Can I finally come in from the cold?
Credit: Guzelian
From Bosnia and Sierra Leone to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait, Andy Dixon has spent his career in conflict zones around the world. For the past three years the 59-year-old former British Army captain has been in West Africa, working on aircraft logistics as a contractor for an undisclosed American government agency.
This year he has returned home to Wakefield, West Yorkshire. “I’ve been working away from my wife and my 12-year-old daughter for a long time now. Being away from my family during the pandemic made me realise where I really wanted to be. It is time for me to hang up my hat and come in from the cold,” he said.
You don t pay tax at sea and it helped me save
Credit: Asadour Guzelian
He spent years working on ships at sea. Now Shaun Beal, 61, from Doncaster, wants to retire and spend £100,000 of his hard-earned savings to buy a luxury car and tour around Europe with his wife.
The Merchant Navy sailor has amassed more than £1.4m in medium-risk pension savings, as well around £550,000 in other investments and cash savings stored away in Isas, investment and savings accounts and Premium Bonds.
He claimed generous 100pc “Seafarers Earnings” tax deductions on the money he made outside British waters. “It’s why I have been able to build up so much over the years,” he said. “I’m aiming for an income of around £50,000 a year so I only pay the 20pc tax rate and there is some money left over for my two grown-up children – but I don’t know the best way to go about drawing an income and how to keep my tax bill low.”