158 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
158 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
finance
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personalfinance
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comment
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paulfarrow
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8257287
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-----
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# It took a brush with death to get me to write a will
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## One minute I was sitting down with the entire family for a New Year
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celebratory meal and the next I was being given the Heimlich manoeuvre.
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[![Paul Farrow][1]][2]
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By [Paul Farrow][3] 3:43PM GMT 13 Jan 2011
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[Comments][4]
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A near-death experience certainly gives you a jolt. OK, maybe I'm being a
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little melodramatic, but one minute I was sitting down with the entire family
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for a New Year celebratory meal and the next I had my father (a retired GP),
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my sister (a nurse) and my brother-in-law (a policeman) performing the
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Heimlich manoeuvre on me outside on the patio as I choked alarmingly on a
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tasty piece of medium-rare topside.
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The loss of breath and the ensuing panic were a shocking experience and for a
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brief moment all sorts of horrible thoughts entered my head. It will be the
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only time I thank my brother-in-law for giving me a mighty thump on the back -
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which, I have to say, he seemed to find rather satisfying (was it something I
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said?).
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But this wasn't the only time that the subject of death entered my thoughts
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last Sunday.
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Later that same day, along with millions of others, my wife, Jane, and I
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poured a glass of wine and tuned into _The Archers_, eager to find out what
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plot "would shake Ambridge to the core". As we discovered a quarter of an hour
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later, super-posh Nigel Pargetter plunged to his death, leaving his wife,
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Elizabeth, a widow, and his twin sons fatherless.
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Poor Elizabeth. What will she do now, with two young children in tow? Or
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perhaps more pertinently, Jane wondered what would happen if the unspeakable
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happened to me or both of us? Who would look after our children, for instance?
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## Related Articles
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* [Can't Take it With You, BBC2, preview][5]
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14 Jan 2011
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And this is where, I am ashamed to admit, I fail to practise what I preach - I
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haven't made a will. Now, I'm not sure whether Nigel died intestate (that is,
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without a will) or whether the _Archers _scriptwriters have an inheritance
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squabble lined up for the Pargetter family, but having a will is a core part
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of financial planning - yet I have dodged the subject for years.
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I'm sure there is a natural reluctance for many people, particularly those on
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the right side of 50, to think about death and getting older. They are in all
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likelihood forging ahead with life, perhaps climbing up the career ladder,
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buying a house, settling down with a partner and having children.
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It's a fast-paced world we live in and thinking about the future is often put
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on the back burner. Talk of wills, inheritance tax and estate planning seems
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far removed from your day-to-day life. Besides, there is enough doom and gloom
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for us to bear.
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Yet they are subjects that shouldn't be avoided. Financial advisers frequently
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urge younger people to consider estate planning, from having basic life
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insurance in place to more complex matters such as trusts.
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Unlike Nigel, I don't reside in a stately home, but having a will should still
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be a priority of mine - and I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I have
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never got around to drafting one. I might not have a landed estate to divide
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up, but naming a guardian for our children is a crucial decision and one which
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should be in writing.
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The vast majority of people will have personal items (if not bundles of cash)
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they would like to hand down too, although I'm not sure there will be many
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squabbles over my collection of old Ipswich Town match-day programmes I have
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stashed away in the loft.
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So I have made up my mind: I am going to get myself a will. I've made the
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obligatory promise to myself to live a healthier life in 2011. I might even
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reacquaint myself with the gym, although I wouldn't hold your breath on me
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following that one through.
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Yet a visit to a solicitor to draft a will is one new year's resolution I
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intend to stick to.
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**[![][6] ][7]Are you looking for a change of career? Visit [Telegraph
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Jobs][7] for the latest vacancies and [Jobs Advice][8] [![][9]][10]**
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* Share: [Share][11] [ ][13] [ ][14]
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[Tweet][15]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/comment/paulfarrow/8257287
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/It-took-a-brush-with-death-to-get-me-to-write-a-will.html
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Telegraph
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## [Paul Farrow][2]
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* ### [Finance »][16]
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* ### [Personal Finance »][17]
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* ### [Comment »][18]
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[X][11] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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[What are these?][12]
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Share:
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* [ ][11]
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* [ ][13]
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* [ ][14]
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* [Tweet][15]
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* Advertisement
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![][19]
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