Interim Digital Britain Report Released March 19, 2009
Posted in : Uncategorized , comments closedLord Carter has released an interim report on the government’s Digital Britain initiative, which aims to bring
Carter, who is the minister for communications, underlined the main objective of the initiative as providing a 2Mb broadband access throughout the country. While speaking to the MPs, as part of a discussion on the report, he highlighted the key areas of the report.
Responding to one of the major concerns regarding the sources of funding, Lord Carter said that finances would be made available to the initiative through a government-business partnership. He also hinted that the BBC would be involved in any such arrangement. He explained that, as the internet is responsible for over 20 percent of the media consumption, the BBC being the largest media company in the country and being state funded, would always be in the thick of things for such an initiative.
The government is clearly moving at a reasonable speed to make its Digital Britain plan a reality, however, several hurdles still remain, especially how well the government can align the interests of the industry and its own objectives to find common ground for implementation of the plan. If you want to keep informed about mobile broadband, take a look at a website such as Mobile Broadband Genie; here you can find all the latest info on what’s available such a mobile broadband pay as you go, free laptop contracts and a mobile broadband speed check, so you can compare what’s available for you from the service providers.
Refurbishment sites not safe for workers, says HSE March 18, 2009
Posted in : Life Of Legal Resources, Money Making , comments closed
The HSE has been conducting inspections of refurbishment sites across the UK in the past two years, and has found that these places are highly accident-prone and are often proving to be fatal for the workers. Other than the inherent risky nature of the job, the negligence of the contractors towards the health and safety of their employees is the main culprit. Among the 2400 sites examined, a third were found to be falling short of the established standard. Make sure you have appropriate training in place for staff and managers to avoid costly penalties from the HSE, find out more about enrolling your staff onto accredited iosh courses
Through this March, the HSE will conduct another round of inspections at 1500 refurbishing sites. The main aim will be to evaluate the health and safety measures that are being followed there. Statistics show that more than half of the fatal accidents in the construction industry are in repair and maintenance work. To prevent such incidents in the future, HSE will come down hard on any contractor who is found to be insincere in his responsibilities towards the safety of the workers. According to the HSE Chief Inspector for the Construction sector, Stephen Williams, as long as the workers fall prey to workplace hazards, the HSE will not stop targeting the guilty contractors.
The inspections will lend support to the Shattered Lives and Hidden Killer campaigns, and the key parameters on which the sites will be evaluated are:
- How jobs that involve working at heights are handled, what are the safety measures adopted for them
- The proper installation of equipments and their appropriate use and maintenance
- The maintenance of order and arrangement of the workplace
- The physical condition of the site, obstructions, waste disposal etc
- The risk attached to the exposure to asbestos and how it is being managed
- Proper communication of information on safety and risk to the workers
Overseas Gaming Keeps Gaming Devotees at Their PC’s March 17, 2009
Posted in : Better Bets, Great Sports Tips, Lucky Web , comments closedMost gamers should have found the phrase “offshore sports betting”, but a few might not be wholly clear on what it expresses. An overseas betting web site essentially operates exterior to the administration of a distinct country alternatively it could be a computer accessible gambling site that locates their servers within the boundaries of a land where networked sports betting isn’t unlawful. To sum up then, it is a wagering administration operating extraneous to the country of the player. World wide web based gambling internet sites are mostly governed via 3 federations. These structures are OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and finally the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association FTGA.
The Offshore Gaming Association are a self-governing watchdog body which presently watches the overseas gaming business, they undertake to also deliver sports gambling buffs the ability to quickly track down worthy websites to play games with. The agency tries to assure sports betting lover’s rights, furthermore they don’t charge any joining costs.
The Offshore Gaming Association are a proficient and unbiased third party administration that reveals impartial points of view, based around your responses, unbiased scrutiny, telephone conversations, tips also to offer inside bulletins.
The Interactive Gaming Council is a not-for-profit organization. The organisation was designed to furnish an arena for involved parties to address points and also to further pertinent matters in the multinational web-based betting business, to establish upright not to mention duty-bound industry instructions and methods which raise consumer faith in internet betting products and functions, and in addition to assist as the offshore betting industry’s general strategy interpreter and in addition the IGC operates as an info clearinghouse.
The Interactive Gaming Council have made a distinction for upholding dependability, candor and plausibility thanks to the uncompromising ethical standards it demands, and also its appeal for commercial enterprises of moral practise. The Interactive Gaming Council regulates overseas gambling by means of upholding an original ten-point set of instructions and in addition bills gambling websites fees to show their logo. Disillusioned clients may also report their issues to the IGC.
The Fidelity Trust Gaming Association has been founded in order to set a standard to improve the transactions of web based gaming trading operations. The authority understand that through partnering with partners of honorable reputation, they can mold an alliance of the most trustworthy and professional offshore betting operations all over the planet.
So, these are councils which exist to observe the conduct exercised by live sports gaming and which should with luck help to allay a few of the trepidation held by cynics. Online sports betting internet sites are completely trustworthy, in that individual details should not be required and in addition the recompense not to mention the gambling odds are exactly as uniform and honest as your usual Vegas-type bet. They eradicate travel, but preserve of a gambling casino, but these days you are enabled to bet in the comfort of your home.
Slovaks, Swiss reach qualifying round
Selling Your Business – Step by Step Process March 16, 2009
Posted in : Sellers Market , comments closedSo it’s finally come time to sell the business. After investing years of your time and uncounted thousands of dollars, it has become successful, providing for your needs and wants, and it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Where do you start?
A good time to start thinking about selling a business is right after startup, when it shows signs of beginning to succeed and become self-sustaining. Even if you are planning on bequeathing it to your progeny or a partner, it’s never too early to think about what will happen afterwards.
The first step is to take your time–selling a business is a complex process and you will only do it once. Confidentiality is a necessity at this point, as word of an impending sale can cause repercussions among employees and business partners (suppliers, customers, etc.) alike.
Your position in the business is also a point to consider. If you are the sole proprietor, the decision is yours alone. However, if you are a partner or board member, selling your part of the business will involve more considerations.
Finding a good broker is worth any amount of time needed to locate one you are comfortable with. Check the Better Business Bureau for any investigation history, and get referrals from fellow business owners or from industry associations like the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA). This is a non-profit “trade association of business brokers providing education, conferences, professional designations and networking opportunities” (IBBA), as well as professional certifications and boasts over 1300 members.
Next, a professional appraiser should be consulted, as just like selling a home, a professional appraisal will give a fair value to begin negotiations with. Keep in mind though, an appraisal is an estimate of the fair value of a business’ hard assets, and the market value of the business may be higher or lower, as a business is only worth what someone else is willing to pay.
Determining major terms and price are issues that you are going to have to work out with your broker, but a few basic factors come into play: what do you want to get out of the sale? Continuing salary? Lump sum? Stock options? This is a step often overlooked until late in the negotiations, often to the detriment of the seller.
Financing the sale is usually about 90% left to the seller. If you can’t or won’t be willing to cover the costs of the sale, it may not be a good time to sell.
Once you and your broker have located a buyer and agreed on a price, a Letter of Intent is drafted. This letter outlines the terms and tentative price in a non-binding document and allows the buyer time to thoroughly investigate the business. This process is subject to Due Diligence, as the onus of discovery is placed upon the buyer and buyer’s agent.
After the discovery process is completed to both parties’ satisfaction, the Purchase Agreement is drafted. This set of paperwork creates a formal agreement between buyer and seller regarding purchase price, terms, and other legal details. Once the respective lawyers have finalized the details and complied with state law requirements regarding the sale, the Purchase Agreement is signed, closing documents finalized, and the sale is complete. If everything has gone well, it’s time to breathe a sigh of relief and start planning what to do with all that free time!
William King is the director of All Wholesale UK: http://www.uk-wholesaler.co.uk, Wholesale Pages: http://www.wholesalepages.co.uk and Wholesale-Canada: http://www.wholesale-canada.com. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers, entrepreneurs and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.
The Trusted Advisor Relationship: What Is It, and What Should It Be?
Posted in : Sellers Market , comments closedFor the past months, maybe a year, I’ve been hearing sales groups talk about the need to become Trusted Advisors (I’ll call them TAs). I suspect that the problems cropping up in the sales arena these days – the increased length of the sales cycle, the increased levels of competition – are leading sales management to base their initiatives on being of true service to prospects, as a way to seem different from the competition.
But by everyone attempting to become TAs, and by not changing the basic skill set – or belief set or outcome – of the sales force, sellers are doing more of the same, but with a different name.
Sorry to be so blunt, but let’s look at the facts here.
1. So long as you are trying to sell your product, the entire discussion with prospects will be biased: the questions will be biased, the help you offer will be biased, the prospect’s responses will be biased.
2. Buyers won’t trust a sales person they don’t know. They can’t, which means interactions will have to occur over time, and at the mercy of how the long it takes the prospect to trust you.
3. The criteria that buyers will use to take advice from a sales person is dependent upon many mysterious factors that you can’t know up front. Therefore, you’e flying blind as you were before trying to be a TA.
4. If everyone is attempting to be a TA, what differentiates anyone? And what if the prospect is getting conflicting advice? What if the prospect is getting the exact same advice – through several different sales people?
5. If you are only asking questions around the area that your product supports, how can you truly advise a prospect who lives in a complex system – which all of us, and all of our prospects, do?
6. How can you truly be offering advice if you cannot know the entire internal fact pattern that has created and maintained the buyer’s problem over time?
Net net: this seems to me like just another buzzword.
THE CURRENT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Let’s see what needs to happen before you can actually call yourself an advisor. First, you’ll need to understand the system that your buyers live within.
Your buyers are facing many new challenges these days. Their competition (or in the B2C area, the range of products offered) is so complex that they have to manage a world-wide competition with competitors that they don’t even know. To remain competitive and fresh, the prospects need to initiate frequent innovation that will potentially bring in new business partners, support new initiatives, and manage change as quickly as possible.
As a result, there is a continual flow of new decisions, new decision makers, new initiatives, new rules, roles, norms, and problems that need to be managed that have not been in play before now. And the prospect may or may not be familiar with the full range of issues that will affect him and that need to be managed.
I recently called a client’s prospect on a very large, long-term sales effort that had been going on for years. It seemed the prospect needed the service badly and it was costing them large sums of money as a result of not adopting the seller’s product. My client’s people were very professional, knew all of the problems attached to the perfect solution, and were offering very high quality advice as TAs.
And yet the decision was dragging on, and through different managers as people came and went – without a decision being taken. Everyone even tried to go around the problem and the immediate players, to no avail. When I called, it became apparent that there was an entirely different ’soft’ problem – a human problem – that had nothing to do with the specifics of my client’s solution, and no one had addressed that problem at all. Yet so long as it continued to remain unresolved, the sale wouldn’t happen.
My client was doing a fine job of being a TA; the team of sellers have been entirely knowledgeable, professional, and very supportive of their prospect. They had even become friends over the years. But they weren’t managing the real issue – one that no one had recognized.
For some reason, when you see a problem that your solution can fix, you think the only decision that your prospect needs to make is whether or not to purchase your product. In reality, deciding on your product is the last decision that will get made, after the prospect figures out all she needs to attend to in order to design a solution acceptable to all of the internal elements.
HOW A SELLER CAN ADVISE
Given the type and number of number of decisions the prospect needs to make, you can now make a real difference to your prospect by helping him recognize all of the internal elements he needs to manage before you pitch your product.
Until now, you’ve concentrated your assistance on that area that your product can support. But think about systems for a moment: a system is a conglomeration of all of the elements that determine the status quo. To flush it out a bit, I’ll use the RIPP model – Relationships, Interventions, People, and Policies.
Relationships include: vendors, partners, stakeholders.
Interventions include: boards, media, market forces, mandates, policies.
People includes: roles and job descriptions, management and leadership styles, values and beliefs, and personality issues.
Policies include: rules, history, norms, goals, initiatives, and time frames.
The above comprise the systems elements that live within every system, defined here in human terms, and included in personal relationships, corporations, sole-proprietors, and every group or team in every industry. You have all of the elements of RIPP in your family, your primary love relationship, your work, your team. And until or unless all of the elements are addressed, any change would create chaos.
Systems don’t like chaos, and they try to fix things internally before they are willing to come up against any areas of discomfort within the system. In other words, prospects will try to fix their problem themselves before they make a purchase with a new vendor. Remember that your product is not what they seek – they merely seek to solve a business problem in a way that will cause the least disruption.
So even if your product is the perfect solution, the prospect will be unable to make the decision to purchase it until she has examined and rejected all familiar fixes.
THE LENGTH OF THE DECISION
What’s stopping your prospect from examining these elements sooner? To start with, it’s hard to notice something wrong when everything feels normal – much like a fish being unaware of the water it’s swimming in.
Have you ever looked at pictures of yourself from years back and noticed things like extra weight, a bad haircut, a questionable outfit… when at the time, it all seemed fine? What about at your job, when you’ve followed the same rules or routines for a period of time until they are changed, and you notice that it’s much easier in the new routine – and wondered why you didn’t change sooner? What about relationships – those friendships that are so difficult but continue under force of time, but when they are ended, you wonder how you ever maintained them?
It’s difficult to see all of our own internal, personal idiosyncrasies, as our current state seems rather fine as it is or we would have changed it already. Remember that systems include all that is – the good, bad, and ugly. But it probably does not look good, bad, or ugly because it just ‘is’ and feels normal that way.
We don’t question our natural state unless some new information or idea or activity gets us to step away from our comfort zone and see a wholly different view. It’s only then we realize that a change needs to happen. But note that we keep people and systems around us that will continually reinforce our world view, as it’s too difficult to consider the possibility that we’re wrong.
And so it is with our prospects. They live in a system that just ‘is’. They can’t see what might be problematic since it feels normal. As an outsider, you might be able to see a problem, but in reality you have no idea how the problem became created, how it is maintained, what connections are important for the working of the entire system, and you’re basically on the outside looking in.
THE JOB OF AN ADVISOR
If you want to become a true TA for your prospect, use your connection to navigate your prospect through all of the internal decisions she needs to make before she can even think about designing a solution [see: People Do Not Decide Emotionally].
Become a guide through the buyer’s system. Forget your product, and lead the prospect through the rules, the roles, the initiatives, and the relationships that need to be examined before anything new will happen. They need to do that anyway – with you or without you – if they are going to decide to do something new and make a purchase. They certainly won’t make a decision to purchase anything until or unless they’ve discovered their own answers and design their own solution.
The time it takes prospects to make a purchasing decision is the length of the sales cycle. They don’t care how long it takes – they’d much prefer it was quicker rather than slower. They could use some help: it might as well come from you. Then you would be a true Trusted Advisor: to do that, you’ll have to forego selling.
Sharon Drew Morgen is the author of NYTimes Best Seller Selling with Integrity. She speaks, teaches and consults globally around her visionary sales method, Buying Facilitation.
http://www.newsalesparadigm.com
http://www.sharondrewmorgen.com
512-457-0246
Morgen Facilitations, Inc.
Austin, TX
Be Careful of Inquiries on Your Credit Report March 11, 2009
Posted in : Great Mathematics Tips , comments closedEvery time that someone looks at your credit report, the inquiry is noted. If you have lots of inquiries on your report, it may appear that you are shopping for several loans at once – or that you have been rejected by lenders. Both make you appear a poor credit risk and may affect your credit score. This means that you should be careful about who looks at your credit report. If you are shopping for a loan, shop around within a short period of time, since inquiries made within a few days of each other will generally be lumped together and counted as one inquiry.
You can also cut down on the number of inquiries on your account by approaching lenders you have already researched and may be interest in doing business with – by researching first and approaching second you will likely have only a few lenders accessing your credit report at the same time, which can help save your credit score.
Be careful of online loan rate comparisons.
Online loan rate quotes are easy to get – type in some personal information and you can get a quote on your car loan, personal loan, student loan, or mortgage in seconds. This is free and convenient, leading many people to compare several companies at once in order to make sure that they get the best deal possible.
The problem is that since online quotes are a fairly recent phenomenon, credit bureaus count each such quote estimate as an “inquiry.” This means that if you compare too many companies online by asking for quotes, your credit score will fall due to too many “inquiries.”
This does not mean that you shouldn’t seek online quotes for loans – not at all. In fact, online loan quotes are a great resource that can help you get the very best rates on your next loan. What this information does mean, however, is that you should research companies and narrow down possible lenders to just a few before making inquiries. This will help ensure that the number of inquires on your credit report is small – and your credit rating will stay in good shape.
Cornelius P Crumpacker
More than 100 tips to improve and repair your credit score
http://www.usacreditinfo.com
Buying a Home with Bad Credit – Fix Your Credit and Avoid Bad Credit Lenders March 9, 2009
Posted in : Great Mathematics Tips , comments closedBuying a home is an investment in your future. Even with bad credit you
can start the process of rebuilding your credit and building your net
worth through your home’s equity. By monitoring your credit, researching
lenders, and selecting the right loan, you can purchase a home at
reasonable rates.
Fix Your Credit First
Before you start shopping for a mortgage, make sure that your credit
report is accurate. Follow up with the credit monitoring service to make
sure all errors are fixed. You can get a free copy of your report from
several companies.
While credit events remain on your report for up to ten years, they
cease to be important after two years. So with a bankruptcy three years
ago, it is possible to qualify for an “A” rated mortgage.
But there are other factors that determine your loan rates, such as
your cash reserves and the size of your down payment. You can qualify for
a conventional loan rates even with a poor credit score.
Avoid The Wrong Kind Of Lenders
There are companies that would take advantage of your credit situation.
They would have you believe that with bad credit, you will have to pay
huge closing costs or rates double or triple of conventional loans to
buy a home. Run from these lenders.
Subprime lenders offer bad credit loans at one to two points higher for
each drop in credit rating. And loan fees are comparable to
conventional loans. In order to find these companies, you need to request loan
quotes.
With online lenders, you can receive these loan estimates within
minutes. Based on your personal information, you can get a realistic picture
of your loan costs and mortgage payment. And when financing through a
subprime lender, you don’t have to pay for private mortgage insurance if
your down payment is less than 20%.
Keep An Eye On The Future
When negotiating your mortgage, make sure you have the option to
refinance in the future. Ask for no early payment fees, so you won’t have to
pay thousands if you choose to move or refinance.
View our recommended lenders for
Bad Credit Mortgage loans.
Carrie Reeder owns ABC Loan Guide, an online resource with information about Mortgage Refinancing
Online and Home Equity Line
of Credit lenders.
Credit Reports are a Helpful Financial Tool
Posted in : Great Mathematics Tips , comments closedIt is very important to obtain your personal credit history. As a consumer many businesses or granting institutions use this to determine if they will lend you money. Quite often a credit report is a history or blue print of your ability to pay back funds. There are a few factors that lenders look at to see if your ability to pack back is in top shape. These would include but are limited to your job history, previous credit obtained and repayment history. Lenders use what is called a credit score that gives a number to evaluate all of the above.
If you plan on buying a home or a car one day, you perhaps will need a loan. If you have been rejected for a loan of some sort or just curious where you sit then obtain a credit report so it can help you also understand about credit score and credit reporting. This is a great financial tool that will help you evaluate what kind of credit history you have with lenders in the past. Often there can be inaccurate details and you need to sort that out.
You can find out more informaton on credit bureau reports and lending options. Many lenders will want you check your bureau credit reports before making any decisions to lend you money. If it is a mortgage or a refinancing, be sure you have a spotless repayment schedule. One of the number one reasons for not getting a loan are usually poor bureau credit reports from late payments or non-payments. This can really affect your lifestyle if you have a poor rating. Companies like EQUIFAX or TRANSUNION specialize in obtaining this sort of information. It is important to educate yourself about the great granting game. After all, good credit can go a long way.
Alan Zunec is a successful author and publisher on Credit reports- helping you understand more about finances.
5 Important Tips On How To Build A Professional Website
Posted in : Hall Of Websters , comments closedCopyright 2006 Nikki Mhlanga
With the advent of the internet, a lot of business transactions are done online. Almost every business nowadays has a website.
Although some customers will go to the shop to buy the product from the shop, they firstly shop for what they are looking for and compare prices on line. It is now almost imperative that any business must have a website.
Whether you own a home based online business of any type, or you own a shop in your town or city, you need a website to let potential customers know that you exist and that you offer products or services or business opportunities they may be interested in.
If you do not have a website, then you are not represented on the largest and most popular medium of communication today.
What hints must you heed in order to build a professional website that will effectively promote your products or services and encourage visitors to actually buy from you?
A well presented website: A tidy and professional looking website is important. Your website is your store front, and you need to create very good first impressions, otherwise you lose potential customers.
A website that is easy to navigate: There is a lot of competition out there, and there are thousands of other businesses and websites from which customers can choose from. Customers expect an efficient and easy to navigate website where they can easily and quickly get what they are looking for.
You will need to have a clearly laid out outline of contents on your website which is easy to use and straightforward. This means that information and images of the products you are offering must be easy to find in your shopping section of your website; and they must be very clear to view. It is also important that your pages load quickly and that you have all the various options for completing an order form and paying for the products or services.
Use techniques that encourage browsing and impulse buys: Present your website in such a way that every visitor or customer is presented with an opportunity to buy more. Include product reviews or satisfied customers feedback on your products so that visitors are encouraged to buy. Include some comments about the products key benefits. If you sell a wide range of products, next to any main product, include some other complementary products which the buyer may need.
Have your contact details on your site and always be reachable: After-purchase service is very important, especially for online transactions. It is therefore critical that customers know who you are and how to contact you after they’ve made a purchase, or if they need further information about your product or service before they decide to purchase. Your contact information should be clearly visible on your site.
This will also help increase their confidence in doing business with you. It is also important that you check your website’s emails at least once everyday in case there is a customer needing some help. Your website is your shop which operates full time 365 days so you will need to be available as needed so that you keep your business running smoothly and your customers happy. A happy customer is a potential return business for you.
Include a feedback form: It is important that you constantly improve your website or products/services, and you can achieve this by having a feedback form on your website. A feed back form gives your customers an alternative way to reach you and it also informs you about what customers think about your products and services.
For you to maximize your business’ online sales, you will need a well present website that will encourage your visitors to buy the products or services you offer.
About the author:
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Nikki Mhlanga is a trusted online residual income authority and provides valuable online residual income opportunities and resources through her website at: www.smart-homebiz.com/
You can also follow these 3 easy steps to make money online in the comfort of your own home : www.smart-homebiz.com/pips.html
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Put away Your Free Children Trust Fund Voucher with Scottish Friendly, so Your Child Can Have a Huge Lump Sum of Money when They Turn Eighteen
Posted in : Economy + Finance , comments closedHeard about the Child Trust Fund? A startling
modest number of parents appear to appreciate that all infants receive a free £250 voucher from the the State to place in a Child Trust Fund. This vouchercan be invested in any one of threekinds of CTF account, Stakeholder – a shares-based account that swapsinto cash, a savings account or a shares account. It is a great opportunity to prepare needs of a child
Scottish Friendly is a licensed provider of the Child Trust Fund Voucher. The State is keen for people to have access to Stakeholder accounts and this is the type of account that we offer. This means that:
• Investments are sent into our Managed Growth Fund, which aims to provide strong growth potential
• It invests partly in shares to get the benefit of potentially higher returns over 18 years,compared to a cash deposit account (although the value of shares canfall as well as increase whereas capital would be protected in a deposit account)
• It comes with a low ‘Stakeholder’ funds charge of only 1.5% per year
• When reaching 18 the young person will get a lump sum, completely free of Capital Gains and Income Tax under prevailing law
• It’s affordable – extra payments can be placed in the account from only £10
A key feature of the Child Trust Fund is that anyone – parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends – if they want can contribute to the Fund to a maximum of £1,200 per year to help increase the child’s Fund (once added, this money cannot be withdrawn).
All this means our Stakeholder account offers a good balance between possible high returns and a reduced level of risk. There’s also the additional assurance that our account meets with the Government’s stakeholder criteria. Nevertheless this doesn’t mean that returns are guaranteed or that Stakeholder accounts are appropriate for everyone. Bear in mind that the value of shares in the Managed Growth Fund (where your Child Trust Fund money is placed) can decrease as well as go up and isn’t guaranteed.
Only infants whose birthday is on or after 1st September 2002 are qualified to start up a Child Trust Fund. If you have older kids who are not entitled you could look at investing for them with a Child Bond – it’s a tax-free savings plan intended for long-term growth. There can be no doubt that investing for your son is a sensible means of preparing for the world to come.