Get HMRC to pay for your life assurance

Since the BDTA Dental Showcase in October in Birmingham I’ve been driving all over the country from Devon to Harrogate, and before I fly off to South Africa at the beginning of December will probably have clocked up over 5,000 miles. One of the things I’ve learnt to do when I’ve got an appointment a few hundred miles from the office is to type in the postcode to AA Route Planner to find out how long the trip’s going to take me. I then have to add 30 minutes because there’s such a high chance I’ll be held up in traffic due to a car accident.
 
This week a friend of my wife’s, a BBC journalist, was tragically killed in a car crash in Bolivia, and on Sunday I had lunch with a group of old friends and one of them who had 2 children, aged 2 and 9 months, lost her husband in a car crash last year.
 
Bearing in mind I also have a 2 year old and a 9month old and we’re flying off to South Africa in a few days time, it’s made me review my life insurance contracts and make sure that in the event of my premature death, the mortgage is paid off and my wife’s got enough cash to pay the bills for the next twenty plus years.
 
On one of my many recent meetings I met a couple who had savings of over £150,000 sitting in both of their accounts. One of them was a higher rate tax payer and the other was a basic rate tax payer. I suggested they switch all the savings to the non higher rate tax paying spouse, providing a tax saving of £83.33 per month.
 
As 37 year old male that would buy me £1,500,000 of mortgage protection to age 60.
 
Why give your money to the taxman? Give it to your family instead.