The process of building your financial plan will involve a detailed analysis of your current circumstances, future plans, and long-term objectives into retirement.
However, considering only your own personal financial aims could mean that your plans are incomplete.
An effective plan should also incorporate your wider family, including your spouse, children, and elderly parents.
Your finances are likely to be intertwined with theirs, and, particularly in the case of your children, you will have some responsibility for them until they become financially independent.
Because of this, we will always recommend you introduce us to your family members when we help you put your plans together.
In this article, read about the importance of intergenerational financial planning and five reasons why your plan should include your entire family.
1. We can help ensure you are all working towards shared goals
Even if you currently do not have a financial plan in place, you may have set money aside for other family members and thought about helping them manage future financial challenges.
These could include gifting your children a house deposit or supporting your elderly parents with the cost of care provision.
By meeting all the members of your extended family, we will gain a clear understanding of their concerns and aspirations.
This means that the plans we help you put together and maintain going forward will address all your family-wide objectives, as well as your own plans.
2. The expert advice your children get will give them a great start on their financial journey
As a professional advice firm, we are always keen to work with the next generation.
After all, it is highly likely that your plans will include issues relating to your children, such as:
- Setting money aside for them on a regular basis
- Ensuring you have funds available for their education
- Effective estate planning to protect their legacy.
As well as helping you support your family, it can be useful for us to give your children personalised advice when they reach an age at which it will be advantageous.
The advice we can offer them about their savings and investments, for example, can be beneficial as they start to build wealth and plan their own financial future.
We will also have a clear idea of your legacy planning and will be ready to help your beneficiaries manage their assets effectively.
The knowledge and insight we have into your financial arrangements will make the advice process seamless, avoiding the upheaval they could face with a new advice firm.
3. We can help facilitate awkward conversations about money with your elderly parents
As well as involving your children in your planning, you may also need to consider elderly relatives and the financial responsibilities you have for them.
We know that conversations about money with your parents can sometimes be very awkward.
Much of this can stem from a natural reluctance to talk about money with your family. But it can also derive from the perception that such conversations mark an unspoken change in your financial relationship with your parents.
They have been responsible for you, and now the roles may reverse as they become dependent on you, particularly around issues such as long-term care.
In these circumstances, involving us in your discussions and planning can give you, and them, real peace of mind.
We can provide the same expert guidance that we do for you, and you will get reassurance that they are benefitting from useful advice when they really need it.
4. You will be able to create effective ways to pass wealth between the generations
Ensuring that your wealth passes tax-efficiently between the generations of your family is a key part of our role as your financial planners.
By introducing us to your family as you are going through the process of legacy planning, you can make sure that they continue to benefit from the advice you have received, even when you are no longer there to provide for them.
Similarly, your parents will get the same benefits of expert advice in respect of their own estate planning arrangements.
We can also give you, and your parents, effective guidance around transferring wealth while you are still alive.
All this means you can transfer assets between the generations of your family in line with your wishes.
5. Our expert guidance can help avoid family disputes
As you have already read, honest conversations about inheritance and estate planning can be hard to initiate, but such discussions can be crucial for avoiding future disputes and managing expectations.
Intra-family financial issues can be awkward and contentious, particularly if there are large sums of money involved or underlying issues between family members.
Those difficulties can be accentuated when discussing legacy and inheritance after a bereavement.
If we have a working relationship with the entire family, we can take steps to help smooth communication around your legacy with everybody.
Open and honest communication can help reduce the likelihood of family conflicts when it comes to managing your wealth and assets.
Get in touch
If you would like to talk to us about any of the financial planning issues you have read about here, please get in touch.
You can email enquiries@dbl-am.com or call 01625 529 499 to speak to us today.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
Please do not act based on anything you might read in this article. All contents are based on our understanding of HMRC legislation, which is subject to change.
The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax planning or estate planning.