- HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:
-
Money matters
-
Snap Shots
-
Modern Medicine
-
Heart to Heart with Hillary
-
Let’s go to the movies
-
|
|
Money matters:
Graham Macdonald
MBMG International Ltd.
Nominated for the Lorenzo Natali Prize
5 Reasons to review your UK pensions
now - before it is too late
Whether you plan to retire tomorrow or in 30 years time,
there has never been a more critical time for UK pension scheme members to take
important decisions about their retirement planning.
1. Fund Performance - The graph on this page illustrates dramatically how
pension funds have performed during the recent downturn. As highlighted in The
Brief last year1,
market volatility and asset risk should be one of the main calls to action but
all too often the opposite effect occurs. However, it is very clear that for
most pension holders, procrastination is invariably the worst possible course of
action. If you take an average personal pension fund value of £200,000 and
compare average pension fund performance to one of our recommended pension
funds, Osmium, the decision to do nothing last year cost you £34,000 and we
expect the cost of delay to only continue to increase, not get better.
Review now to ensure that your pension is appropriately invested!
2. The Demise of Final Salary Schemes - Partly as a result of this turmoil
in investment markets, 91% of final salary schemes are now in deficit, with the
administrators stating that these schemes cannot carry on in their present
format. The current shortfall in funding for UK final salary schemes, excluding
civil service pensions, recently rose to £390,000 billion, equivalent to
£150,000 for every member of every scheme. This was exacerbated when the Bank
of England added an extra £150 billion of liquidity into the UK financial system
in March. Gilt yields fell and, as these produce much of the income for UK
final salary pension schemes, the shortfall increased by £100 billion virtually
overnight, leading The Daily Telegraph to comment “It will hammer the final nail
into the coffin of final salary schemes”.2
How QROPS can work for you
i. After 5 years as an expatriate, the pension income is no
longer subject to UK income tax, effectively saving up to 50%. You will,
however, be subject to the tax regime of the country you have retired to.
ii. The residual fund can be passed to your spouse on death, giving
the surviving spouse 100% of the pension income, unlike the 50% a company scheme
will provide.
iii. Furthermore, when the surviving spouse passes away, the residual
funds may be inherited by the children or grand children, free of inheritance
tax. In a company scheme or with a purchased annuity the fund will die with
you.
iv. With a QROPS, there is no obligation to purchase an Annuity before
age 75. An Annuity is a guaranteed fixed income investment that has no
residual value when you die. With a UK pension you must purchase an annuity by
age 75 or suffer heavy taxation.
v. The fund can purchase income generating domestic property, unlike
UK pensions.
vi. 25% of the fund can be taken tax free at retirement, the same as
most UK pensions.
If there are any doubts about the ongoing financial viability of your pension
scheme request a pension transfer analysis immediately!
vii. The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) - Sadly the government’s
‘backstop’ to protect pensioners and workers who contribute to group pension
schemes was £517 million in the red in March 2008.
The most detailed study3 to
date concluded that, “The PPF will live under the permanent risk of insolvency
as a consequence of the moral hazard, adverse selection, and especially systemic
risks that it faces.” This was in 2006, before the problems caused by the
current global credit crisis and the threatened downgrading of the UK’s
sovereign credit rating.
The “systemic risks” are that the PPF is funded solely by levies from other
group pension funds. With more schemes failing as more companies close, this
leaves fewer solvent schemes bailing out more and more struggling ones - an
unsustainable position that is currently under review by the National Audit
Office. There used to be references to the PPF guaranteeing benefits. This has
changed. David Robins of Watson Wyatt told MoneyWeek that “Rhetoric about
guarantees has conspicuously disappeared with more ministerial speeches saying
only that the PPF ‘provides a safety net’.”4
Even if the PPF survives, payments are capped and last year the
average annual payout per person was £4,700. Act now, don’t pay later!
4. Historically High Transfer Values - If you move your pension the value is
transferred from your old scheme to your new one. For the final salary schemes
discussed in the previous point, this value is largely calculated by reference
to gilt yields (in simple terms the lower that interest rates are, the higher
amount of capital is needed to produce a specified income). The flip side of the
fall in Gilt yields to historically low levels is that the transfer values that
members receive if they move their pensions have increased by up to 30%.
Pension experts in the UK are recommending that scheme members whose analyses
recommended not transferring a year ago should, in light of these revised
values, re-examine the situation.
It’s unlikely that interest rates will remain at such historic lows forever, so
this opportunity must be taken up now or lost for the foreseeable future.
5. Qualifying Recognised Offshore Pension Schemes (QROPS) - By moving your
pension fund to a QROPS you legitimately avoid UK tax on the income drawn from
the fund, provided you have been an expatriate for over five years. Your
pension fund will, however, be subject to taxation in the country where you
reside. Currently in Thailand, there is no income tax or capital gains tax
levied on offshore investment income. You can, therefore, under current
legislation, draw your pension income “tax free” if you choose to retire in
Thailand. Guernsey is one of a number of reputable jurisdictions on the
“white list” with Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for implementing
internationally agreed tax standards and transparency. Furthermore, the
Guernsey tax office now has a full and open dialogue with HMRC, ensuring peace
of mind for everyone who moves their pension funds to a QROPS registered there.
QROPS are now enshrined in HMRC legislation and while we expect QROPS
legislation to be around for many years to come, it is true that by acting now
you clearly crystallise the current, highly favourable transfer values!
So what do you
do now?
1. Do nothing, and lose more money as the recession deepens?
2. Attempt to review your pensions yourself, looking at all options, including
SIPPS and QROPS?
3. Seek professional advice? Absolutely! This will alleviate the concerns of
many expatriates about their pension schemes.
1 “Tax free Thai retirement, the facts” Billy Popham, “The Brief”
2 “Retirement plans of millions of Britons at risk after Bank of
England ‘prints money’” - Edmund Conway, Daily telegraph 6th Mar 2009
3 “Financial Risks and the Pension Protection Fund: Can it Survive
Them?” by John Cotter, University College Dublin; Anderson School of Management,
David P. Blake, City University London - Cass Business School - The Pensions
Institute and Kevin Dowd, Nottingham University Business School (NUBS)
4 “Why your company pension might not be so safe” - David Stevenson
MoneyWeek Apr 20
|
The above data and research was compiled from sources
believed to be reliable. However, neither MBMG International Ltd nor its
officers can accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the above
article nor bear any responsibility for any losses achieved as a result of any
actions taken or not taken as a consequence of reading the above article. For
more information please contact Graham Macdonald on
[email protected]
|
Snap Shots: by Harry Flashman
Improving your photos - cheaply
 While
researching this topic, I came across a website offering a training
course in improving pictures. It was a one day course, suitable for
pictures from digital and conventional sources, and for those who want
to enhance their photographs. It was offered at GBP 405 plus VAT. I
offer you my 20 minutes course for 25 baht, the price you paid for this
Pattaya Mail newspaper! What a bargain!
You will actually find there are many sources which will supply 10 tips,
but these are often aimed to high, or too low for the ‘average’
photographer, who would like to improve the end results. If you are
‘average’, this is for you.
My first tip is to return to composition. This you do in the viewfinder,
not ‘post production’ in your PCs edit suite. It is the very simple, and
very easy Rule of Thirds. Place the main subject one third in from
either side and one third down from the top edge. I used to draw a grid
on the viewfinder, splitting the vertical into three sections and
likewise with the horizontal. This way you can easily see where the
intersection of thirds is in the picture.
Draw the grid with straight lines and you will also see if you are
holding the camera level, as you can line up buildings with the
verticals. My current camera, the Lumix FZR 50 has a setting to do this,
so I don’t have to get out the texta pen. Check your camera’s manual, it
may have that facility too.
The Rule of Thirds does work. Just try it.
Of course, that brings me to another tip. Read the manual. Now read the
manual again. In the case of digital cameras, which tend to have manuals
as thick as Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, read the manual again. You
cannot do it too often. With digitals, you can see the effect
immediately. Now read the manual again.
Most average photographers take many pictures of friends and family, and
you can improve these quite easily too. First of all, when taking
photographs of children, get the camera at the same level as the child’s
face. This will give an immediacy and a direct eye contact relationship
to the shot.
The other tip with children is to get down to their level. Generally
this means sitting on the floor. This retains the correct perspective,
because when you are standing and take a shot of a child, the resulting
perspective makes the child look like a dwarf with a big head. If your
child is not a dwarf with a big head, get down on the floor with them.
With children, the other tip is to wait for the shot to appear in your
viewfinder, don’t try and arrange the definitive shot, the way you can
with adults. Children have attention spans measured in nano-seconds. Be
prepared to wait.
Now adults. As a subject, they can be asked to turn sideways, smile,
brush their hand over their hair and other simple directions, but don’t
make it too much, or the subject will become very wooden, with no
natural relaxed look to it. As a general rule, get the person to turn
slightly sideways to the camera, and then turn the head to look directly
at the camera lens. At all costs, try to avoid the ‘standing to
attention, arms by the sides’ shots, which the subject will
automatically take up, if you are not careful. Getting the person to
relax in a chair and then look over to the camera always works well,
but, like child shots, make sure the camera is at the same height as the
subject.
Another tip, when photographing anything, is to always make the subject
the ‘hero’. You do this by making the subject large in the viewfinder,
and this is done simply by walking closer. Sometimes you can do it with
the camera’s zoom capability, but otherwise just walk in closer while
looking through the viewfinder.
Finally, look not just at the subject in the foreground but also the
background. A cluttered background always spoils an otherwise nice
photo.
Modern Medicine:
by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant
BSE and Mad Cow Disease
We live in a world of acronyms, and medicos as a group are
very much at fault. Take BSE for an example. For one branch of medicine, BSE
is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), whilst for another section of the
medical community BSE stands for Breast Self Examination. One you don’t
want, and the other is something all women should do. Could be confusing.
The BSE I want to explore today is related to breast cancer, one of the
common killers, but one that can be overcome if detected early enough. The
process of looking is called breast screening, but is still a subject that
seems to be controversial, though honestly, I do not know why. The
sensationalist press feeds on fear, and by instilling fear into women about
breast cancer will always sell a few more papers. It is not so long ago that
one of the international news magazines had a front cover story on breast
cancer screening, with the inference being that it was probably all a waste
of time. Despite mammograms and suchlike, there were cases that escaped
detection until it was too late and other such negative predictions. Was it
all then a waste of resources and money?
Ladies, let me assure you that it is none of those. Unfortunately, the
cancer detection story is one that suffers from a problem which can be
associated with an inexact science. Since we can put men on the moon, clone
sheep (and even rabbits in Chonburi, apparently) and other incredible facts,
we should then be able to diagnose human conditions with pin-point accuracy.
Unfortunately wrong! We’re getting better at it, but we’re not there yet.
Diagnosis and detection are “real time” arts, not sciences, even though we
would like them to be. Sure, we use “science” as a tool, but that is all it
is. A tool to help us see the problem. Just like we can use a telescope to
see things at a distance - even if we can’t see the object, that doesn’t
mean to say it wasn’t there.
There has been a bit of that thinking with mammograms of late. A lady has
three clear annual mammograms and then finds she has advanced breast cancer
during year number four. Was the testing useless?
Again I ask you to look at the “real time” situation. So today cancer was
found. When did it “start” to grow? This week, this month, this year? The
answer depends upon the type of the cancer. Some fast growing cancers would
be impossible to pick up, even if the person had monthly mammograms. The
slow growing variety can be picked up years ahead. Unfortunately mammography
cannot be a 100 percent indicator - we are not that good - yet. But it is
still one of the best diagnostic procedures we have. And it is better than
nothing.
Likewise, Breast Self Examination (BSE) has its detractors as well as its
proponents. Sure, a lot depends upon how well the woman carries out this
self testing, but again, surely it is better to look than to carry on in
blissful ignorance?
I do not believe the doomsayers who would tell you that the outcome is just
the same. Breast cancer is like all cancers - the sooner you find it, the
sooner you can deal with it and the earlier treatment is administered, the
better the outcome. In fact, did you know that Studies from the American
National Cancer Institute show that 96 percent of women whose breast cancer
is detected early are still alive five or more years after treatment. This
is called a 96 percent five year survival rate, one of the ways we measure
the severity of life threatening cancers. If it were a 10 percent figure -
in other words, after five years only 10 percent of the people were still
alive, then I would probably also feel that predictive testing was not all
that worthwhile. But it is not that bleak an outcome - 96 percent are still
alive and many go on for many, many years.
Ladies, talk with your doctor regarding breast screening, and ignore
sensationalism in the popular press!
Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
I like your column each week and your advice, but many times these guys don’t
need advice, they need kicking in the butt. How silly can they get? There seems
to be an endless supply of them as well.
However, let’s get down to my problem, or really it’s my mate’s problem. He’s
trying to hook up with this really nice girl, offers her an invitation to dinner
and she accepts, saying that she and her two friends would love to come to
dinner with him. Blow that, he doesn’t want the two friends, he wants the one
girl. So how does he get around this problem?
Jim
Dear Jim,
Your mate (if it really is your mate, and not just you, Petal) has come unstuck
on the “really nice girl” situation. The reason she is still a really nice girl,
is that she doesn’t go out with single men, on her own, at the first date.
Really nice girls don’t do that sort of thing. Look around you at gatherings and
you will find that the really nice girls are part of a couple or trio of really
nice girls, each keeping each other “really nice”. The way around this problem
as you see it, is to play along with the ground rules. If he proves himself to
be a nice chap at reasonably close quarters, then eventually the need for the
chaperones will no longer be there. But be prepared, that can take many months
and many dinners. I hope his appetite is sufficient.
Dear Hillary,
These gals round here are sure difficult to fathom, well way beyond me anyhow.
There’s this little one in the bar I go to, and I go there at least three or
four times a week, and I’ve been seeing her a bit lately, in fact I was thinking
of making her sorta permanent. Anyway, I goes in last week, like normal, in fact
I was feeling pretty good and thinking about telling the little gal the good
news, and you could have blown me over with a feather as she’s sitting there
with this other feller, all lovey-dovey like and gives me the big ignore. I was
in half minds to have it out with both of them, right there and then, but
thought better about causing a ruckus and I haven’t been back there since.
They’re welcome to each other, as far as I’m concerned. I’ve found another bar.
What I want to know Mrs. Hillary, is they all like that over here?
Walt
Dear Walt,
Ah sez to mahself, I just doan know whether to laugh or cry at your
predickerment. Are you for real? What shower you all come down in? You frequent
the alleyways staffed by rental girls and then complain when the one you rented
last week wasn’t there just for you, but had been rented by someone else. Not
only are they welcome to each other, but you’re welcome to your other bar too.
I’m sure that the girls will all be waiting in line, just for you, for those
three or four times each week. Give me a break, Petal. And by the way, it is Ms.
Hillary, not Mrs. Hillary.
Dear Hillary,
My girlfriend is a great girl, we have been together for three months now, is
quite happy with the 20 thousand I give her every month and she looks after me
very well, but she is always going off to visit her mother in Korat for a couple
of days. I believe this is normal with Thai families, so I don’t complain. Now
although I say this is fine, it happens at least once every month, and I notice
she takes up kid’s clothes to give to her mother which she buys in the market. I
asked her about it and she just said that her mother looks after her sister’s
baby, so the kids clothes are for him, but I am starting to get suspicious. I
asked her sister, who I have met already, if she had any kids and she said she
didn’t have any. This looks pretty suspicious to me. Who do I believe, and what
do I do if my girlfriend does have a child up there?
Andy
Dear Anxious Andy,
You do nothing, my Petal, you do nothing. If your girlfriend has a child up in
Korat which is being looked after by her mother, is this any business of yours?
Do you contribute towards the child’s upkeep? Do you think you are in a long
term relationship with this girl? You’ve been together for three months - that’s
ninety days, Andy. Hardly a lifetime commitment from either of you. What she did
before she met you is immaterial, what is important is what the pair of you are
going to do right now and in the future, if you’ve got a future together, which
I somehow doubt, there being a lack of “full disclosure” as they say in the
business world. If you are planning on a long term relationship, then you have
to see just what you are getting into, but give it a little longer. Right now
it’s still a business, isn’t it?
Let’s go to the movies:
by Mark Gernpy
Now playing in
Pattaya
Pandorum: US/ Germany, Horror/ Sci-Fi/ Thriller – The
terrifying story of two crew members stranded on a spacecraft who
quickly realize they are not alone. Rated R in the US for strong horror
violence and language. Two astronauts awaken in a hyper-sleep chamber
aboard a seemingly abandoned spacecraft. It’s pitch black, they are
disoriented, and the only sound is a low rumble and creak from the belly
of the spacecraft. They can’t remember anything - who are they, what is
their mission? The only way out of the chamber is a dark and narrow
airshaft. Ben Foster, playing the younger of the two, crawls inside,
while the other, Dennis Quaid, stays behind for guidance on a radio
transmitter. As Foster ventures deeper and deeper into the ship, he
begins to uncover a terrifying reality: the ship is teeming with mutants
who are super-fast, super-strong, and super-loud.
District 9: South Africa/ New Zealand, Drama/ Sci-Fi/ Thriller –
Technically brilliant and emotionally wrenching, with all the elements
of a thoroughly entertaining science-fiction classic. 28 years ago,
aliens made first contact with Earth. Humans waited for the hostile
attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead,
the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world. Rated
R in the US for bloody violence and pervasive language. Reviews:
Universal acclaim.
Phobia 2 / Haa Phrang: Thai, Horror – Literally “five crossroads,”
this is a five-part horror anthology by some of Thailand’s best-known
directors of horror films, and also by Visute Poolvoralaks, who is not a
best-known director but is instead a best-known producer of horror
films, here making his directorial debut. The whole is a mixed bag as
it would have to be, but well worth checking out if you like Thai horror
films.
The first piece is called “Novice,” directed by Paween Purikitpanya, who
directed the “Tit for Tat” section in the first Phobia, and the
popular Body #19. It features the very talented Jirayu “Gao”
La-ongmanee, the child star of the two Naresuan films and the
young Tong in Love of Siam. He plays Pey, a motorbike-racing,
rock-throwing windshield-smasher whose mother sent him into hiding as a
novice in a spooky forest temple. It’s all very atmospheric as we watch
Pey having his head shaven and taking his vows, everything fraught with
unspoken menace. Notice the big bruise on Gao’s mouth, which comes and
goes. I don’t know why, but there’s certainly a nice feel to the movie.
Then comes the piece called “Ward,” and there were a lot of
screams in the theater with this one, as the young teens in attendance
jumped, screamed, and then turned to their companions and laughed at
their reactions. It’s the old ritual, and this segment did its duty
well. Also known as “Shared Room”, this is the one by
first-time director but veteran studio executive Visute Poolvoralaks.
The Proposal: US, Comedy/ Drama/ Romance – With Sandra Bullock, Ryan
Reynolds. A pushy boss forces her young assistant to marry her in order
to keep her Visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada.
Mixed or average reviews
The Final Destination 4: US, Horror/ Thriller – After a teen’s
premonition of a deadly race-car crash helps save the lives of some of
his peers, Death sets out to collect those who evaded his plans. But I
have to tell you that even if you go to see it in 3D, the movie is in
only one dimension in terms of story and character. Nevertheless, you
sort of get your money’s worth with this one, should you enjoy watching
deaths: It contains 11 death scenes, the most of any film in the
series. They brag about it! Rated R in the US for strong violent/
gruesome accidents, language, and a scene of sexuality; “18+” in
Thailand. “18+” suggests viewers should be 18 to see the movie.
Generally unfavorable reviews. In Digital 3D only at SFX Cinema Pattaya
Beach; in 2D elsewhere.
Far be it from me to discourage you if you slaver over this sort of
thing, but I thought it truly repulsive and offensive. You have various
human organs flying at you right through the cinema, and if you’re
seeing it in 3D, yes your reflexes make you actually duck!
Gamer: US, Action/ Sci-Fi/ Thriller – I found this an absolutely
repellent and repugnant film, and I would have no problem with its being
banned and all copies burned. I think it’s just too brutalizing to
exist. By the writers and directors of the two recent Crank movies, as
they continue their quest for ever bigger explosions, action which is
even more “non-stop,” and plots and stories which explore the outer
limits of the vile and sick. Rated R in the US for frenetic sequences
of strong brutal violence throughout, sexual content, nudity, and
language; “18+” in Thailand. Generally unfavorable reviews.
|
|
|
|
News | Business | Features |
Columns | Mail Bag |
Sports | Auto Mania
Our Children | Travel |
Our Community | Dining Out & Entertainment
Social Scene | Classifieds |
Community Happenings | Books Music Movies
Clubs in Pattaya | Sports Round-Up
E-mail: [email protected]
Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
62/284-286 Thepprasit Road, (Between Soi 6 & 8) Moo 12, Pattaya City
T. Nongprue, A. Banglamung,
Chonburi 20150 Thailand
Tel.66-38 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax:66-38 427 596
Copyright © 2004 Pattaya Mail. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
|
|
