Update: SOLLA Accreditation

As of this morning, I'm now officially an accredited adviser of SOLLA - Society of Later Life Advisers. Apparently I'm the first IFA, based in Cumbria to achieve this accreditation.

Society of Later Life Advisers

Hopefully there will be a few more IFAs joining SOLLA at some point as this organisation is surely the way forward and helps give older persons and their families confidence in the advice that they are receiving, often at very vunerable times. The accreditation process for SOLLA was quite rigorous as it should be, which also gives me confidence this is a worthwhile validation of my qualifications and experience.

We have an ever aging population in the UK and in Cumbria particularly there are lots of families wanting sound advice on Care Fees, Retirement and Estate Planning.

For more information on older people being preyed upon by bad advice, please see my earlier blog post - "The disturbing industry profiting from our fear of death"

Really pleased to have attained this as this ties in nicely with being a member of STEP - Society of Trust & Estate Practioners

The disturbing industry profiting from our fear of death

 

As I've just successfully gone through the Society of Later Life Advisers  (SOLLA) Accreditation process, we have all been copied in on this disturbing article.

The Daily Mail - This is Money section - recently publised an alarming article about how elderly clients are being ripped off by unscrupulous salesman, masquerading as "advisers".

Profiting from our fear of death.

"A fear of dying or going into care has spawned a growing and, as Money Mail has uncovered, disturbing industry. 

Unscrupulous financial advisers are getting away with fleecing vulnerable pensioners — often for their entire life savings. Sam Dunn and James Salmon investigate. 

Going into care can be a stressful time for those moving into a home. It can also be a huge strain on families, who have made the heart-wrenching decision that their parent, or elderly relative, is no longer able to look after themselves. But this also makes pensioners vulnerable to unscrupulous salespeople.

These vultures play on their fears of selling the family home, or seeing it snatched by the council to pay for care costs, or of dying without a will, or leaving the family with huge funeral costs.

A major part of the problem is the sky-high cost of care homes and the worry families have about how this will be paid for — and whether you can get financial help from the State. On average, care home fees are £2,163 a month"

The article goes on to list several suspect ways elderley clients can be easily fooled into accepting bad advice.

• CARE FEES AVOIDANCE SCAMS  
• POOR VALUE FUNERAL PLANS
•  PRICEY INHERITANCE TAX COVER 
• RIP-OFF WILL-WRITING SERVICES

 The article then asks the question:

WHO CAN YOU TRUST?

Whether it’s funding care home costs, taking enhanced annuities, using equity release, or even deciding on savings bonds, many feel unable to trust a financial institution with their money. A good place to start is the Society for Later Life Advisers at www.societyoflaterlifeadvisers.co.uk or phone 0845 303 2909. 

On top of having to have specialist qualifications, its members have also undergone further testing to be accredited. Before seeking advice, always check the adviser’s qualifications. 

When discussing long-term care, they should hold one or both of the following two qualifications: the Certificate in Long Term Care Insurance (CF8) or the more advanced Long Term Care, Life and Health Protection (G80). If considering equity release, where money is taken out of a house using a type of mortgage, the key qualification is ER1. If possible, ensure a relative — and someone who understands what is being said — is always in the room when advice is given. 

Ask sensible questions, such as does the product use up all of the person’s available cash? Is there any left over, and is it easily accessible? How much capital will the investment eat up? How much income is it expected to generate? What if the capital falls, is any of the money guaranteed?

Don’t worry if it takes time to understand what you’re being sold. If neither you, nor your family member, has understood the adviser’s explanation, ask again until you do — if they haven’t made themselves clear, it’s not your fault, it’s theirs. 

And don’t forget Money Mail’s three golden rules of investing: 

• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. 

• Take less risk as you get older. 

• And don’t lock up your money if you need it.

An Interesting Solution to Residential and Nursing Care Crisis!

One of my client’s emailed this to me and it made me laugh...., so I thought I’d share......

Let's put the pensioners in jail and the criminals in a nursing home!

This way the pensioners would have access to showers, hobbies and walks.

They'd receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc and they'd receive money instead of paying it out. They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly, if they fell, or needed assistance. Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them.

 

A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and bring their meals and snacks to their cell. 

They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose.

 

They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counselling, pool and education.

 

Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, PJ's and legal aid would be free, on request.

 

Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard, with gardens.

 

Each senior resident could have a PC a TV radio and daily phone calls.

 

There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to.

 

The criminals would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised. Lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week.  Live in a tiny room and pay £600.00 per week and have no hope of ever getting out!

Auto-Enrolment - What's going on with Pensions?

                             Can you afford an increase in your staff costs?

You may have no choice!

The Government is to bring in new laws from 2012 that will have a significant impact on every 
employer in the UK.

The framework for these new laws is already in place in the shape of the Pensions Act 2008.

•   Employers will, for the first time, be required to automatically enrol eligible employees into a pension scheme.

• Employers will, for the first time, be required to pay pension contributions for any employees who join and stay in the pension scheme.

• The Pensions Regulator will police and enforce these new laws.

•  Even if you have an existing workplace pension scheme, you may have to make changes so that it complies with the new laws.

•   Employers can either use their own pension scheme to comply with these new laws or rely on a Government built scheme - the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) scheme.

Do you want to keep control of your employee benefits package or rely on someone else, who knows 

nothing about your business, to do it for you?

How we can help

As financial advisers with 10 years’ experience in the pensions industry, we’re familiar with the 

challenges will face in light of these new laws and regulations.

We can:

• Help you review your existing workplace pension scheme to make sure it will comply with, or exceed, the new requirements,  
• If you haven’t got a pension scheme yet, we can help you put one in place.  
• And we can help with arrangements such as salary exchange that can save you money and offset the impact that these new laws will have on your business.

 What happens next?

It’s up to you:

• You can wait until 2012 up to 2017 and let someone else, who knows nothing about your business, set up and run a pension scheme for your employees OR

• You can set up your own scheme and retain complete control over your benefits package.

These changes for some companies are only months away -

don’t leave it too late - contact us now to arrange a consultation.

Changes and Eden Financial Planning

Just a note to clients to say :-

"that after careful consideration I have made the decision to leave True Bearing Ltd. After their decision not to allow me to trade as a local Cumbrian business, only via their head office, I felt that I had no choice but to leave. My new position will still be as an authorised Independent Financial Adviser trading as Eden Financial Planning which is a trading style of IDS Financial Services Ltd which is an Appointed Representative of Sense Network Ltd. As I no longer live in Keswick and now have many clients further afield, I thought that rebranding as Eden Financial Planning would be more suitable.

I have made arrangements to ensure that the service I am able to provide for you will migrate to my new company, and the insurance and investment companies concerned have been informed. This process is underway and will transfer the ‘servicing rights’ of your policies and investments to my new company without the need for you to take any action.

I will be contacting you again in the near future, however, should you have any queries or concerns in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact me"

Budget 2011: Everything you need to know

“This Budget confronts the hard truth that has been ignored for too long. Britain has lost ground in the world’s economy and needs to catch up.”


INCOME TAX - Personal tax allowance will rise by a further £630 to £8,015 from April 2012. The Chancellor, George Osborne, said this represented “£326 extra each a
year for those working hard.”

Meanwhile, there will be a consultation on a longterm plan to merge National Insurance and income tax – creating a basic tax rate of 32%. Osborne promised the Treasury would not make pensioners liable for NI, although details on how this will work remain scarce.

The 50% top rate of tax will remain but Osborne pledged this is only a ‘temporary’ measure and said there would be a review of how much it raises.

PENSIONS - There is a long-term aim for a £140-per-week flat-rate state pension,although this will not apply to current pensioners. The single-tier system would end contracting-out for defined benefit (DB) schemes. Contracting-out has already been banned for defined contribution (DC) schemes from April 2012.

HELP FOR BUSINESS - Corporation tax is to be cut by 2% from April, not 1% as previously planned. The tax is to be cut by 1% in each of the next three years, reducing it to 23%. A total of 43 tax reliefs, including a relief on life assurance premiums,are to be scrapped as part of a drive to simplify the tax code George Osborne said there would be no new regulation on firms with fewer than 10 staff for three years

Meanwhile, a business rate relief holiday for small firms will be extended for another year, while a total of 21 ‘enterprise zones’will be created in England, backed by tax incentives.

HOUSING- Government-backed shared equity schemes will help 10,000 first-time buyers (FTB) to purchase properties. Buyers will have to stump up a deposit worth 5%. The government and housebuilders would put in a 10% deposit each, enabling the FTB to qualify for a 75% loan-to-value mortgage. For those earning less than £60,000, the equity loan will be interest-free for five years.

OTHER TAXES AND ALLOWANCES - Council tax will be frozen or reduced for the remainder of 2011 in every English council.

Estates will benefit from a 10% discount in inheritance tax (IHT) if individuals leave part of the money to charity, though the cut translates to just a 4% reduction on the final bill (40% to 36%). IHT is currently charged at 40% on estates worth more than £325,000, the nil-rate band, following their owner’s death.

Levy of up to £50,000 (previously £30,000) on so-called ‘non-doms’ resident in the UK for 12 years or more.

Enterprise Initiative Schemes (EIS) schemes are to have income tax releif increased from 20% to 30% and there will be an increase in limits.

A clampdown on tax avoidance will raise as much as £1bn for the Treasury this year. The biggest measure involves a crackdown on ‘disguised remuneration’, which often involved highly-paid employees being offered tax-free, lifetime loans that were never repaid.

Rebranding

Have decided to re-brand the business & have my own Cumbrian trading style as Eden Financial Planning.

This reflects the fact that I live in the Eden area of Cumbria. Also I think maybe gives a nice tie in with trying to be socially & ethically responsible in how I run the business. I hope it will convey my commitment to offer alternative enviromental investment projects to clients like forestry, renewable energy etc.

A real pain changing everything, but I have a good feeling about it going forward!