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.
Your will lets you decide what happens to your money, property and possessions after your death. If you make a will, you can also make sure you don’t pay more Inheritance Tax than you need to. It’s an essential part of your financial planning: not only does it set out your wishes, but, die without a Will, and your estate will generally be divided according to the rules of intestacy, which may not reflect your wishes. Without one, the state directs who inherits, so your loved ones, relatives, friends and favourite charities may get nothing.
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.
If the worst does happen, it’s important to make sure you’re financially protected
We never think a critical illness is going to happen to us, especially when we feel fit and healthy, but it can and does. If the worst does happen, it’s important to make sure you’re financially protected against the impact a critical illness could have on you and your family.
A whole-of-life insurance policy is designed to give you a specified amount of cover for the whole of your life and pays out when you die, whenever that is. Because it’s guaranteed that you’ll die at some point (and therefore that the policy will have to pay out), these policies are more expensive than term insurance policies which only pay out if you die within a certain timeframe.
With a term life insurance policy, you choose the amount you want to be insured for and the period for which you want cover. This is the most basic type of life insurance. If you die within the term, the policy pays out to your beneficiaries. If you don’t die during the term, the policy doesn’t pay out and the premiums you’ve paid are not returned to you.
‘Single life’ policies cover just one person. A ‘joint life’ policy covers two people, and when one person on the policy dies the money is paid out and the policy ends. You will need to decide whether the joint policy pays out on first or second death as this will determine when the policy ends.
Providing a financial safety net for your loved ones
Getting the right life insurance policy means working out how much money you need to protect your dependants. This sum must take into account their living costs, as well as any outstanding debts such as a mortgage. It may be the case that not everyone needs life insurance (also known as ‘life cover’ and ‘death cover’). But if your spouse and children, partner, or other relatives depend on your income to cover the mortgage or other living expenses, then the answer is ‘yes’.
During the referendum campaign, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, said the so-called ‘triple lock’ for state pensions would be threatened by a UK Brexit. In their 2015 election manifesto, the Conservatives promised to extend the triple lock on state pensions – a guarantee that they rise every year until 2020 by at least 2.5%, the rate of inflation or growth in earnings if it is higher. until 2020.
As was widely predicted, a vote to leave the EU wiped billions off companies’ share prices. Low interest rates and volatile stock markets are likely to be the order of the day for the foreseeable future, and any rise in interest rates would be good news for savers.