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Death and financial planning

1 reply

planforstan · 31/03/2022 14:26

Sorry for the morbid topic but my DH has had some health scares in recent years which has made us stop and think about some things. We are trying to be a little organised and do some planning (ok, in reality, it's death planning, which doesn't sound fun or appealing when you're in your 30's but we like to be prepared!). We've done some work already but I wanted to check what we are missing / where to get further advice.

  • Life insurance (we both have policies so are sorted there, they're pretty basic £10 a month policies, but enough to cover the mortgage and provide an income for a bit were one of us to die). We don't have critical illness cover as it was so expensive and there were so many exclusions when we looked at it. DH also has a long-term condition which always complicates these things.
  • Pension (my DH is sorted and fortunately has a good pension through work but I am predominantly a SAHM, just doing odd bits of self employed work. As a result of this I currently have no pension. I'm not sure what the best option is for me at this point, but am under 40 so was considering the ISA route and paying a % of my earnings into this)
  • Wills (we don't yet have wills as we were a bit daunted by the process of naming guardians for our DC). We do know we need to sort this out. We'd obviously want to make sure our life insurance went in part to whoever becomes guardian for the children, but also leave a bit of it for the kids when they're old enough. I have no idea how to go about doing this and I'm not sure who advises on this (I know a solicitor can draw up the will but can they also advise on the best approach to take, or is that a financial adviser?).

Really grateful for ideas on anything we haven't thought of & how to go about organising these things. I'm not sure if it's something we can sort out ourselves or whether we're best to take some advice, but have no idea who to seek advice from (or more importantly how much that sort of advice costs...).

Thanks in advance!

OP posts:
Emtaboo · 01/05/2022 23:41

Hi OP. Sorry if this reply is a bit late. I’m a financial adviser. First of all, well done for being so organised. I’ll see if I can help.
life insurance- As a bare minimum you should have enough to cover any debts you have, so protecting your mortgage as a priority. Ideally too, if either of you were to pass away, extra family cover to either pay for childcare/ replacement income. Critical illness if you can afford it is a good idea. You mention your DH has health issues. If he could get cover through an employer, this would be idea as they tend to be group policies with no/ little underwriting.
Pensions
You mention you do some self employed work. Are you a taxpayer? The whole ISA vs pension debate depends on when you may need to access the money, your tax status now and in the future, and the amounts you want to invest.
Wills
You need a solicitor/ will writer for this, but a financial adviser can place life insurance in trust for you. It’s pretty standard practise with a good adviser. They will be able to go through different trust types ( absolute/ bare trust) to meet your requirements.
If you took your life insurance out through an adviser, they should’ve offered this service. If not, go to the provider and ask them.
Good luck x

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