Your financial objectives and concerns will be age-dependent in large part, and we see common challenges driving affluent individuals to seek advice at each life stage. Here, we examine the key issues wealth managers assist with during each.
30s and 40s – Beginning to build wealth
Putting a proper financial plan and investment strategy in place as early as possible will pay huge dividends, and you may be surprised to learn that many wealth managers will work with clients with fairly modest amounts to invest
Top wealth challenges to tackle
- Establishing a solid financial plan and investment strategy
- Achieving that “home sweet home”
- Funding private school fees
50s and 60s – Financial freedom beckons (but family concerns remain)
You may still be well entrenched in your career or business, but by now the prospect of greater leisure and adventure should be firmly in view. At the same time, many people at this age are grappling with how to balance enjoying their wealth with their wish to help family and continue working towards the retirement they want.
Top wealth challenges to tackle
- Getting serious about retirement planning
Worries over whether savings pots are sufficient start to peak as retirement age approaches, and it is very unwise to proceed with any big decisions – like transferring a final salary pension – without taking professional advice first. Knowing when you have saved enough requires intensive planning work, such as cashflow modelling. It is vital that your investments are being optimised for your life stage and that no undue risks are taken as retirement approaches as you now have less time to recover from losses.
It is vital that your investments are being optimised for your life stage and that no undue risks are taken as retirement approaches as you now have less time to recover from losses
- Help family effectively
Affluent individuals of this age naturally want to help children with things like getting on the housing ladder and private school fees, and they may be part of the “sandwich generation” helping elderly parents financially too. Wealth managers can offer abundant advice on how to help family tax-efficiently as part of a wider financial plan – and ensure that you are helping in a way that doesn’t negate your ability to meet your own financial goals, like topping up pension pots to an optimum level.
- Re-evaluating providers
By now, you are likely to have built up significant pension pots, ISA savings and other investments, alongside a main residence (that might not fit your future requirements). Your investment objectives and financial plan might need a complete overhaul at this point, so this may be a good juncture to work out your net worth then compare providers to make sure you are getting the best deal in terms of service, fees and performance.
Top Tip
It is never too early – or too late – to implement an intelligent investment strategy and financial plan, and you can obtain a shortlist of suitable providers in just minutes by giving us a few details. Alternatively, speak to our expert team to find out more about how wealth managers assist clients just like you.
Lee Goggin
Co-Founder
70s and beyond – A tricky balancing act
Your golden years are, of course, the time to enjoy your wealth to the maximum, but there are also weighty questions around inheritance and legacy planning to tackle too. Balancing your own needs against your other priorities is a tricky balancing act – as is planning so that your money lasts as long as you need it to.
Top wealth challenges to tackle
- Optimising wealth decumulation
Effective financial planning and investment strategy is every bit as important in the wealth decumulation phase as it is during its accumulation. Here again, in-depth calculations will be required to work out how you can have the highest possible standard of living and yet not run out of money over a retirement that could realistically last decades.
Effective financial planning and investment strategy is every bit as important in the wealth decumulation phase as it is during its accumulation
- Planning for long-term care
Increased life expectancy, rocketing levels of cognitive decline and a lack of government provision means that we should all be thinking about how to fund long-term care. The average cost of self-funded care is now an incredible £44,000 a year, but luckily wealth managers are now putting great efforts into devising strategies to help families cope with care costs.
- Minimising Inheritance Tax
Everyone wants to keep as much of their hard-earned money in the family and out of the taxman’s clutches as possible. The good news is that wealth managers have huge expertise in how to minimise IHT. You may not know, for instance, that investments coming under the Business Property Relief regime can offer significant IHT advantages. Alternatively, you may wish to explore structures like trusts or Family Investment Companies which are commonly used and entirely legitimate ways to minimise IHT and possibly other taxes too.
The biggest challenge at any age
While everyone’s life will take a different trajectory, most will find their financial path proceeds along the lines of first accumulating, then enjoying and finally decumulating their wealth.
As such, your priorities will change dramatically over time, making it good practice to review your financial plan regularly with a professional. Life events like having a child, divorce or retiring are common trigger points to take advice, but you should really be having yearly reviews with both financial and investment advisers.
Although your needs and goals will change hugely over a lifetime, one challenge overarches all the others: making sure your wealth is working as hard as it possibly can, in line with your profile and goals. At the younger end of the spectrum, get started investing in a strategic manner as soon as possible; in the middle, ensure that all your investments are “pulling together” in line with a tax mitigation plan; and then, at the latter phase, ensure that as much money can be enjoyed by you and your family as possible, without care fees or the Revenue taking too much of a toll.
It is never too early – or too late – to implement an intelligent investment strategy and financial plan, and you canobtain a shortlist of suitable providers in just minutes by giving us a few details. Alternatively, speak to our expert team to find out more about how wealth managers assist clients just like you.
