u/No-State-2962

I’ll try to be brief.

I’ve always owned a car personally. Mainly because in years gone by the tax implications weren’t great, and I didn’t want another vehicle to add to our small fleet of vans (I drive one of the vans).

Our car needs changing now - we only have one at home, which my wife drives - and I’m thinking of trying one through the company this time.

I’m not ready for full EV, I’m thinking of maybe Volvo XC90 phev, used not new.

Please don’t answer “why don’t you ask your accountant”, because this is simply a first foray to get others experiences. I will speak to the accountant as a next step.

I signed up to the Velux reward program and have started building a few points - I’m in UK - but it’s not clear what a point equates to.

For example, is 100 points equivalent to £ 100 M&S vouchers?

Do you go because you like the community, or the beautiful architecture, or just to get out of the house on a Sunday morning?

But you’re not a believer.

I’m not trolling. I don’t love Panda but that’s because I’m not a huge fan of Daytona, although I realise that it’s the go-to Rolex for many.

I realise that people just like what they like, but I can kind of get why Pepsi and Hulk might be so in demand, because of the in-your-face colours.

With Panda I can’t see why it commands a few grand premium over the black dial.

I’m probably just missing something. And I know nothing of the history of Panda Daytona. How long it’s been around etc.

I’ll try to keep it short, because I’m not looking for advice on my situation.

I run two businesses - one with staff, one just BTL - and they’ve always taken up a lot of time. Not 15 hours a day, but difficult to take long holidays for instance. It’s my life and I’m fine with it, in fact I find four day breaks are more enjoyable because we tend to fit things in, knowing we’re not there for an extended period.

Just wondering if others have a particularly hands-on business? Or, is my situation unusual.

I think it’s a strange phenomenon that we have celebrity cooks, and even celebrity waiters, these days, but I’ve always thought this guy feels he’s Bono, when he’s just a successful dog fixer.

But a friend of a friend, who I presume is a fan, went to one of his shows (for a vet, WTF) and came away saying she couldn’t even watch him on TV anymore.

Said the whole thing had a ‘cult’ vibe and he says weird stuff.

Interesting.

My 22yo son is flying from Gatwick with his friend, for a fortnight travelling the States, and neither have much money.

Want to book them lounge access to save them paying for food and drink at the airport, but there seems to be a few choices and I’m not familiar with them.

Small building company, long established, 8 - 12 employees, 1m t/o at best.

We started to struggle, after a good eight year run which included covid, January 2025. Somehow managed to not lose money last year, and first three months of this FY seemed a little better. But really hard again now.

I’m quoting everything, and quickly, but I’m reluctant to cut prices yet, as this rarely leads to jobs running more smoothly.

Interested to know how you’re doing. I’m hoping it’s just me, and I’m doing something wrong that I can correct 🤞

When the news story broke last week about the pension age rise from 67 to 68, being brought forward by seven years, they mentioned it would affect those aged 47 to 55 now.

I’m 55 and so borderline. I’m not really concerned, as I don’t intend to retire until 70, but I wondered if this would cost me 12 grand or not.

Is it net worth, liquidity, income, something else?

I tend to focus on NW because I don’t have the bandwidth to focus on balancing all the different elements, and this one is very simple to do (just an excel spreadsheet on my PC), I’m not sure it’s the best way to feel wealthy though, and maybe liquidity is the golden ticket.

We’re here for a good time, not a long time.

Started using Capital on Tap company credit card, and it is is going very well.

Could use the points for Avios, cash-back, or vouchers (eg, John Lewis or Lastminute).

Has anyone claimed the vouchers (will probably be £2000 - 2500 a year), and if so what are the implications?

I know I can ask my accountant but he’s such a doom monger, I thought I’d ask on here first.

It feels that debates around taxes on wealth, such as inheritance tax, have become increasingly polarised. I’m interested in whether that could have unintended long-term economic consequences.

Some countries—notably the UAE, but also places such as Cyprus and Malta—actively use their tax systems to attract wealthy individuals and investment. Whether people agree with that approach or not, it suggests there are different ways governments can think about taxation and economic growth.

The UK already has many advantages: London is one of the world’s foremost cities, the English language, and such rich culture, certainly compared to the smaller countries I mentioned.

On that basis, it seems plausible that the UK could also compete to attract internationally mobile wealth if it chose to.

Do you think any mainstream UK political party is likely to move in that direction, or has the political consensus shifted too far the other way?

I run a small construction company (average ten employees). I have a really good subcontractor (£350/day) and his assistant (£160/day), so together they’re £510/day.

They’re excellent. No drama, reliable, high quality, and I trust them completely. I’d much rather work with them than cheaper people.

The problem is they’re asking for another increase, which would take the pair to around £600/day. On specialist work (he’s a specialist trade) that’s probably justifiable. But I don’t have enough specialist work to keep them busy, so roughly half of what they do is fairly ordinary building work where a competent pair charging £350-400/day could do an adequate job.

I treat them almost like employees (though no holiday pay obviously) by keeping them busy five days a week whenever possible. The downside is that there are jobs where their labour cost pretty much absorbs the entire margin.

I’m wondering whether the answer is to say “I’m happy to pay your new day rate, but I can no longer guarantee a full week’s work. I’ll use you when I specifically need you.”

That would probably suit neither of us, but I don’t run a niche specialist business where I can simply pass every increase on to clients.

Has anyone else reached this point? How did you handle it?

I have a business account with Lloyds, and two branches within walking distance of my office have closed over the years, and a third one a short drive away has recently closed as well.

My new local branch is only a short distance away - five minute drive - and its a good modern branch, buts it’s in a main pedestrianised shopping street of a big city, so I have to pay to park, and then walk a fair distance.

We don’t get many cheques these days, and I can pay in ones up to 1k in the app, but we’re in construction and so the cheques tend to be bigger than that.

Is there another way?

I get a problem when using chat on my iPhone, sometimes.

When I upload a photo, then type a prompt, the iPhone keypad hides the text and send buttons. And I can’t pull up the message to send. I don’t get problems on my iPad or PC, so it’s manageable, just an annoyance. I asked chat for advice but ironically it wasn’t very helpful.

Please don’t respond with snidey replies, or if this hasn’t happened to you. Life’s too short.

Thanks 👍

Run a small limited company, had an eye test, optician suggested varifocals for the first time.

I went with her advice, cost over 500 quid, she suggested that I may be able to put them through the company.

I’ve emailed my accountant but probably won’t get a reply until next week. Just wondered if anyone else does this?

It would take the sting out a little if the company pays.

I’ve got a small yard and office, which is very old and not a clean open space, and it would benefit from about 4 cameras, so I can see what’s going on from the office upstairs.

I have one old camera, and a small TV on the wall in the office, but it’s years old and the picture isn’t great.

I had a price on a new system, probably six or seven years ago, and it was two grand. I didn’t want to spend that much at the time.

Just wondering how much I need to spend, and do I need an electrician?

I’ve been using ChatGPT for six months or so, and Claude for four.

I hadn’t noticed until recently, but Claude answers can take an age to come through. At first I thought it was because I was using a higher model - Opus - but now that I’ve changed back to Sonnet it’s just the same.

Although technically it doesn’t matter - I don’t need the answers in a second - I’m beginning to find it an annoyance. Chat is almost instant.