People in retirement
People in Retirement
You may have planned your finances very thoroughly and be having an enjoyable retirement as a result. However, even clients who have planned well can find themselves with complex requirements during retirement. You may be enjoying an active retirement whilst you’re in good health and want to make sure you have the funds to continue with it. Perhaps you’re slowing down and needing fewer funds as you age. On the other hand, deteriorating health may mean that you need to consider how you will fund your care. For many, it’s important to be able to pass on as much wealth as possible to their loved ones, both in life and death. As ever, we’re here to help you plan for today, tomorrow and the unexpected.
How can we help?
We will:
- Assess your current financial situation and financial plan, if you have one
- Understand your goals and aspirations for the short term and the long term
- Formulate or adapt your existing financial plan to help you to achieve your goals
- Deliver the plan, managing the relevant paperwork and ensuring that it’s implemented as smoothly as possible
- Offer regular reviews of your situation and adapt your plan if necessary, ensuring that there’s a back-up plan for the unexpected!
With dedicated, one-to-one support, we’ll give you the confidence to continue to enjoy your retirement whilst you are still active. As things slow down, we’ll help to ensure that you have the funds in place for the care you need. And we’ll provide the peace of mind that comes with knowing you can pass on as much wealth as possible to your loved ones.
Please remember that the value of investments, and any income from them can fall as well as rise, so you could get back less than you invest. If you are unsure of the suitability of your investment please seek advice. Tax rules can change and the value of any benefits depends on individual circumstances.
Relevant services
Equity release is a way of taking equity from your home using a lifetime mortgage. It can be an effective way to release funds to pay for care in later life, or to adapt your home so that it’s suitable for home care. The funds can also be used as a way to gift money to your children. It can even be a way of increasing your income, so that funds are released annually over time, instead of in one lump sum.This form of lending is most suitable for those over 65, however, it’s possible to do this if you are over 55. It is important to understand that these are lifetime mortgages. To understand their features and risks, you will need to have a personalised illustration. We have access to the whole of the market and provide unbiased advice, even if the best thing for you is to downsize to release equity.
Long-term care covers a variety of services which help people with a chronic illness or disability, who cannot care for themselves for long periods. For those who cannot care for themselves at home, residential care will need to be considered. According to Age UK, costs average around £600 a week for a care home place and more than £800 a week for a place in a nursing home. For many, this is a significant amount of money, and there is no way of knowing how long you will need to pay it for. You’re not obliged to get professional financial planning advice when choosing how to finance your long-term care. But in most cases, it’s crucial to do so as there are numerous options, including:
- Pre-funded insurance
- Immediate needs care plan
- Care bonds
- Equity release
- Existing sources of income
- Let property
- Deferred care plans
We will recommend the best way to fund long-term care that is compatible with you and your family’s priorities. We can help with other areas such as finding professionals who can write your will, or set up a Power of Attorney.
Inheritance Tax (IHT) is the tax that is paid on the value of your estate on death if it exceeds a certain value. With careful planning, IHT can be considerably reduced or even removed completely so that your loved ones receive as much of your legacy as possible. There are various options available to you to reduce or remove IHT, including:
- Gifting to reduce the value of your estate. This needs to be carefully managed so that you have sufficient money to live on
- Trusts such as Discounted Gift Trusts, Loan Trusts and Reversionary Interest Trusts. Each type has various means of providing an income whilst reducing the value of your estate
- Life assurance to ensure that funds are available to cover the IHT bill so that your beneficiaries receive the full estate
Naturally, this is a complex area which requires careful planning and advice from professionals, including solicitors and accountants. We will work closely with your chosen advisers or can recommend professionals to appoint.
Helping you plan for today, tomorrow and the unexpected
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My husband and I have used Mark Bastable at Templegate Financial Planning for over 16 years, beginning when we started a family. We have benefitted from advice and assistance in remortgaging, life insurance, critical illness cover, and setting up trusts. Mark's advice is always balanced and helpful, and we will continue to use him.
Mark has advised and provided financial support to me and my wife for many years. He has advised us about pensions, life cover, critical illness cover, stocks and shares, savings advise and income protection. Our latest and very important financial advice has been on my pension drawdown which Mark has handled with the upmost professionalism and now I find that I am in a comfortable position. He has talked us through the pros and cons of any decision that we have made and always thoroughly researches the best outcomes for us. We have found him to be very knowledgeable, highly qualified, and reasonably priced for his services that he has offered us and would not hesitate to recommend him to our family and friends. Undoubtedly, we would not have the safe financial future that we now have without his significant financial advice.
Mark has been our trusted adviser for many years and we have no hesitation in recommending him. Following his advice, we have moved our ISA portfolio to a different provider to get a better deal and bought into AIM shares to reduce our IHT liability.
My wife and I met Mark through a recommendation which came highly and didn’t disappoint. He went through our investments and finances in detail and helped us to understand so much more of what we had, our potential liabilities (present and future) and offered rounded and balanced advice. He highlighted and explained issues we would never have previously been aware of, whilst offering various solutions throughout. We both sort of shut down when talking financial planning, but Mark managed to keep it clear, fresh and understandable. He was also adept at recognising when our brains had reached their limits. His knowledge is extensive and thorough, as he helped us with ISAs, property, IHT and more. He also has a range of professional contacts who can advise more on subjects not covered by his expertise. Mark is a very professional, helpful, and likeable guy who has proved to us his integrity and desire to help is his overriding raison d’être.
Mark has assisted with our pension investments for a number of years now and we're always reassured that we're in safe hands! In the ever-changing world of pensions, regulations, market fluctuations etc., we value his advice and expertise in ensuring our money remains safe whilst making some growth based on our attitude to risk and future goals. We wouldn't hesitate in recommending Mark to friends and family.
Mark provided advice during a recent redundancy. He helped me to estimate my current and future financial needs, then presented solutions that provided me with income and security. His clear and pragmatic advice helped me through a challenging situation.
Mark is very good at presenting advice in a way which is easily understood, using visual aids to support this. He is very knowledgeable, friendly, and takes time to explain things, giving plenty of opportunities to ask questions to ensure I understand.
We were looking to do Equity Release initially, this requiring specialist advice. As we were progressing with this process, we realised that Mark could offer us professional advice in other financial areas. Mark was able to guide us through the Equity Release process with success. I have just bought a lifetime annuity with Mark’s help. He explained everything simply but thoroughly, handled all the forms and “bumpf”, and was able to get me a good deal. Along the way he has given us ideas as to investments and savings which we will action in the future with his help. We had an excellent result re the Equity Release, and I am very happy with the pension deal. Nothing. He knows his stuff.
I have found Mark at Templegate to be open, honest and really helpful. Mark has provided pension and ISA advice primarily although our informal discussions have included tax and wider investment choices. I’m looking forward to working with Mark over the coming years. He has been clear and open regarding fees and products and flexible around meetings either in person or over the phone.
My wife and I had reached a certain age and were at a point in life when we felt we needed a guiding hand to manage the financial options for our future. Mark gave us candid advice in a simple and straightforward manner that we could understand. It helped us make the decisions we had long been postponing, for which we were extremely grateful.
My wife and I met with Mark to discuss Equity Release. From the outset Mark was professional in his approach and put us at ease. The advice he gave was clear and concise and he explained our options in detail and in a manner that was easy to understand.
1. What were the circumstances that caused you to initially look for an adviser? I wanted a good income protection plan. 2. How has Mark Bastable helped you? He helped me get some income protection plans with great price. 3. Have you seen the outcome you were hoping for? Yes. 4. In what circumstances would you recommend Mark to a family member, friend or colleague? I would consider recommending them to anyone who expressed a need to speak to an adviser. 5. Did you read reviews of your adviser on VouchedFor.co.uk before becoming a client? No, I didn't read reviews. 6. Has Mark asked you to refer / recommend them to people you know? No 7. How were your circumstances discussed as part of the process? They listened to my circumstances, and I felt they fully understood them. 8. How comfortable did you feel discussing sensitive personal information through the process? I felt quite comfortable. 9. How confident are you that Mark found you the most suitable insurance / protection policy for you? Confident. 10. How confident are you that you understand the impact of your circumstances on your policy? I have some understanding of how my circumstances impact the premium and/or exclusions on my policy. 11. How did Mark and their firm earn money from working with you? They earn commission on the policy from the provider, which does not impact the premium. 12. Would you still be able to make a claim on your insurance if you don’t keep up your payments? No. 13. Do you have a policy that provides a payment if you were to pass away (Life Insurance policy)? Yes, taken out privately. 14. Do you have a policy that provides a lump sum if you are diagnosed with a life changing illness? (Critical Illness Cover) Yes, taken out privately. 15. Do you have a policy that provides an income if you are off sick? (Income Protection policy) Yes, taken out through Mark and/or their firm. 16. When would you next prefer to review your protection needs? Not sure. 17. How would you prefer to kick-off the next review of your protection needs? I would prefer my protection adviser to contact me. 18. Did you ever have to chase the adviser or their team to get things done through the process? Never. 19. How responsive was the adviser / their team? Very responsive. 20. How easy was it to share documents with your adviser / their team? Very easy 21. How do you engage with the correspondence you receive from Mark and/or their firm? I quickly look for the most important parts. 22. How clear is the correspondence you receive from Mark and/or their firm? Clear.
