Places you Want to Visit/Things to Do
I have on my bookshelf A Thousand Places to See before You Die’, by Patricia Schultz. The vast
majority of these places I would yet like to visit I won’t manage. However, I have found it
quite fun to check the book before taking a foreign holiday.
Anyway, the adage ‘What you don’t want to be saying on your death bed’ does prompt the
question as to places you would like to visit or things you would like to do while you still
have the physical and mental capacity – and, indeed, the money – to do so.
And then there’s the Question: who do you REALLY want to be spending time with, while
you can?
Family and Good Friends
So much of life simply ‘happens’, given the sheer pace of life or job/ volunteering or
pastimes with which we get caught up. A good thing about long-standing (rather than ‘old’)
friends is that it’s always easy to pick up where you left off. But once you start reflecting on
death, you may want to think about whom you want to see again, particularly if it has been a
while, and with whom you want to spend time. This may involve rekindling old friendships,
always bearing in mind that ‘it takes two to tango’.
Part of that ‘spending time with’ may involve making clear how much that person means to
you. One suggestion is to write letters to favourite family members or friends, letters which
could be left with your Will or in a safe place with instructions to deliver them once you have
gone. It is worth keeping copies of all such letters and the dates, in case you want to rewrite
them.
Think about making gifts to favourite people. Such gifts could be non-monetary, for example
a photograph of a happy holiday or time spent together. Or you might want to give them a
book, or something a bit more valuable, such as a painting, some silver or anything else
which would mean a lot to them. Such gifts can be left by Will or indeed given while you are
still alive, for example tax-efficiently making use of the available lifetime exemptions from
Inheritance Tax (see my Post on 25 October 2023), maybe within the £3,000 annual
exemption.
