have, and I think that is what keeps us going. She has been a tireless partner for 58 yrs through thick and thin, and only in the last two years had difficulty with coping due to a fall. I hope that I didn't detract from your message with my follow up to it. In future I will decrease any levity by 50 per cent.

Don't decrease the levity argon. Levity is what makes life bearable... and chocolate. When my parents were doing their garden, my Dad bought my Mum a concrete mixer for her birthday and would refer to her as his little motorway contractor. My Mum would claim that she charged extra because she had her own mixer.

You could argue Equity Release allows cash poor asset rich pensioners to spend their money and avoid the dreaded Inheritance Tax

Hello Busman, Yes, that is correct, but it's the not so well off pensioners who are being enticed to enter into what they don't fully understand. A single pensioner is not quite so at risk of difficulty, but it is couples who enter into equity release, who then find when they are widowed, they lose such a huge chunk of their pension income, so that they can no longer afford to live in their current home, but cannot move to a smaller home, because after nine years, there is no value left in their current home. Compound interest is like an iceberg. It's not seen until it's too late.

Hi all, As if the world hasn't got enough to contend with, closer to home an issue that I've spoken about before hits our news headlines. Funeral business goes bust. Remember, when we are paying for anything upfront, it might not be worth the paper it's written on.

Too true Philip. That aside, it occurred to me long after my aunt had died that she might have had such a plan but a) we didn't have any info b) if it required continued payments then her finances were such that payments would have stopped. Paperless systems now don't even send an annual statement for bank accounts so all sorts of things can get lost.