Death and Taxes

** Backblip for Monday 30th June 2025 **

I spent some time in the morning helping the fabric team in the churchyard, tidying up graves until the sun got too hot and then pulling up weeds in the shade of the church building where it was much cooler. The first thing Linda and I always do is to freshen up the memorial wall, clearing away dead flowers from vases and rearranging what’s left that’s still okay. In the relentless glare of the scorching sunshine nothing lasts very long out there, even flowers in water. Those which are just laid on interment plots are sadly shrivelled up within 24 hours at this time of year. I think next time I bring flowers for Mum and Dad I’ll put them in a plastic vase at the wall instead of leaving them on their spot. Pictured is another beautiful headstone, a young lady who died in 1934 when she was only 27, with an inscription from her grieving parents.

I had another phone appointment with the financial adviser in the afternoon. We talked about the tax situation once I start receiving the State Pension in the autumn. We discussed what my renovation and other plans are for the next year, and the likely costs involved. We reviewed my risk profile with a questionnaire, and it came out at exactly the same level as it always has been - level 2 out of a possible 5 (fairly risk averse, no surprise there). I had forgotten to jot down various monthly expenditure figures she had asked me to have ready, so she emailed me a budget sheet to fill in and send back. This will help her to give me the most relevant information about other investment possibilities. We will have one more appointment in August to go through my current portfolio and change the bits that are no longer recommended.

My brain was completely done in by the time the 90-minute financial call had ended. I did force myself to research all the figures for the budget sheet and send that back. It was fiddly to do and took longer than I had hoped, as all boring admin type stuff seems to do. I do loathe paperwork so much! Still too hot and stuffy to do any work in the house on the boxes etc. Hideously behind with absolutely everything, and still falling asleep when I try to read my book :-(