A letter from Santa

Hi folks, Santa here, posting a special Christmas message on behalf of my friends at Bow Financial Services.

Thanks for all your letters and present requests - Mum and Dad must be glad to hear that money grows on trees.

As such, it will be no surprise for them to hear that a few years ago the researchers found the average cost of bringing up a child to 21 in the UK is £231,000!

Bow Financial Services were here in the office with me last week – Chris, Sam and I had a nice socially distanced chat around the mulled wine machine and the great news is that good financial advice can help your parents plan for that cost. 

A children’s Isa, for instance, is a beautiful thing, and anyone can contribute to it. A few pounds into the account at Christmas and birthdays offers a great (and untaxed!) alternative to just another computer game. 

As usual I’ll be sliding down a chimney near you on the 25th

But I have some big news. I’ve been working for 10,253 years now but in another 104 years I hope to retire. Don’t worry, it gives me plenty of time to arrange my successor.

But in the meantime, I’ve been planning my retirement fund, to make sure I have enough to enjoy myself once I’ve hung up my sleigh. Bow Financial Services have helped with that too, saying it’s never too early to start retirement planning.

It may seem like the most uninteresting thing to spend anyone’s money on, especially at your age, but a pension is absolutely the best way to save for your later years because you get so much tax relief in that money. And because by the time you’re ready to retire, that money will have had a good amount of time to grow substantially, which will mean it will go further.

This is especially important when we think about inflation, which affects how much you can get for your money. A loaf of bread in 1989 cost 49p for example; 20 years later in 2019 it was £1.09! I dread to think how much it will be in another 100 years – perhaps we’ll all be eating insects instead of bread by then – but at least I’ll be able to afford them!

Chris and Sam told me there’s one way round this, which is that your parents can open a children’s pension for you. It’s a nominee account that gets tax relief from the tax your parents already pay. So this may be another addition to your Christmas list.

Okay, must get back to work now. I’m making my list of who has been naughty or nice this year. I don’t listen to the elves when they point out that this is in contravention of Article 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

The good news is that my letter arrived this morning giving me clearance to use British airspace, and I can tell you confidentially that I’ll be dropping into Chatham between 1.16am and 1.38am on the 25th December. But keep that quiet.

Merry Christmas!