The Adviser Issue 4 | Page 47

LATER LIFE PLANNING
management by ensuring that assets don ’ t haemorrhage on the death of the primary client .
• There is pressure on the advice industry and advice firms to showcase the value of advice . The multitude of ways in which firms can support clients and family units with vital organisational and planning items presents a great opportunity to further the case about the value of advice .
• Where there is opportunity there is always a requirement for better education and understanding . History shows that the weight of educational material production typically falls on providers of solutions and so this will again be an area where providers pick up the baton and continue to play a key role in terms of helping intermediary firms to advance intergenerational opportunities with clients .
• For many advisers and their clients with relatively limited needs , the benchmark should be to support minimisation of inheritance tax exposure and orderly transfer of wealth on death . This may be all that is needed but it is still a valuable service to deliver and cannot be done without good technical knowledge and good relationship skills .
• Looking at gifting behaviours , it appears that these are quite regular occurrences in the UK , for a variety of reasons , and they may not always form part of a formal planning strategy . There is an opportunity for intermediary firms to help clients better organise and structure these , i . e . timing and source of payments , to ensure that no nasty additional costs / taxes are incurred in the family chain .
• Whilst the focus has inevitably been on servicing baby boomers since the introduction of pension freedoms , and continues to be so as the industry follows them through retirement and into later life , there comes a requirement to look beyond this generation for future business opportunities . Ensuring that planning dialogue is started earlier in future is a requirement and then seeking to understand beliefs and needs of other , younger generations .
• Even at a high level , the contrasting thoughts and themes from under-40s provide a good insight into the potential generational divide , and hence provide further perspective for those servicing clients from an intergenerational planning perspective and those seeking to identify and work with the clients of the future . There may well be warmth here for working as a family unit when it comes to planning , either with their parents ( looking upstream ) or involving their offspring ( looking downstream ).
• Discussion and debate around the recently introduced Health and Social Care Levy will have brought care / later life planning requirements and intergenerational differences into even sharper focus .
Ultimately , there is no right or wrong answer here . Intergenerational planning as a strategic business aim is not for all intermediary firms . Much depends on the focus of the business , the approach of the adviser ( s ), the demographics of the client base , the business mix and views on future direction . But whilst it may not be for everyone , all firms should ensure that they have made themselves fully aware of the opportunities available .
For more information , visit the AKG download page where you can access the report discussed above and other free downloads .
1 Published in October 2021 , AKG s briefing was sponsored by Canada Life and Charles Stanley , and is available to download at https :// www . akg . co . uk / downloads .
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