Protecting my inheritance

I went on a "preparing for retirement" course. It gave me some useful information though not  as much as I'd have liked. There was too much on legal ways to avoid paying tax, and how to protect yourself from any demands other people might make on you while having a great time. I'd rather have heard tips on how the older fencer might avoid muscle-strain and injury, coupled with advice on good novels with really interesting elderly protagonists. I'd also have liked  advice on how to protect my inheritance and pass it on to the next generation. This matters a lot to me, as I've lost quite a few of my assets already.

When I was young, I was part-owner of energy suppliers, railways - even reservoirs and water-pipes. It was great. It meant I had a voice in how they were managed and how much it cost to use them. Of course, I shared ownership with the rest of the population of the U.K. but I was quite happy with that. Then the government took them away and sold them to better-off people and big companies. I suppose there was some kind of pay-off, which meant we didn't pay quite so much tax, but I still miss my ownership of gas, electricity and water supplies, and the trains which charge so much for every journey. Other people profit from them now and my voice is less likely to be heard; I'm a complaining consumer now when I used to be a part-owner.

There are many things I still own. Hospitals, for instance. Of course, the folly of Private Finance Initiatives gives me less power over my property - the property I probably share with you and millions of others. But it's still mine and I reckon that gives me a better chance of being heard when I have something to say about the way it's run.

I own schools too - and art galleries, museums, leisure centres, parks and playgroups. I own libraries too, and what a treasure they are. These are things that can show us that life is worthwhile - that it's more than mere existence. They teach us to think and question, and provide us with joy. Many of these are free - and I wish that everyone should also be able to go to the theatres, concert halls and opera houses in which I have part-ownership. It seems wrong that some of the owners should be unable to benefit from their own property.

So much of my inheritance is under threat, and I want to pass it on to my children, to other people's children, and to all who might benefit from it. This is the kind of wealth I want. I don't want to avoid paying tax if it means that I'm stripped of the assets I really care about - assets that might make a difficult future bearable for me and for others.

When I was growing up, I felt rich because I could go to free museums, borrow books from free libraries - even go to free performances of Shakespeare plays in London parks. That was wealth indeed. And from the window of our council flat I looked out over a great park and felt as though I owned that as well. I didn't. It's a royal park and belongs to the Queen but everyone who wishes can walk in it so that's much the same thing. We called it  "our back garden." And although we sometimes sought solitude there, we were always happy to share it with everyone else.