victorian Pharmacy - Royal Pharmaceutical Society

p h a r m a c y f a s h i o n
p e r s o n a l f i n a n c e
Suits you Sir and Madam
Bring some colour into your working day says Michelle Nicholls
Season
Spring
warm
palette
Summer
cool
palette
Autumn
warm
palette
Winter
cool
palette
Skin
Warm
with subtle
golden
undertones,
creamy light
or peach
Cool and
pale with
blue or
rosy pink
undertones
Warm skin
colour with
golden
undertones
Cool skin
with blue
or pink
undertones
in pale
porcelain
white,
yellowy olive
or dark
Hair
Golden
blonde,
auburn or
strawberry
Natural
blonde
or light
brunette
Redhead or
brunette, but
sometimes
dark golden
blonde
Brunette or
black
Eyes
Light and
clear blue or
green
Pale
Warm
brown or
hazel
Dark
Suits
Warm
colours
with yellow
undertones.
Also strong,
true colours
like letterbox
red
Soft and
natural hues,
including
pastels and
pale colours,
in cool tones
Rich, spicy
colours and
anything
natural and
woody.
Earthy tones
compliment
well
Intense
and strong
colours, or
bright icy
sorbets,
with blue
undertones
Avoid
Muted,
dull or dark
colours
present
too high a
contrast
Harsh
colours,
neon tones
and black
will drown
out this
complexion
Pastel
colours
and blue
tones look
too cold in
contrast
Earthy and
neutral
tones can
make this
complexion
appear
faded
It’s already July and whether British summers
are a sunny success or a rainy wash-out, there
has never been a better time to ditch your dreary
work wardrobe in favour of something a little
more colourful and vibrant.
Whether it’s a full assault of cheery bright
colours such as bold pink, green, orange and red
or just a little flash of a summery hue, there’s no
excuse to not brighten up your days at work.
Which season are you?
Many people are unsure how to wear bright
colours and patterns, especially for everyday work
wear, but by using your complexion as a guide
there is a colour palette to suit everyone that can
lift your mood, make you feel more confident, and
express your personality.
Take a look at the chart below and work out
which ‘colour season’ suits you best and how you
can make the best of it.
Don’t shy away!
If you find yourself shying away from bright
colours in the worry that they’ll make you stand
out in a crowd, or you’ll look too garish, then you
simply haven’t found the right way to wear them
yet. Instead of a full colour outfit, try wearing
simple flashes of colour with your shoes and
accessories.
You could, for example, wear a bright belt or
contrasting sandals, either of which will add a
colourful accent to a plain black dress and bring
it to life. Or a bold patterned skirt will beautifully
complement a simple plain blouse.
For men, the addition of a stylish colourful or
patterned tie will draw attention away from a plain
grey, navy blue or black suit and uplift your whole
image.
A key piece such as a bright bag, a patterned
scarf or colourful shoes never fails to add a
splash of confidence and some real personality
to an outfit, and even the smallest details on a
gentleman’s attire, such as stylish cufflinks or
coloured socks, can brighten the entire outfit.
What’s the trick?
It’s simple. The trick is to be bold and daring
when wearing colours and in turn they will make
you feel confident and positive.
So let’s all hope for the anticipated sunny
summer, which we have certainly earned after the
drama of last winter’s snow days. But even if the
reality turns out to be a cold and rainy experience,
you could always invest in a colourful coat to keep
you looking bright and cheery throughout it all! n
Taxing problems
Never mind higher rates of capital gains tax, says
Miranda Green. We’ve got some better ideas
THE government is in the biggest fiscal
hole since the end of the Second World
War. It has two main fillers to fix this
hole – cutting spending, and raising taxes.
And because the hole is so wide, and so
deep, it needs all the filler it can get. Taxing
gains on share ownership would have been
anathema to any Conservative government
had this crisis not required some extreme
measures, but the question we must all
address now is, what’s the best way forward?
First, things are not as bad as they could
have been. As we go to press, the details
of the Emergency Budget have not been
released but an increase in CGT on shares
is almost a nailed-on certainty. The good
news is that the threshold over which gains
are taxed is also a nailed-on certainty to be
higher than the £2,000 limit proposed by the
Lib-Dems.
Having the threshold in place means
you need to sell any assets strategically, if
you can, rather than dumping them all at
once. Eking out the sales of assets over a
few years means you won’t be clobbered,
and those who are married can also transfer
assets to their spouses to use their allowance
too. It also means making full use of your
ISA allowance each and every year.
A good bet
All well and good. But how do you invest for
the future? It’s conceivable that even once the
government deficit is paid down (and even
the most optimistic commentators put that at
two parliaments, even with solid economic
growth), the tax will remain in place.
If you want to play a long-term game,
then the tax breaks on investing in
pensions, while also coming under Mr
Osborne’s scrutiny for higher-rate tax
payers, represent a good bet. There is some
optimism within the pensions industry that
compulsory annuities will be phased out,
which means that investing in pensions
becomes a means of building wealth for
generations, as opposed to the current
situation where the annuity passes to any
surviving spouse when you die, but then
to the government when he or she passes
away. Meanwhile you get tax relief on
anything you save, and if you arrange a
self-invested personal pension (SIPP) there
is a broad range of assets you can set aside
for your retirement.
Interest to investors
Of course, those investments touted by the
government don’t attract CGT. You can buy
government bonds (gilts) to your heart’s
content, as long as your heart is content with
solid, but deeply unspectacular, returns.
And the income is taxable as well. National
Savings & Investments, including premium
bonds, do not attract tax but the only
product that might be of genuine interest to
investors, given that most economists predict
that price inflation in the UK is inevitable,
is an index-linked certificate. If they are
wrong – entirely possible – then deflation
does not eat into your capital – those kind
types at NS&I ignore its effect and add on
the guaranteed element of interest.
But the short-term presents more
problems. Some investable items do not
attract capital gains because the Revenue
classes them as ‘wasting assets’. Fine wine
is one – it’s easy to invest via a broker
like Farr Vintners or specialist investment
company like Premier Cru. Top-class claret
returns have been about 15% per year on
average over the past decade, but do trade
with a reputable company.
It’s a similar story with some antiques,
including some classic cars, and specialist
items like classic toys, and again seek advice
before investing.
In times of crisis investors flock to gold,
and the price is already looking frothy. But
if we see the return of high inflation then
gold is a good hedge against it. Holding
sovereigns is a tax-efficient way of investing
because they are still treated as circulating
currency (try that at Tesco…) so there’s no
capital gains tax.
Another way to play the stock market
without physically buying and selling
shares, and therefore eating up any
allowance you have, is spread betting.
Financial spread betting is free from CGT,
stamp duty and commission – the company
takes its ‘margin’ from the spread. Here’s
how it works. A spread betting company,
such as Cantor Index, quotes a price for
Acme plc of 100p-101p. The difference is
the spread between the buy and sell price.
If you think Acme is going to plummet,
you sell at 100p, with your bet pegged to
the price per penny it falls. So if you sell at
£5 per point, and it falls to 80p, you have
made £100. But if it rises, and you decide
to close your bet at 105p, you have lost
£25. Potential losses while shorting are
theoretically limitless, while losses betting
on a rise are limited to the stock falling to a
value of zero. In practice, you either need to
monitor your bets closely, or set stop-losses
– limits that you set which ‘knock out’
your bet to limit your loss. You can trade a
wide variety of assets, from commodities
to foreign exchange, equity indices like the
Dow or FTSE, and individual stocks.
Spread betting companies are reporting a
massive rise in enquiries from ordinary folk
who have no knowledge or experience of
trading products like these, but the bookies
are viewing it as a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to help people and drive more
customers into the asset class. My advice is
don’t rush in, but don’t be too afraid to tread
either. n
44 Pharmacy Professional | July/August 2010
July/August 2010 | Pharmacy Professional
45