Auto-enrolment shouldn’t be seen as a silver bullet
How much money you should be saving for your retirement is a key question when visualising the type of retirement lifestyle you want. However, the 13th annual Scottish Widows Retirement Report reveals that, despite the success of auto-enrolment – 80% of 22 to 29-year-olds are paying something into a pension – 70% of them are not putting away enough. This puts at risk their ability to achieve their desired income of just over £23,000 a year for a comfortable retirement.
Are you prepared if life throws something unexpected your way?
A critical illness could happen to any one of us. If it does happen, having the right cover could help to minimise the financial impact on you and your loved ones. More than a third of people (36%) believe they would get no kind of support from their employer if they were diagnosed with cancer, according to new research from Canada Life[1].
How to fund a fulfilling life beyond our working years
Healthier lifestyles and medical advances mean that many of us can expect to enjoy longer lifespans than previous generations. However, this creates a significant challenge both for society as a whole and for us all as individuals – how to fund a fulfilling life beyond our working years.
Reduce how much IHT your estate will have to pay on your death
The structures into which you can transfer your assets can have lasting consequences for you and your family, and it is crucial that you choose the right ones. The right structures can protect assets and give your family lasting benefits. A trust can be used to reduce how much Inheritance Tax your estate will have to pay on your death.
There are many things to consider when looking to protect your family and your home. Protecting your estate is ultimately about securing more of your wealth for your loved ones and planning for what will happen after your death to make the lives of your loved ones much easier. It’s not nice to think about, but it means that your loved ones can carry out your wishes and be protected from Inheritance Tax.
A Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows you to give someone else the legal authority to act on your behalf. There are several different types of Power of Attorney. A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) – previously called an ‘Enduring Power of Attorney’ – allows your attorneys to make decisions for you when you no longer wish to, or when you lack the mental capacity to do so.
We spend our lives working to provide for ourselves and our loved ones. You may have a house or flat (in the UK or overseas), shares, savings and investments, as well as your personal possessions. All of these assets are your ‘estate’. Making a Will ensures that when you die, your estate is shared according to your wishes.
Finding the money for looking after us if we need care in old age
With the UK’s population ageing, more people will be living with long-term care needs. Oscar Wilde once said: ‘The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young.’ But the good news of rising life expectancy also brings with it the challenge of how we fund our future care costs. The question is: who is responsible for looking after us if we need care in old age?
There’s nothing more important in life than your health
Nothing is more important to you than your health and the health of your family. If you or your loved ones were to experience worrying symptoms, private medical insurance can offer reassurance and control at a difficult time.
No one is immune to the risk of illness and accidents
No one likes to think that something bad will happen to them, but if you couldn’t work due to a serious illness, how would you manage financially? Could you survive on savings or sick pay from work? If not, you may need some other way to keep paying the bills – and you might want to consider income protection insurance.
