Inheritance Tax Archives - Lifetime Financial Planning

Set Your Financial Goals With a Lifetime Financial Plan

January 28, 2016/in Estate Planning, Family Protection, Financial Broker, Financial Plan, Financial Planning, Income Protection, Inheritance Tax, Investment, Life Assurance, Life Insurance, Pension, Personal Finance /by Aidan Wall

A recently published survey revealed that a significant amount of our population is suffering from high levels of stress due to concerns about their financial well being.

Pension planning, for example, was a serious source of stress with over 51% of respondents saying they were not saving enough for their retirement. Not knowing how to plan for your financial future can lead to inaction and high levels of stress.

Identify Your Financial Goals

Despite being worried about their financial future the vast majority of people do not have a Lifetime Financial Plan to address this. In order to put together a good plan you need to ask yourself some straight questions….

When do you want to retire?
If I die or suffer serious ill-health how is my family fixed?
When do you want your mortgage paid off?
Have I made a will?
Should I review my savings and investments?
Can I save money on the cost of some utilities and services – Energy, Car or Home Insurance, Health Insurance etc.?

Let’s have a brief look at some key areas:

Take Control of your Pension

Starting a Pension Plan or increasing your contributions to an existing one is a very good move to make at the start of 2016.

The younger you start your plan the better as your pension pot will then be bigger.
If you have a workplace pension scheme you should join it as your employer is likely to be making a contribution for you.
Those approaching retirement should make sure they are not taking too much investment risk.
Identify your retirement goals and the cost of getting there.
Put in place a plan to review your Lifetime Pension Plan at least once a year.

Protect your Family

Death is a taboo subject to most and yet having plans in place to deal with the financial impact of unexpected death is vital for anybody with dependent relatives. Equally you need to consider you and your families circumstances if you suffer a serious illness to the point where it has the effect of eliminating your income.

Do you have Family Protection/Life Insurance cover?
If so will it be enough to maintain your family’s standard of living?
Should you have Serious Illness or Income Protection cover or both?

Estate Planning

Estate planning is a vital component of any robust financial plan. While, for example, the recent budget increased the tax free threshold for inheritances passing between parent and child to €280,000, with increasing house values etc., it doesn’t take a lot before there are very heavy tax exposures. Only a third of Irish people have made a will which is crazy if you want to dictate and sensibly arrange how your affairs are going to be managed when you die. You certainly don’t want to leave yourself dependent on the laws of intestacy which may not distribute your assets as you would like.

Have you made a will?
Does it need to be reviewed?
Are there any financial or tax planning matters that need consideration?

The Need for Regular Reviews

You should review your financial plan with your Broker on an annual basis. Numerous studies have shown that those who conduct regular reviews having higher savings and pension values than those who do not.

A good plan will help eliminate the stress of not knowing where you are going.
Your circumstances do change regularly, for example, additions to the family.
Other situations change – tax laws, interest rates, economic climate etc, and your Financial Broker will be able to keep you up-to-date with these changes.

If you would like to take control of your finances in 2016 and get your Lifetime Financial Plan in place then please contact Aidan Wall, QFA, at 046 924 0961 or email aidan@lifetimefinancial.ie

Financial Broker Vs Bank Advisor Part 3: Competitive vs Monopolistic

September 8, 2015/in Family Protection, Financial Broker, Financial Plan, Financial Planning, Income Protection, Inheritance Tax, Investment, Life Assurance, Life Insurance /by Aidan Wall

In Part 1 of this series of articles I explained that an advisor at your bank is often tied to a limited number of financial product providers, greatly restricting the amount of choice it can provide to you the customer. Impartial Financial Brokers are not tied in the same way, and are therefore free to research the market for a more competitive alternative which is often better suited to your specific requirements.

The Competition Authority in Ireland has noted that this ability to act in the best interest of our clients results in Life and Pensions companies providing more competitive quotes, more flexible terms and better product design when engaging with an Impartial Financial Broker.

This leads to the ultimate question, why would you want to pay for what is often an ill-fitting off-the-shelf product from your bank when you can arrange a better suited product that often costs less through your Impartial Financial Broker?

If you have already availed of a free financial planning service or purchased a financial product which you wish to review, I would be happy to do it for you. Call me at 046 924 0961 or email: aidan@lifetimefinancial.ie Website: www.lifetimefinancial.ie

Aidan Wall Financial Services Ltd T/A Lifetime Financial Planning is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Protecting Your Family Business Interests

June 2, 2015/in Business Protection, Estate Planning, Family Protection, Inheritance Tax /by Aidan Wall

As a business owner you protect your property, your vehicles and equipment. And so you should because if your business suffers a catastrophic event involving these, the very financial viability of your business may be in jeopardy. But have you considered what would happen to your business if you died prematurely or if you were so incapacitated, through illness or injury, that you could not run your business anymore. Equally, if you have fellow shareholders or partners or you have a key member of your business team, who are vital to the viability of the business, think about the consequences if the same happened to one of them. Key Issues: You may need to consider the impact on your business and/or your family should any of the circumstances mentioned above unfortunately come to pass. Would your family stay in the business or would they be required to sell the business? Would the remaining shareholders/partners, such as Canada online casino Maple Leaf, in the business have the funds needed to buy your share from your family? Would you have the funds available to buy your co-owner’s share of the business from their family? What would be the impact on your business in the event of the death/impairment of a key employee or business partner? What about the tax implications? It won’t happen to my/our business Many business owners believe that it simply won’t happen to them. The chances of one partner / director, in a two or three man business dying or becoming seriously ill before retirement, are probably a lot higher than you might think and it does happen. Quite often what is left is a very serious financial problem mainly through the lack of readily available capital to deal with the consequences. There is a Solution Business protection can assist in ensuring the continued survival of a business and provide for a deceased business owner’s family in the event of premature death or serious illness and incapacity. Shareholder/Partnership Insurance (Business Owner’s Insurance) This provides funds, through the proceeds of an Insurance Policy, to the surviving business owners to purchase the share of a deceased’s shareholding from their personal representatives. Depending on the structure of the business the cover can be set up on a personal or corporate basis. This cover ensures the deceased’s legal representatives / next of kin are provided for and the surviving business owners retain control of the business. The cover in question should be carefully co-related to a properly structured shareholders agreement that addresses the wishes of shareholders/co-owners in the event of such an occurrence. Keyperson Insurance This type of cover is designed to protect the human assets of the business in the same way as fire insurance protects a company’s physical assets. Protection, again through an appropriate Insurance Policy, is taken out by a Company on the life of a key employee to protect the Company as a result of the death or serious illness of the key employee. Gift or Inheritance Tax Planning As a business owner, it is important also to take a close look at the implications of Capital Acquisitions Tax if you are planning to pass on your business to your family when you die. Inheritance tax can become a real burden where financial resources are tied up in a business. If you do not plan ahead, your family could be faced with a difficult decision between having to sell the business or having to borrow the money to pay the tax liability. There are a number of solutions to this and Gift or Inheritance tax planning allows you to plan for the tax liabilities which could arise, thus ensuring that the business won’t have to be sold off to pay the tax bill. The Next Step Each of the situations outlined in this article requires very careful consideration and planning. The very first action should be to seek good and expert advice. Why not give us a call and together we can set the proper planning in train. Call Aidan Wall today at 046 924 0961 or email: aidan@lifetimefinancial.ie for expert impartial advice on Business Protection.

As a business owner you protect your property, your vehicles and equipment. And so you should because if your business suffers a catastrophic event involving these, the very financial viability of your business may be in jeopardy. But have you considered what would happen to your business if you died prematurely or if you were so incapacitated, through illness or injury, that you could not run your business anymore. Equally, if you have fellow shareholders or partners or you have a key member of your business team, who are vital to the viability of the business, think about the consequences if the same happened to one of them.

Key Issues:

You may need to consider the impact on your business and/or your family should any of the circumstances mentioned above unfortunately come to pass.

Would your family stay in the business or would they be required to sell the business?
Would the remaining shareholders/partners, such as Canada online casino Maple Leaf, in the business have the funds needed to buy your share from your family?
Would you have the funds available to buy your co-owner’s share of the business from their family?
What would be the impact on your business in the event of the death/impairment of a key employee or business partner?
What about the tax implications?

It won’t happen to my/our business

Many business owners believe that it simply won’t happen to them. The chances of one partner / director, in a two or three man business dying or becoming seriously ill before retirement, are probably a lot higher than you might think and it does happen. Quite often what is left is a very serious financial problem mainly through the lack of readily available capital to deal with the consequences.

There is a Solution

Business protection can assist in ensuring the continued survival of a business and provide for a deceased business owner’s family in the event of premature death or serious illness and incapacity.

Shareholder/Partnership Insurance (Business Owner’s Insurance)

This provides funds, through the proceeds of an Insurance Policy, to the surviving business owners to purchase the share of a deceased’s shareholding from their personal representatives. Depending on the structure of the business the cover can be set up on a personal or corporate basis. This cover ensures the deceased’s legal representatives / next of kin are provided for and the surviving business owners retain control of the business. The cover in question should be carefully co-related to a properly structured shareholders agreement that addresses the wishes of shareholders/co-owners in the event of such an occurrence.

Keyperson Insurance

This type of cover is designed to protect the human assets of the business in the same way as fire insurance protects a company’s physical assets. Protection, again through an appropriate Insurance Policy, is taken out by a Company on the life of a key employee to protect the Company as a result of the death or serious illness of the key employee.

Gift or Inheritance Tax Planning

As a business owner, it is important also to take a close look at the implications of Capital Acquisitions Tax if you are planning to pass on your business to your family when you die. Inheritance tax can become a real burden where financial resources are tied up in a business. If you do not plan ahead, your family could be faced with a difficult decision between having to sell the business or having to borrow the money to pay the tax liability. There are a number of solutions to this and Gift or Inheritance tax planning allows you to plan for the tax liabilities which could arise, thus ensuring that the business won’t have to be sold off to pay the tax bill.

The Next Step

Each of the situations outlined in this article requires very careful consideration and planning. The very first action should be to seek good and expert advice. Why not give us a call and together we can set the proper planning in train.