During Toby’s recent office visits, he’s been hearing lots of planning taking place for Bruce Nash’s upcoming webinar on Later Life Planning. As he’s coming up on his ninth birthday himself, this got Toby thinking: what will his later life look like?

Although he has no offspring, and his assets consist mostly of chewed toys, expensive beds he refuses to use (the hallway floor is so much better), and the odd piece of canine knitwear, Toby realises that it’s important nonetheless to give some serious thought to what happens to it all as he gets into his senior years.

Thankfully, for dogs this is a bit more straightforward. As their owners, we will continue to care for them and make them comfortable right up until their end days. But who will take care of us when we reach the same moments? How will we fund it? Where do we want to be cared for? And do we have all the necessary paperwork in place?

So this month, Toby’s parting wisdom to you is this: come along to Bruce’s webinar and give it some serious thought before the festive season kicks in and we’re all distracted by the celebrations. Meanwhile, he’s off to book a meeting with Julian to discuss his wish to withdraw his pension in the form of treats.