•  Protection – Protection – We checked the protection provisions of both Tom and Jane’s employee benefit packages, and found that these were restricted to Death in Service (ie life assurance) cover only. We compared this against both their capital needs (paying off the mortgage) and income needs (eg replacing lost income and childcare costs) should anything happen to either of them. As a friend had also been diagnosed with cancer, the couple were keen to explore the costs of both critical illness cover and private medical insurance. Having identified how much of their household budget they could commit to protection, Tom and Jane were then able to select a range of benefits that gave them peace of mind that the family could cope financially whatever may arise in the future.
•  Long Term Care – Jane was naturally anxious that her mother would settle in the new environment of a care home.Having found one that her mother enjoyed during a trial stay, Jane was keen for her to remain there on a permanent basis, but was concerned about the cost and whether if she and Tom could afford ‘third party top ups’ if her mum’s resources ran out. Working together, we calculated the shortfall between her mother’s pension income and Attendance Allowance and the care home fees, which enabled us to identify that her mother’s capital (in terms of the value of her house and savings) would be exhausted within 4 years. Jane felt there was a strong chance that her mother would live beyond then, and was worried that at that point she may have to undergo an unsettling move to a local authority funded home. We investigated a number of options, including whether to rent out instead of selling her mother’s home, but eventually recommended an immediate needs annuity, which in this case was able to guarantee that the shortfall would be paid tax-free to the care home for the full duration of Jane’s mother’s life.

We have an annual review meeting with Tom and Jane, and while life ‘in the sandwich’ caring for both children and parents remains hectic and challenging, they feel like a weight has been lifted from their minds by making a conscious decision to have a full financial review at this stage in life.