Life-time Mortgages or ‘Equity Release’ produces mixed emotions for many people.  There was a lot of bad press in earlier years when people died with their properties being sold for less than the debt that was owed to the ‘Equity Release’ company causing financial difficulties for their families.

However, nowadays they can be a very useful product to allow houseowners to generate additional income or release capital from their homes to help them to maintain their chosen lifestyle.

There are many more products on the market which are much more flexible and which can be chosen to incorporate the features that are most important and relevant to your situation.  Many of the products are fairer to the consumer and make it easier to pay back some or all of the loan without large redemption penalties.  It is also possible on some, to provide a guaranteed ‘inheritance’ amount to ensure that there is some value left in the property to be passed on to your beneficiaries.

We only advise on companies which are part of the ‘SHIP Code of Practice ‘.  There are companies which follow a Code of Conduct that protects consumers when taking out an Equity Release deal.

Financial Planning priorities change as you progress through your life.  The journey is unique for each person and where you are on your journey can be affected by illness, marriage, having family, divorce and your personal lifestyle and retirement choices .

We aim to make your financial planning as flexible as possible so that you can easily deal with changes to your life. At the outset, most people wish to do some form of short term saving  for cars, holidays, weddings and house purchase.

But everyone should also have an eye on the future and be thinking about some form of long term financial planning for retirement.

As soon as you have some sort of liability in terms of mortgage, or whether just supporting yourself and/or a family, then you should be thinking of some form of life assurance and income protection.

We are here to help you prioritise what is important for your needs and guide you through the changes which are unique to your situation.

When you have worked hard to generate wealth over your life-time you may wish to minimise the amount of inheritance tax your estate may be liable to pay.  This can be done by utilising the available inheritance tax allowances in order to maximise what you can pass down to your children and their families.

Since no-one knows exactly when they are going to die, successful IHT planning, helps you to mitigate any potential inheritance tax liabilities, whilst still ensuring that you have enough capital and income for your own purposes.

It is unwise to give away, or tie up too much of one’s capital in gifts or Trusts as it is important to ensure that your own finances are kept flexible enough to allow you and your Spouse to maintain your own desired level of lifestyle.

We are there to guide you on all the options available and advise on a good balance which allows you to maintain your life-style and provide for a Spouse or partner whilst reducing the amount of IHT that you may ultimately have to pay.

From buying your first home, to re-mortgaging to another home we are here to assist you with your needs.

There are two main types of mortgages:

Capital and Repayment

This is the most common type of mortgage that people have access to for buying a residential property.  This is where each monthly payment pays the interest of the loan and part of the capital from the original loan.  By the time you reach the end of the mortgage term you will have paid off the original loan and the property will be yours.

Interest Only

These loans are not as easily available now and are usually only offered to people who are buying a rental property or releasing equity from their homes under the life-time mortgage range.  Under this type of mortgage, you only pay the interest each month and at the end of the mortgage term you need to have the capital in place to repay the loan.

Interest Rates

The interest rate you can obtain on a mortgage is based upon the amount of deposit you can afford to put down on the house and also your own credit rating.

The interest rate can be a fixed rate for a set period, to help with budgeting, or you can choose to pay a variable rate which will change as the bank interest rates change

We can advise you on which mortgage type would be the most suitable for you and guide you through the process of buying  your home.

As well as having a deposit for the house purchase there are many other costs to consider and you need to take these into account when budgeting.

Examples of these are:

• Survey fees
• Application costs
• Home and Contents Insurance
• Life Assurance

Nowadays, retirement is very flexible and your retirement plans should be able to support you on your choices. Think ahead to what sort of retirement you would like to have and then we can help you plan to achieve this.

Not all retirement planning centres around a pension plan and we discuss all the various options that are available to you taking into account your needs and any taxation considerations. Many people like to phase their retirement and need flexible products which can adapt to their needs.

People save for many reasons and the type of savings vehicle that should be used will depend upon the purpose of the savings, the length of time you are planning to invest, the risk you are willing to take with the investment and whether there are any tax considerations that need to be taken into account.

We will guide you through the different options that will help you achieve your goals whilst helping to provide peace of mind by considering other options that will give you security should the unexpected happen.

The two main events that you need to consider insuring for are death and long-term illness.

Insurance underpins all financial planning.  Without it, any savings that you have built up may be wiped out if you suffer a long term illness.

Your family may be left in difficult financial circumstances if you do not have any or insufficient life cover in place in the event of your death.  They could even become homeless if you have not provided means for re-paying a mortgage which relies on your income.