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6 Considerations when Planning for Later Life

Amy Peters
02 December 2021 28 min read

As we move forward with our lives and reach those important milestones, planning for later life becomes ever more important. Life often takes a number of unexpected turns so creating an element of certainty for the future is a valuable approach indeed. Family circumstances and relationships can change over time and age and illness can make it difficult to manage and cope with key decisions.

As you advance through life, we have summarised 6 key aspects you should consider and where you can turn for help.

1. Making a Will: Protect your loved ones

Making a Will ensures those you care for are looked after and the possessions you have worked hard for are given to the correct people. Your Will can make provisions such as appointing guardians, dealing with business assets and passing your family home to your children.

If you already have a Will but you created it some time ago, it could be worth a review to check it still accurately reflects your wishes and the key people you have appointed i.e. Executors & Guardians are still correct.

Your Will should also be drafted to maximise your tax allowances in relation to aspects such Inheritance Tax and Business Property Relief to ensure your estate doesn’t pay any more tax than is necessary.

Find out more about how to update your Will here

2. Lasting Power of Attorney: Give yourself a helping hand

A Lasting Power of Attorney enables you to appoint people you trust to help you manage your affairs whilst you’re still alive if you require additional support. There are 2 types of Lasting Power of Attorney – Property & Affairs and Health & Welfare.

You can choose who should act on your behalf (your Attorneys) and in which circumstances. Lasting Powers of Attorney can be used to enable people you trust to temporarily oversee your interests or on a permanent basis should you lose mental capacity, for example.

Do remember that all Lasting Powers of Attorney must be registered with the Office of Public Guardian before they can be used so if you already have LPA’s in place, it’s worth checking that they have in fact been registered.

Remember, if you don’t have an LPA in place and you become unable to manage your affairs, the process of Deputyship could come into effect meaning someone you and your family don’t know could be in charge of your interests.

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3. Advance directive: Make your final wishes clear

An Advanced Directive is also often referred to as a Living Will. It’s a legal document that lets your family, carers and health professionals know your wishes about refusing treatment if you’re unable to make or communicate those decisions yourself.

You may want to refuse treatment in some situations but not others and if this is the case, the Advanced Directive enables you be clear about the circumstances in which you want to refuse this treatment.

When drafted correctly, an Advanced Decision is considered legally binding and a copy should be kept in your medical records.

4. Pensions and finances: Identify what you have in place

Throughout our lifetime many of us have had different employer and private pensions that we have contributed too. It’s important to ensure that the pensions are structured correctly to ensure you have nominated those you wish to benefit from the plans as well as any death in service benefits.

Professional advice from a Financial Conduct Authority approved adviser is always recommended when it comes to pensions as it’s a specialist area. If you’ve contributed for most of your life to a pension plan, you need to ensure you’re clear about the benefits for both whilst you’re still alive and after you’ve gone.

We can put you in touch with a suitable qualified financial adviser - contact us here.

5. Tax planning: Maximise your Tax allowances

It’s common to find that people have more wealth than they think, commonly accrued from increasing property prices, inheritance and plain old good fortune. However, many people are unclear which tax rules apply to them and how their wealth could be impacted as a result.

With an Inheritance Tax rate of 40% in England and Wales, it’s important that any tax allowances are maximised to ensure your estate doesn’t pay more tax than it needs to after you’ve passed away.

Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax are also key considerations for those that may have buy-to-let properties for example. Gaining the correct tax advice at the correct time could be instrumental to preserve the wealth you have worked hard to build.

Get in touch and we’ll ask our Tax Specialist to have a chat with you.

6. Care cost planning: Manage your contributions

Care funding is the subject of much discussion as the government has announced that no one will pay more than £86,000 for their care costs during their lifetime from 2023 at the earliest. The cap would apply only to care costs and not aspects such as accommodation and food. Only those deemed eligible by the local authority will be counted towards the cap.

What does this mean?

It’s worth getting further advice from an independent care fees adviser or assessor to ensure the Local Authority are making their assessments correctly. It’s also important to ensure that your Lasting Power of Attorney is place and your wealth structured correctly to ensure you and your family retain as much control as possible regarding the decisions relating to your future care.

Book an appointment today to talk through your personal circumstances with a member of our friendly team. Get In Touch

 

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