Miles better! Our road to a prosperous 2019
From raising more cash for charity to making a will, follow the team’s New Year’s resolutions
THE YEAR AHEAD
Jeff Prestridge: RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITY
I LOVE what I do for a living – and have a good life as a result. I am able to indulge in all my loves: live music, theatre, cinema and watching football.
But it never stops me thinking about the hardships that others sometimes go through. So next year, I am on a mission to raise yet more money for charity. In the past I have raised more than £100,000 for charity Brathay Trust that helps equip disadvantaged children with the tools necessary to face adulthood with confidence.
I have also raised five- figure sums for an assortment of charities including the Peace Hospice in Watford, Hertfordshire, and Dreams Come True (helping seriously ill children fulfil a dream – such as swimming with dolphins or going to Walt Disney World).
This year, I have taken up Brathay Trust’s challenge of running in the London Marathon on its behalf. So I will be raising more money for them. Twenty-six point two miles? A run in the park.
Sally Hamilton: SHOP AROUND FOR BETTER DEALS
NEXT year, I hope to plug all those leaks in my finances that I have been promising to do for months – in some cases years. Everything from cancelling my Amazon Prime account, switching my expensive BT email address to another provider, through to bargaining with the AA over the £200 plus annual premium it charges for roadside recovery – despite being a customer for decades. I really need to keep more of my hard- earned money for myself.
Laura Shannon: MAKE A WILL AND LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY
IT’S time to fess up to my guilty secret – I have no plans in place for what happens to my assets when I die. Though the rules of intestacy dictate that my immediate family would i nherit all my worldly belongings in the absence of a will, there are no provisions for what I would like to be given to whom – including siblings and friends. Or who should care for my child if both my husband and I pass away.
With so many ways to draw up a will, there are no excuses for my lack of action.
Almost as important is lasting power of attorney – which states for the record who will be responsible f or managing my money if I no longer can.
It would be too easy to believe that such a problem is one for a few decades in the future when dementia seems more of a looming possibility, but an accident could just as easily render me incapable of handling my own finances. Crucially, it is only possible to set up power of attorney while I am of sound mind.
Next year is the year to get grownup money affairs sewn up.
Toby Walne: BUY A NEW CAR
IT IS time to get a car where, when you turn the key, you know for sure that it will start. Despite a love of classic motors, my bank balance means I no longer find them so close to my heart.
My new car has to be British (obviously), impractical and fun. But now there is a new demand – it has to be reliable too. A Lotus Elise is at the top of my short list.
Now all I need do is work out a plan to afford it. Certainly, it will require some painful belt-tightening – as a good example of this modern classic can cost £15,000 – and involve the sale of a sad old banger, a 50-year-old Sunbeam Alpine.