As an executive coach, I’ve found that the more successful my clients become, the more they want to review certain aspects of their lives:

• Why do I choose to do what I do? 
• What do I get out of my work?
• What might I want to put back to leave as a legacy in the world?

When you reach a certain level of seniority, other questions arise: 

• Am I doing what I’m passionate about?
• What am I passionate about?!
• Do the people I work with have the same purpose and passion as I do?

These kind of questions have traditionally been raised with friends over a bottle of wine in the wee small hours.  You get fired up but in the cold light of day nothing seems to change.  The purpose and passion with which you may have started your career retreats once again.
Time for a review.

You may have a commercial vision for what you want in terms of:

• Salary
• Profits
• Return on investment (ROI)
• Return on equity (ROE) etc.  

Outside of money, why are you and your business ‘in business’?

Getting in touch with your values – what’s important to you – can be a way to get to the root of your ‘purpose’.  Think back to times when life was at its most fulfilling – what was important to you about those experiences, what values were you honouring? 

Think about times or people that drive you crazy – it may be because some of your values were being trampled on.  What might they be?

Identify which three values are most important to you.  For example, you may value independence, competition, freedom, excitement, peace, fun, success. 

Knowing your values then makes it easier to identify your purpose or intent - why you and your business are in business, apart from money.

The intent of an individual or a business is usually expressed as the contribution made to society in a broader sense.  Intent also sets the tone for an organisation’s culture.  Intent is outward looking and ‘giving’ in nature.

Businesses can also usefully review their values and intent.  Clarity across the business can motivate staff, lead to greater staff retention and attract the right people in the first place.

Think again about those possible values, other examples are: challenge, achievement, security, risk-taking, beauty, kindness, learning. 

Imagine if your colleagues or business partners were aligned on their intent and the reasons for being in business.

Once you have your intent you’ll find it easier to make decisions about strategy, and the ways you can express yourself to the world. 

Our legacy, or what we leave in the world, can reflect how we have touched other people.  What will yours be?

Sara Longmuir, Executive and Business Coach, SLongmuir@shirlawscoaching.com 07941 015 866 

Stress

We now live in the so-called information age which has introduced rapidly evolving new technology and more competition.  These have brought about very rapid changes in the workplace and increased expectations of those who work there.  Sending messages is instant, putting on more pressure to deal with an ever burgeoning level of information, which leaves us little time for reflection before we are obliged to move swiftly on to the next task.  In addition to this, we are often required to work against a background of corporate mergers, short-term contracts, downsizing and a threat of redundancy – which could increase the incidence of stress.  Sustained levels of stress over a prolonged period may well promote illness both physical and mental, and in severe instances, premature death or even suicide.  Too much stress and endless wear-and-tear drives us into exhaustion. 

Burnout

Burnout is a condition which develops when an individual works too hard for too long in a high pressure environment.  The victim of burnout is exhausted on all levels, physical, emotional and attitudinal.  As a result work suffers, as can their family relationships.  In its most severe form the individual simply cannot go on and can have a full blown mental breakdown.  Those most likely to develop burnout are very productive people on the whole.  They often feel indispensable, work long hours and have high energy levels.  These people often multi-task and can be found doing three things at once.  Unfortunately they do not know when to stop.  They have very high expectations of themselves and others, but are poor delegators.  Often they are perfectionists and set themselves unrealistic targets, both in their work and play.  They tend to be very competitive and live life in the fast lane, working at full throttle most of the time.  Over conscientious perfectionists with type A personalities, those with so-called ‘hurry sickness’ are the most vulnerable.  Unfortunately they are used to being in control and are the least likely to ask for help when things begin to spiral out of control.  The signs and symptoms of burnout include:  emotional exhaustion with sleep problems, tiredness, irritability, depression, mood swings.

Low productivity accompanied by feelings of low achievement, high absenteeism and a high sickness rate.

Accident proneness

Multiple physical symptoms including headache, backache, indigestion, shortness of breath, frequent coughs and colds.  Using the accompanying questionnaire, it is possible to help to identify those individuals whose coping mechanisms are at full stretch and therefore at risk of stress related issues and burnout. 

Most people would score between 0 and 2 on this test and this would indicate that one is coping.  A score of 3 to 5 means that one is generally operating slightly outside of the comfort zone.  A score of 6 to 9 would indicate that coping mechanisms are under significant stress and remedial action should be taken as soon as possible to avoid the problem worsening.  A score of 10 to 12 indicates significant concern and could indicate that the person is suffering from significant stress, anxiety and depression, and should take avoiding action or seek professional help.

(This is an arbitrary risk system and should be used in conjunction with a clinical mental state examination to be more accurate.)

Following the Chancellor’s pre-Budget Report last October, the headlines read “Darling doubles IHT relief” and “IHT breakthrough for hardworking families”.

But don’t be fooled. 

The announcement in October was not that the IHT nil rate band is being doubled.  Rather, to the extent it is not used up by the first spouse to die, it will automatically transfer to the surviving spouse so that the first £600,000 (or, from 6 April, £624,000) of a married couple’s joint estate will pass to the children, tax free.

For well advised married couples, this gives little or no cause for cheer.  They will have structured their Wills so that both nil rate bands were fully utilised in any event.  At best, perhaps the Chancellor’s announcement should be seen as a Government seal of approval to their existing Will-based IHT planning.

But to leave it there would be folly, not least because, under the Government approved approach to IHT planning, everything over and above £600,000 of a married couple’s joint wealth is taxed at 40%.  So, on an estate worth £5million, the taxman receives £1.76million, leaving the children with just £3.24million. 

So, what should you do if you are worth more than £600,000 and wish to leave more of your hard earned wealth to your children when you die, and less to the taxman?

The first thing to do is review your Will.  Not only does a Will carry out the crucial role of directing who should receive your assets when you are no longer alive, and when, but it also offers a fantastic one-off opportunity to save significant amounts of IHT.  In particular, an opportunity to save IHT on the family home.

For example, it is often overlooked that if, under your Will, you leave your share of the family home to your husband or wife in trust, the value of the home is immediately reduced by up to 15% for IHT purposes.  So, on a home worth £2million, this simple step automatically saves £120,000 of IHT for the benefit of the children.  Of course, it has no impact on the sale value of the property should it ever be sold.

In addition, the Will can be structured so that if the family home - or, indeed, any other asset - grows in value between the first death and the second death, that growth in value is sheltered from IHT.  This requires special provisions to be inserted into the Will so that steps can be taken on the first death to ensure the tax savings are achieved.

Also, if you own business assets, such as a family trading company, or farmland, it is important for IHT planning reasons that your Will takes this into account by leaving these assets to a trust on your death, rather than to your spouse outright.   The IHT savings arising as a result of owning such assets and having the right type of Will in place can be really quite dramatic.  

Finally, your Will should ensure that your assets pass to trustees for the benefit of your heirs on the surviving spouse’s death so that your wealth is sheltered from the 40% IHT rate in your heirs’ hands and also better protected from any unwanted third party claims suffered by your heirs, such as from creditors or even spouses on divorce.

Once your Will has been reviewed and, if necessary, modified so that it shelters more than just the first £600,000 from IHT, it is normally worth exploring the possibility of seeking to reduce the value of the assets passing under your Will by making gifts to the younger generations now, tax free, rather than waiting until death when the tax rate is 40%.

You can give away as much as you like during your lifetime and, provided you survive seven years, there will be no IHT to pay on those gifts. 

If, quite understandably, making outright gifts to your children, or grandchildren, fills you with horror, then you can retain control of the purse strings by transferring assets into trust and naming yourself as one of the trustees.  The amounts which may be gifted into trust are usually limited to £600,000 every seven years for a married couple, or to the amount of your annual surplus income, although with specialist advice these limits can sometimes be extended or even eliminated altogether.

In summary, the sooner you review your Will and put an IHT planning strategy in place, the more IHT you will save and the more relieved you will be that you looked behind the headlines.

William Begley
Partner
Speechly Bircham LLP
www.speechlys.com

Ask a room full of people the above question and undoubtedly you will get a variety of answers, as the question has a degree of complexity or subjectivity about it. Maybe ask an insurance salesman the same question and you will probably find a high commission paying product is the panacea!

Perhaps, the question should be what do you intend to do in retirement?  I think here you are going to get a lot of different answers, because it is all pretty subjective.

Certainly, the diversity of answers is mirrored by the diversity of our own personal or financial circumstances and needs.  Ask the recently married couple the question and the eyes will glaze over.  They are focussed on fun and breeding, or a combination thereof.  Ask the recently cash-strapped divorcee and they may see retirement as the oasis in the desert, dim and distant or maybe just a mirage after all.  Then try the mid forties lawyers and the answer is not soon enough!

It is just human nature for us to have aspirations, beyond just a roof over our heads, food and clothes.  During our working lives these aspirations manifest themselves in the form of larger and grander homes, well (or expensively) educated offspring and the odd luxurious holiday.  So it is no surprise that most of us want to maintain this lifestyle once we have concluded gainful employment.  It also comes as no surprise that the most sensible way to create a “retirement plan” is to build a plan that gets us through our working lives so that we can determine how much money we are going to have (or need) when we stop work and have funded that stage of our life.

There are bound to be changes to our personal circumstances, some positive, some negative as we journey through our lives.  Children born today in the UK can expect to live well into their eighties. These same children born sixty years ago were told they might expire in their late sixties. So a combination of medical innovation and self awareness, be that of smoking or the benefits of exercise, are adding years to our lives.

Arguably, workers retiring in the fifties and sixties weren’t such a burden on the State, as they tended to die relatively shortly after they “stopped economic production”.

However, we are just exiting a phase that looks slightly different to the past War retirees. Many workers have enjoyed the fruits of “Corporate” not State funded final salary pension schemes. Such arrangements have generally shielded the workers from having to worry too much about providing for themselves in retirement.  At the same time legislation was introduced in 1998 allowing individual to take pension benefits from age 50, rather than 60. Over the last ten years the UK has seen more and more people taking early retirement benefits from their final salary pension schemes. A cocktail of volatile equity returns and members demanding monthly pension payments, plus a healthy dose of early tax free cash has somewhat dulled the appetite for corporate UK to keep its final salary schemes open in the future. I believe the next phase of retirement planning has perhaps “less fat” on the meat going forward.

The current generation approaching retirement may well have benefited from generous employer funded pension schemes plus apparently unabated growth in the value of their homes over the last fifteen years. The legislation of the late eighties has however, been reversed with the pension age pushed back to 55 from 50, and with many large employers providing employees with flexible retirement dates up to age 75,early retirement may no longer be an option for the younger generation.

One of the greatest undermining factors in building a Retirement Plan is taxation. The impact of tax on savings is a creeping stealth like one. Putting politics to one side, developed countries are finding it increasingly more difficult to balance their books.

In December 2006, HM Treasury published its then latest annual report entitled “long term public finance report: an analysis of fiscal sustainability”, as part of the chancellor’s Pre-Budget Review.

The report looked at the cost of providing pension and healthcare over the long term. One of the conclusions was that government expenditure as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product would rise significantly and over just the next thirty years the tax burden would increase by over 7%.

 The statistics highlight anticipated increases in public expenditure, including a whopping 33% increase in Civil Service pension costs. Furthermore, the figures actually highlight the necessary increase in government revenues from taxes to help fund the country.

Perhaps one of the reasons for highlighting the report and statistic is to focus the mind on how much money will be required in retirement, in the knowledge that taxes are not going down in the long term (nor in the short term for that matter).

Here are a few thoughts to think about when working on your own retirement plans. An income of £300,000 per annum will leave with you about £182,000 after tax. So, over the next 20 years, assuming no stealth like tax changes, you will have directly invested about £2.35million with the Chancellor, or about 39% of your gross earnings-forget about tax on your savings or other indirect taxes. You then get to retirement and estimate that you need about £100,000 to live on. Well, that would require a gross income of about £152,000 per annum. The good news here is that your tax take is down to just 34% now-yippee! So assuming, 30 years of stress free retirement you will have invested a further £1million with the Chancellor. Then, when you pop your clogs the Treasury are eagerly awaiting the invitation to the wake!

All is not lost though, as some pre-emptive planning could well be considered. Equalising income between husbands and wives pushes income across two lots of personal allowances. Using up the capital gains exemptions annually is currently worth another £9,200 in tax free income each. At the same time it is now known that capital gains going forward will be taxed at 18%. Thus, with some strategic planning it is entirely possible to plan in advance to mitigate the impact of tax in retirement; it just needs to be thought about and acted on.

So where have we got to? We know that providing income in retirement will require the accumulation of a significant pot of money on which to draw down. We can surmise that an increasing slice of this pot of money is going to be skimmed off by the Treasury. We also know that the Government provides an array of allowances that can be exploited. The important thing is perhaps not to trust to fate but to embark upon the creation of the plan which allows you to do what you want to in retirement and in the time leading up to retirement.

Richard Bertrin
Asquith & Partners LLP
www.asquith.co.uk
 

Yes, love it or hate it, it is rhubarb season or should I say rhubarb crumble season!!!

Rhubarb is actually from the vegetable family and not fruit. It goes wonderfully with pork and can be eaten raw with salad. It also marries very well with fish and foie gras!!

So, if like me, you love rhubarb, on Sunday afternoon, do yourself a favour and make one of these recipes, open a nice bottle of cold Klippenkop Chenin Blanc or a good Riesling which goes amazing with any of these dishes, and indulge in Rhubarb………I promise you will feel all the better for it.

View Rhubard Recipes…

Best of British in season this month!!!
Here’s “What to buy and not to buy” in April.

This really is a wonderful month as we are seeing “out with the old and in with the new”. For us seasonal chefs it is a real exciting change as we can completely change our menus and get rid of that cold feeling of winter.

If you want great seasonal produce then buy your vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and dairy from a local farmers market, then you know it is fresh and in season! Yes, it may cost a few pennies more, but trust me; the end result is worth every pound.

Vegetables
Spring greens, carrots, leeks, purple sprouting, spring onions, cauliflower, spinach (Early), Swiss chard, and we should see the first New Jersey Royal potatoes.
Winter root vegetables are looking sorry this month and not the best quality, so don’t buy them as you have plenty of choice.

As I have said above, we hit the height of the rhubarb season.

Fish
Mackerel, Halibut, and bass are still good value. Wild Salmon and sea trout as well as salmon trout are great.

First crabs, lobster and shrimps will be around though maybe a little pricey…

Stay away from all flat fish this month as they are still spawning and you will be paying for a lot of weight with roes.

Dairy
Goat cheese is at it’s best this month and should be on all your tables at some time this month.

Wine of the month
2006 Grüner Veltliner Kamptal, Weingut Jurtschitsch, Austria
Purity of fruit is the order of the day in this stylish, clean and peppery, mineral tinged white that is quite unlike anything you may have tried before.  This is our ‘food wine of choice’ for the spring menu.
HAPPY APRIL!!!!

JAMIE
Contact us Jamie and Ariane Jones
Tel: 01305 262 382
enquiries@yalburycottage.com
www.yalburycottage.com
Five AA Stars for Guest Accommodation
Two AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence
AA Dining Award
Hampshire’s Farmer Market Chef of the Year 2007
Recommended by The Good Hotel Guide 2008
‘Rural Idyll of the Year’ (2008 Good Hotel Guide César Awards)

When you buy a bottle of wine, are you aware of exactly what you are paying for? Apart from all the ancillary costs, how much actual wine do you get for your money? The answer may come as something of a surprise.

If you are buying, say, a French wine in the UK, in addition to the wine and its container, you are also paying for it to get from France to this country, where, on arrival, it is burdened with government duty and VAT, and, of course, the merchant’s profit margin has to be added on.

So, how much do you have to pay for a bottle of wine before the price paid reflects more wine than all the other charges? Prepare for another shock!

The chart illustrates the cost structure of some bottles of wine from different price brackets. Let’s start with a bottle of wine retailing at £4.95: it has only 50p of wine in the price. The other £4.45 is made up as follows:

42p is the cost of the bottle, its cork and capsule (the bit that covers the cork), and the label. 25p is the freight charge for getting the wine over from France to the UK, plus insurance. Delivery costs within Britain are the bane of many businesses (they have doubled in the last four years) and our estimate of 20p is conservative. The merchants (there are often more than one in the chain) take a typical ex-VAT total mark-up of 33%. Before you hyperventilate, remember that that translates into a margin of 25% (the wine world is littered with the graves of merchants who confused mark-up with margin).

Then comes the big Godzilla grab: the Treasury, through Revenue & Customs, takes a massive flat-rate £1.46 per bottle in excise duty (it’s 41p more for sparkling wine – where’s the logic for that?!), and a further VAT charge of 17.5% on all of the above. So a £4.95 bottle of wine contains only 10% of its retail price in actual wine. The rest is costs, profits and tax.

Now move upscale and you see that an £8 bottle of wine nets you 25% of wine. An £11 bottle of wine contains 33% in wine by value, while you can assume that a bottle costing £16 is rewarding you with 40% in wine. The tipping point comes at a hefty retail price of £41. Pay more than that and the chances are that you are beating the odds: you are getting more wine for your money than all the other costs and charges put together.

The reason for this curious value curve is that while merchants’ charges and VAT are calculated ad-valorem (as a percentage of value), the other costs are flat-rate. Excise duty is the same on a £1,000 bottle of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild as it is on a £3.99 bottle of Domaine de Plonk.

You don’t have to pay the full UK price: a booze-cruise to Calais will save you about 20% on UK prices, taking into account the costs of travel and hiring a van (it’s hardly worth the bother just for a car-boot’s worth!). Otherwise take comfort in the fact that the more you pay for your wine in the UK, proportionately the more wine, and the less in taxes and costs, you are getting for your money.

Nigel Johnson-Hill
The Vintry Wine Co Ltd
Park Farm
Milland
Liphook
Hampshire
GU30 7JT

Tel 01428 741165
Email nigel@vintry.co.uk
www.vintry.co.uk

In the last edition of this newsletter I mentioned that my hot countryside hotel tip for 2008 is called Yalbury Cottage (www.yalburycottage.com), near Dorchester in Dorset. Well, after a subsequent weekend visit to this upmarket BB&D (bed, breakfast & dinner) breathing the fresh-air and eating purely organic fare, I took the unexpected decision to move my family from the centre of London to Thomas Hardy country.

I am pleased to announce that we have just acquired a 16th century thatched-roof chocolate box property just 15 minutes drive from Yalbury and just 3 minutes from Summer Lodge, Evershot (www.summerlodgehotel.com) – which I believe to be the finest country house hotel in the UK. Staying at a hotel, a life-changing experience? Surely so!

It’s every travel journalists delight to find properties that offer not only a “true” lap of luxury but also are original. With the US dollar so much fun for us Brits, here are a couple I think you would enjoy …
The Setai – Miami

This hotel can be found on Collins Avenue on the border of the classic and the modern Art Deco district – and just a stone throw from Lincoln Avenue – the heart of Miami’s nightlife. There are two distinct parts to the Setai: off Collins Avenue there are 85 rooms and suites set over 8 floors in a 1930’s Art Deco building however, I stayed in one of the 50 suites set over 40 floors in a most amazing all-glass building on South Beach.

I had a two bedroom suite - quite contemporary but with Asian twists to it; reminding me of some of the properties I’ve visited in the Far East. The suite has a fully-stocked kitchen, 2 bathrooms, 2 shower rooms and from my balcony on the 31st floor, fabulous views over Atlantic Ocean.

The credo to the hotel itself is very simple – the best in service and luxury… & it delivers both in gluttonous proportions.

The Setai overlooks South Beach – complete with its fine white sand. There are 2 restaurants on offer – The Grill – with lavish international cuisine and fine wines … and The Restaurant offering Asian influenced cuisine. The Spa offers the best in treatments for individuals and couples alike…

One feature that I really love is the three beachfront swimming pools – all set to different temperatures and close to the Beach Bar that offers fresh & healthy Mediterranean fare…

On the East Coast of the USA, you would be hard pressed to find a property as fine as The Setai … but for those who prefer the West Coast…

Montage Laguna Beach Spa Resort – Orange County

Laguna Beach can be found in Orange County … not part of Los Angeles and a 2 hour (60 mile) drive from the city. However, I thoroughly believe that no visit to LA would be complete WITHOUT a visit to the OC, Laguna and the Montage!

Laguna was “founded” in October 1889, and is populated with not only some of the wealthiest people in California BUT a huge artistic community… with over 100 art galleries and many more artists in the city.

The Montage is simply one of the finest resorts I have visited anywhere in the world.

Set on 30 acres of Laguna Beach, Pacific Ocean seafront, it boasts 250 rooms including 60 suites … There are four main areas to eat, drink & be happy including the award winning signature restaurant The Studio, who’s head chef James Boyce is just sensational. There is also The Loft for casual dining and the Lobby Lounge – where you can watch sunsets over a great wine or whisky …

There are 3 outdoor swimming pools, a kid’s club and a 20,000 square foot indoor/outdoor spa with treatment rooms and his & her sauna, plunge-pool and spa pool areas …

I lived in suite number 305, the largest one in the hotel.  It is around 2,200 square foot in size and it’s perfect in every way. It boasts a kitchen area, a dining area and lounge. There are 2 shower rooms, bathroom and changing area.  To top that all, there is enormous bedroom with a beautiful large bed and a 2-sided fireplace…. How romantic! 

Now what makes this suite one of the finest in Los Angeles if not in the whole of America is this amazing 180-degree view of the Pacific Ocean, it’s simply stunning.  It is actually called the Catalina Suite because on a good day you can see as far at Catalina Island, which is 29 miles away!
Apart from using the spa, kayaking in the sea, yoga on the beach or sampling the cheeses on offer in the restaurant, a trip to Laguna Beach itself is a must. Check out the glass blower John Barber … his pieces are amazing.

Finally, a quick mention for one of my favourite resorts in Europe, where I know the Euro is not the bargain it once was…

Castillo del Nero, Tuscany

Surrounded by 400 acres of vineyards & olive trees, this magnificent 12th century castle is located in the heart of the Chianti region. Within twenty minutes distance from Siena, Florence and San Gimignano, you could hardly find a more perfect spot from which to explore Tuscany. Towering above its own valley which includes two lakes, from each side of the Castello you can enjoy the beautiful Tuscan rolling hills.

The Castello del Nero offers 50 rooms & suites by far superior in both size and quality to other properties in the region. The original frescoes, vault ceilings and fire places are located in common areas and guest rooms alike, exuding the charm and history of the noble estate it was.

On property there is also a small chapel, still consecrated, ideal for weddings as it opens on a wonderfully kept Italian garden and there’s also a superb spa…

My top travel tip is to take a day trip to Florence and head to Santa Maria Novella to buy all your Officina Profumo Farmaceutica.
Happy Travels!

“Inside Luxury Travel with Varun Sharma” airs every Tuesday on The Travel Channel at 2030 hrs (Channel 261/262/263) – repeated on Travel Channel +1 and Travel Channel 2. 
“Inside Luxury Travel: The Finest Collection” airs every Sunday at 1700 hrs (+ repeats).
Sister company Inside Luxury Travel Clubs looks after your travel needs – business & leisure. Contact Emma on 020 7976 6010 or on emma@insideluxurytravel.com

In today’s busy and stressful life we often do not have time to manage all the areas we wish to be involved with. One such area is charitable giving that often goes to the bottom of the pile.   But it often plays on our conscience and we often wish we did more or had the time to focus on our giving.

Happily philanthropy is becoming ever more popular and active in this country, even though we still have some way to go to equal the situation in the United States. But it is encouraging that so many individuals, companies and Foundations are now ready to help the vast number of charities that deserve help.

But there is clearly a problem.  Many of even the best-intentioned donors are puzzled – sometimes even put off – by bureaucratic difficulties. This may simply be problems in understanding and completing forms, even the simplest of them all – gift aid forms – or to cope with the inevitably more complex tax arrangements which are intended to make giving easier. It is also often a matter of dealing with personal tax reclaims after a donation has been made.

UK charity law has become more rigorous, and many individuals, corporations and even charitable trustees are unaware of the fine detail. In addition managing numerous donations; securing the tax benefits; establishing a charitable trust with all its significant legal burdens, is a painstaking process.

Help is at hand for the sophisticated donor who would like assistance in administering donations, advice on tax effective giving and where to give. You can put your money into a donor advised fund, administered by Prism the Gift Fund. This enables investors to make one contribution into the fund to receive all resulting tax benefits. Donors can top up their money whenever they wish and can also suggest which charities will receive their donations and when.  Anonymity can also be arranged if desired

Donations can be made in the form of cash, shares or property.  Prism is particularly active in promoting sharegiving which allows the donor 40% income tax relief and is free of capital gains tax on the gifted amount. For some donors this can be a very attractive solution. Here’s an illustration of how it works:

The donor has bought shares for £30,000. Today they’re worth £100,000.  He can sell the shares to a charity at the original price of £30,000. The charity will receive £70,000, and the donor receives the share sale proceeds of £30,000 and the income tax relief £28,000 (£70,000 x 40%), making a total of £58,000. Sharegiving is particularly attractive to major shareholders and entrepreneurs.  Many donors do not know about sharegiving so it is under utilized in the UK. And Prism is trying to change that.

US charitable law has become much stricter since 9/11 with the introduction of the Patriot Act. Those US citizens living in the UK or other non-domiciled residents can utilize Prism to send donations to the US and around the world without having the restrictions of US law. This is less burdensome for the charity and easier for the donor. And he can still have piece of mind that any donations have been subject to the correct due diligence.

For further information contact, Anna Josse at Prism the Gift Fund, 020 7486 7760 www.prismcharity.co.uk