Guest Blogs
Knowitall.ch often invites local experts in their field to contribute to their own blogs on our site. This means not only you will benefit from the useful recommendations that we make on our News pages, but you can also profit from some of the great advice and tips that these experts have to make on their favorite subjects. Whilst each of these bloggers has been recommended to us at some point during the evolution of Know-it-all passport and knowitall.ch, obviously we are not able to test out all the suggestions they make on their blogs, nor do we necessarily agree with all their opinions. So if you do find one of their tips useful (or not!), do let us know!
To make these blogs more accessible to you, we have now decided to group them altogether in one section, entitled Guest Blogs, accessible from our main menu bar. We will also post the most recent blogs on the home page of our site in the right hand column.
We are still building up this area of the site, and are looking for bloggers in a number of sections, including Your Home, Travel, and Leisure, so if you feel you have a useful contribution to make in either of these areas, and have the time to submit blog entries approximately every month, then please get in touch!
By Dr Graham Brown, Forth Capital
Anyone who has pension benefits with a value in excess of the lifetime allowance (LA) will be subject to a tax charge on their excess benefits value known as the lifetime allowance charge.
Key facts
The lifetime allowance was introduced in April 2006 and is the maximum value of benefits that can be taken from a registered pension scheme without being subject to the lifetime allowance charge.
Benefits in excess of the lifetime allowance could be protected from the lifetime allowance charge by using primary, enhanced, fixed and individual protection.
The lifetime allowance has been steadily decreasing since 2012 as follows:
By Sarah Santacroce at Simplicity
If I received 5$ every time someone asked me that question I would be a very rich Swiss lady. Do you have a free account and are wondering if you should upgrade? Or maybe you’re paying the monthly fee but are not sure if it’s really worth it? Read this post for some answers (and my personal opinion)
Disclaimer: the opinion and views expressed in this post are solely my own and might not represent those of other LinkedIn experts – or LinkedIn itself.
So should you pay for a LinkedIn Premium Account?
It depends… on your general knowledge about LinkedIn, on your profile, on the objectives you are trying to achieve, on your position (are you a recruiter, a sales professional or a business consultant?)… There is no standard answer. But… in my experience a lot of people are wasting their money on the paid account. But I’ll get to that. Let’s look at the benefits of a Premium Account first:
By Nicole Booth, Forth Capital
The Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered his first Conservative Budget on 8th July 2015. The key measures affecting private clients are highlighted below.
Income Tax
The personal allowance will rise to £11,000 in 2016/17, and to £11,200 in 2017/18. The government plans to raise the personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020 so that people working 30 hours a week on the minimum wage do not pay income tax.
The higher rate threshold at which individuals start to pay income tax at 40% will increase to £43,000 in 2016/17 and to £43,600 in 2017/18. These are small steps towards the manifesto target of £50,000 by 2020, so steeper increases will be needed in future years.
By Hiba Giacoletto, Healthwise
Have you tried whipping yourself into losing weight? Do you promise yourself every time summer comes around that THIS time, you are going to stick to the diet plan and visit the gym religiously?
If you have tried all sorts of diets, but none of them seem to work, how about trying something different? An approach based on pleasure and kindness towards yourself instead of deprivation and restriction.
Here are six healthy ways to lose weight without dieting – they may not lead to rapid weight loss, but the weight loss tends to be more sustainable.
(c) copyright HealthFirst 2015
By Dr Penny Fraser, HealthFirst
Summer is here! The school bags will soon be slung into a cupboard and the suitcases brought out to pack for holidays and family visits. Whether you are travelling by car, train or plane, the one thing that should always be taken is your First Aid Kit.
How to make an arm sling
One of the essential items that you should find in your kit is an arm-sling, used for injured collarbones, shoulders, elbows, arms, wrists and hands. Do you know why you would use one of these?
Four reasons for putting an arm sling on an injured person:
- It's a pain-killer. Every time damaged skin, muscle, tendons, bones and joints are moved, they send strong pain messages along the nerves to the brain. Ouch! If these damaged tissues are kept still and supported in an arm sling then the person will be in less pain.
- It prevents secondary injury. If the damaged tissues are kept still in the sling, then this reduces the chance of bone fragments, torn veins and ligaments wobbling about and causing worse bleeding or swelling etc.
- It accelerates recovery. It is scientifically proven that if, after an injury, people have their pain controlled and psychological stress reduced, they heal quicker. Excellent First Aid includes reassuring the person with words, gestures and eye-contact whilst putting on an arm sling.
- It gives a clear signal to others. When another person sees the arm sling, they know that the wearer is injured and needs to be cared for. A paramedic, nurse or doctor will also be able to direct their questions and treatment quickly to the injured arm, indicated by the presence of the arm sling.
