How To Live Longer by Having a Hobby…. (Really!)

Everyone has a hobby. Whether you know it or not, hobbies are, well, what we do when we are not working, cooking, cleaning up baby sick, out with our mates…

The Oxford Dictionary definition of a hobby is

‘an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure’

We have done some research on Hobbies, and can tell you that some people have particularly exciting hobbies, such as: -

·         Lego building (you cant beat a good Lego sculpture!)

·         Taxidermy

·         Base Jumping

·         Rock Climbing

·         Motor Sports

….. whilst other people have some ‘not so very interesting’ hobbies: -

·         Stamp Collecting

·         Metal Detecting

·         Crocheting

·         Fossil Hunting

·         Leaf Collecting (really!)

Hobbies are good for you. Surprising yes, but lots of research has been done over the years and in general those people with hobbies live longer as a result of keeping active.

Furthermore, hobbies can help in all kinds of ways that you wouldn’t even think of, such as: -

1)        Allowing you to spend time doing something for yourself

2)        Giving you an independent ‘thing’ to do that is not dependant on anyone else

3)        Challenges you and keeps your mind active

4)        Gives you the opportunity to meet others within the same hobby field, and make new friends

5)        Gives you an alternative career, if you have gotten really good at it (not sure about Taxidermy as a career but each to their own!)

Interestingly enough, a recent survey showed that on average people spend 5% of their annual income on hobbies, which we thought seemed a lot. On an average UK salary of £26,500, the average UK person can and does therefore spend £1325 per year on their hobby.

Looking at what that gets you, it’s a season ticket at Old Trafford (plus travel to and from, food and drink), its 4 skydives, and it’s a fraction of the most expensive stamp ever sold (12 million, just in case you were wondering – an 1856 British Guiana 1-cent Magenta no less!)

We know you are waiting for us to get to the point. And here it comes….

Sports’ betting is a hobby. Oh yes it is. We are not just making that up, look it up on the Internet and you will see it listed on hundreds of sites as a hobby. So if we were to apply the

5% rule, those of you who love nothing but a good bet have £1325 per year to spend on your ‘Hobby’. Our packages start at £99 per quarter, meaning you have the rest of your Hobby allowance to invest in what we do best … the guarantee of winning bets and a happier future.

You will just have to find yourself a new hobby then (Taxidermy anyone….)

Did You Say The Word Tax?

There are many different types of tax. We will try not to bore you but to explain what we mean it can be any of the following: -

1.        Income Tax – you know, the type that comes out your salary every month and always seem such alot!
2.        Inheritance Tax – payable on property that may be left to you in the unfortunate case of someone dying
3.        VAT  -  ‘value added tax’ which is payable on certain goods and services
4.        Road Tax – payable when you have car and want to drive on public roads
5.        Customs – the type of tax you have to pay when you bring in too many bottles of gin in duty free
6.        Taxidermy (well, not officially a tax but we left it in to see if you were paying attention, and you are. Well done.)

…. and until 2001 there was betting tax.

You may ask why we are bringing this up now, but for some of our clients, who are new to Arbitrage and are only ever used to betting on the Grand National every blue moon (we wonder if there ever has been a blue moon, will Google it later….) then they think that Arbitrage cannot possibly be the way forward as the betting tax will cause problems.

There are also other clients of ours who are worried that betting tax will come back, ending their good run whilst using our services.

For the first of you mentioned above, betting tax was abolished on the 6^th October 2001. After the tax was abolished the number of gamblers increased tremendously and those who had never betted before went crazy and were able to bet, tax free, on anything and everything (such as the recent Eurovision, really L).

The losers in the abolishment of betting tax were the bookmakers, who had to pay 15% in tax for, well, basically being a bookie!

The rules have remained the same since 2001 however at the end of 2014 new rules are to come in to play, meaning that not only do UK land based bookmakers have to still pay 15% but so do all those bookmakers from overseas who use the internet to supply remote gambling to the UK population.

We can therefore pretty much say that there will be no change back to the old rules, as currently the government is receiving much more money from betting than it ever has done.

So, with all the betting tax you save what can you do?

Well, why not take a look at our Executive Membership for our Sports Arbitrage service? From £325 per quarter, it means that not only do you save on tax but you a guaranteed a return on your money.

Furthermore, if you refer just two of your friends or colleagues to us then you could get the equivalent of £25,000 in commissions just for passing on their names, now that’s the kind of tax return that you do want to fill in. Thank you Mr. Tax Inspector!!