Protection

Wealth and personal protection is an essential must-have to secure the future for both you and your family if an unexpected life event happens.

The security and opportunity your wealth brings can be protected for generations, but there are many things to consider. Inheritance Tax, premature death, illness and loss of income to name but a few all need to be considered in an effective wealth protection planning strategy.

The subject of wealth protection can be an emotional and complex matter. By making use of lifetime planning opportunities and tailor-making Wills and trusts to your particular circumstances, you can ensure that your valuable assets are retained for future generations in the most financially prudent and effective way.

Components of a successful wealth protection strategy

At Research, we believe the preservation and constructive transfer of wealth are primary components of a successful wealth protection strategy. While assets can grow over a lifetime, so can the need to consider a variety of products and services to protect wealth for the future. A forward-looking and integrated wealth protection strategy will help ensure a lasting legacy for you and your loved ones.

With numerous options available when structuring and preserving your assets, with our advice you can be confident of making the right decisions based on your financial and family situation to best meet your personal objectives.

Protecting possible life events

Research are on hand to sit down with you and discuss all your requirements and needs – advice that may prove invaluable when protecting the important things in your life.

We can help you deal with the ‘what ifs’ in life such as a long term or critical illness and death. By thinking about these things now, you can plan ahead and gain peace of mind that you and your family will be looked after financially.

Inheritance Tax

Contrary to the belief of some, Inheritance Tax not only affects the very rich, but other people may be liable without realising. Few taxes are quite as emotive – or as politicised – as Inheritance Tax. The structures into which you transfer your assets can have lasting consequences for you and your family. At Research, we can help you choose structures and trusts designed to protect your assets and give your family lasting benefits.

Getting the right balance

It is crucial to find out now if you potentially have an Inheritance Tax liability – or could do so in future years. Historically, Inheritance Tax planning used to be an activity confined to the very rich. However, growing affluence means that this is no longer the case. Even families and individuals with a relatively moderate level of wealth should consider planning ahead to ensure that their assets are passed on to their loved ones as efficiently as possible. Property price increases have also dragged many middle-class working families into the Inheritance Tax bracket.

Effective estate planning is about getting the right balance between maintaining access to your money when you need it and saving tax. This is because, in general, the more tax-efficient a solution is, the less access you have to your assets. Safeguarding your own financial future is very important, and giving too much away could put this at risk.

Wills

At Research, we cannot stress how important making a Will is, as without one all decisions relating to your affairs will be made by the state – this includes who looks after your children. If you were to die without having made a Will, the surviving spouse will not automatically inherit the estate but only a part of it, even if you were married with children. Furthermore, without taking court action, common law partners would get nothing.

There are so many other factors to be considered even if you do have a Will in place. Is it up to date? Has it been invalidated by marriage? If you have children, have you appointed guardians? If the executors are a bank or solicitor, they take part of the estate – is this what you really want?

Estate planning, trust planning, tax planning and Will writing is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.