Life expectancy is at an all-time high, with a greater number of us living longer than ever before. While this is great news, it means later life planning is increasingly important, particularly when it comes to your financial affairs.
How will you fund your retirement, what will happen to your estate, and what will your funeral be like? It is never too early to consider later life planning.
Plan for Retirement
Later life planning starts with retirement and ensuring you’ll be financially comfortable for the rest of your life. But it’s becoming harder; what may be sufficient early in your retirement may not be enough later down the line. Any financial strategy associated with later life planning should empower people to shape the later stage of their lives with the flexibility to change where necessary.
This area of later life planning might involve reviewing pension choices and how you access them or downsizing your home to something smaller, which will simultaneously release some of the value of your home.
Another important aspect of later life planning is to consider how you would cope with failing health. How will you fund long-term care should you need it? Earmarking reserves for this purpose and detailing your wishes in your later life plan could relieve some of the financial and emotional burden for your family. This is where Lasting Powers of Attorney is of importance.
Planning for the inevitable
Later life planning also means writing a Will, appointing Power of Attorney while you are still fit and healthy and Inheritance Planning. This will give you peace of mind that your beneficiaries will inherit your estate according to your wishes.
You can also ensure your funeral is planned and paid for in advance by purchasing a funeral plan. Not only can you plan your own funeral down to the very last detail, but you can also lock in the Funeral Director’s service at today’s prices – particularly important given the increasing cost of funerals.
Capital Life can help you plan for later life through their wide range of funeral plans. Please contact us or call our advisors on 0800 411 8683 for more information.
We can also assist with Probate.