Many people worry about inheritance tax. In one swoop, it can take away up to 40% of the assets you’ve saved so you can pass them on to your children and grandchildren.

Careful estate planning is necessary if you want to protect your estate and its assets, and safeguard your children’s legacy. Above all estate planning protects your family in the event that something happens to you.

We want to make estate planning a life-affirming action rather than something morbid, that’s why we talk to you about the people you care most about so that you can ensure their future happiness. We’ll also look at your assets so that we can help you take the appropriate steps to minimise, and possibly avoid, IHT.

Estate planning can also help you mitigate other risks associated with costs of residential care, remarriage, divorce, guardianship, bankruptcy and owning your own business.

You may think that estate planning is only for the wealthy but it’s time to think again, and it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Plan ahead and safeguard your children’s legacy

We understand it’s easier to discuss personal matters face to face so book a free estate planning consultation with us now by completing the form below.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate Estate Planning.

To qualify for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) you must

• Be classed as an employee and have done some work for your employer
• Have been ill for at least 4 days in a row (including non-working days)
• Earn at least £112 (before tax) per week
  Tell your employer you’re sick before their deadline – or within 7 days if they don’t have one agency workers are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay.

Exceptions

You won’t qualify if you:

• Have received the maximum amount of SSP (28 weeks)
• Are getting Statutory Maternity Pay

You can still qualify if you started your job recently and you haven’t received 8 weeks’ pay yet. Ask your employer to find out more.

Linked periods of sickness
If you have regular periods of sickness, they may count as ‘linked’. To be linked, the periods must:

• Qualify for SSP by lasting 4 or more days each
• Be 8 weeks or less apart

You’re no longer eligible for SSP if you have a continuous series of linked periods that lasts more than 3 years.

Fit notes (or sick notes)
You only have to give your employer a doctor’s fit note if you miss more than 7 days of work.

If you’re not eligible or your SSP ends
You may be able to apply for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) if you’re not eligible for SSP or your SSP has ended or is coming to an end.

You do this using form SSP1, which your employer will give you:

• Within 7 days of you going off sick, if you don’t qualify for SSP
• Within 7 days of your SSP ending, if it ends unexpectedly while you are still sick
• On or before the beginning of the 23rd week, if your SSP is expected to end before your sickness does

If you’re looking to boost your income in retirement, then you might have considered equity release. After all the latest figures from the Equity Release Council (ERC) show it’s popularity is soaring.

Equity release helps you unlock cash from your home when you’re in retirement without having to sell it and move to another home. You can either borrow against the value of your home or sell all or part of it in exchange for a lump sum or a regular monthly income.

There are a wide range of options and you have to meet certain conditions to be eligible which is why talking to our equity release specialist will help you consider how you can use your housing equity in retirement and make a big difference to your quality of life.

Equity release won’t be for everyone. Our equity release adviser will explain the things you need to think about such as how it might affect your family’s inheritance, your tax position and any benefits you receive.

All equity release schemes offered by us meet the ERC’s standards , the industry body for the equity release sector. The ERC represents providers, lawyers, surveyors, and qualified financial advisers and intermediaries like Odyssey Wealth Management, who are active in the equity release sector. As well as setting standards, the ERC is committed to putting in place safeguards to protect and reassure you, the consumer.

Boost your retirement income
To find out how much equity you could release fill in the form below to arrange a free no-obligation initial consultation with our equity release specialist.

This may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion scheme. To understand the features and risks ask for a personalised illustration.

There maybe a fee for equity release advice. The precise amount will depend on your circumstances but we estimate it would be £800

All Investment and Pension advice is carried out by Odyssey Wealth Management Ltd.

Looking for buy to let?
Despite the property crash due to the recession, buy-to-let is still an attractive option for many people who buy homes and rent them out as an investment.

With a buy-to-let property, the goal is for the rental income to cover your mortgage and other costs leaving you with some income. That’s why buy-to-let is just as much about understanding your finances as having a property.

Getting the right mortgage deal for your buy-to-let property could save you a significant amount of money. Our expert advisers will find the best buy-to-let mortgage deal for you to help safeguard your investment and maximise your investment returns.

We can help you manage your portfolio and finances by understanding your individual circumstances and investment goals. So whether you’re looking for your first buy-to-let property or currently have a large property portfolio, you can rest assured that you’re in safe hands.

Get a buy-to-let mortgage that works with your property portfolio
To find out more about how we can help you with your buy-to-let mortgage fill in the form below. Our initial consultation is free of charge, and there’s no obligation to use our services.

The FCA does not regulate most buy to let mortgages

Are you looking to move house, remortgage or are you a first time buyer?

Getting a mortgage is one of the biggest financial commitments you’ll probably ever make, so it’s worth spending the time to get it right. But with so many residential mortgages to choose from, it can be difficult to find the right mortgage for your personal circumstances.

Getting the right mortgage for you is simple because we do all the work for you. As independent mortgage experts, we’ll save you time, money and stress.

We’ll work with you to help build the right package for you within your budget, and our attention to details ensures that it covers all the extra little costs that sometimes get missed or are forgotten about such as home insurance, life insurance and wills.

By working with us you’ll also understand your options with regards to potential issues such as what would happen if you couldn’t work or became seriously ill because your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

There is a fee for mortgages services. The precise amount will depend on your circumstances, but this will start from a consultation fee of £100 and can range up to no more than 2% of the mortgage amount.

THE MEDIUM TO LONG GAME

If you always think, plan and live in the now and never invest in the future, the ups and downs of life will certainly hit you harder that they will those who have purposefully invested in their future. Investing for the medium to long term will give you a And whilst we strive to earn money to live, it is important to plan ahead to ensure that that money is placed and invested in a way that it has the opportunity to work for you whilst you live. Our investment and retirement proposition is just the thing that will ensure that you are able to enjoy a lifestyle where your money can be working for you in the future.

All Investment and Pension advice is carried out by Odyssey Wealth Management Ltd.

When it comes to the world of investments, the world can either be ‘your oyster’ or an added complication. Our aim here is to help steer you through all this clutter and work with you to put in place a robust investment strategy that meets your needs now and in the future.

Whether you are just starting out or have an accumulated portfolio, we have developed our ‘Scalable’ proposition which underpins our investment pedigree. If you are looking for a simple solution, as you are only starting to build up a fund; or are looking at building or preserving an existing portfolio, we are able to adapt and deliver our approach to meet your needs.

The ‘Scalable’ Proposition

At the heart of every solution we put in place, is a thoroughly researched investment proposition. By taking into account your needs and objectives, we are able to put in place a proposition that can be flexible as your changing needs.

This proposition involves having the ability to use different investment approaches or underlying investment segments and implementing them into a cohesive overall strategy. This puts your investments in the best possible risk weighted position moving forward.

Scalable…How it works.

When we make a recommendation on a client’s portfolio, we utilise a number of completely different investment philosophies. You may or not be familiar with the terms Active vs Passive Management.

‘Active’ management relies on the manager’s expertise to invest and deliver returns. This normally involves an additional cost for this expertise. The‘Passive’ approach is where a fund simply ‘follows’ a particular index such as the FTSE 100. This is an inexpensive way to get exposure to a particular market or asset class.

We take it a bit further still and overlay different investment approaches on top of the ‘Active’ and ‘Passive’ approaches. These include a:

• ‘Quantitative Overlay’- by this we mean, we strip out human (fund manager) bias and rely purely on the data to make the asset allocation decisions for this element of the portfolio. This is achieved through the use of algorithms and a continual monitoring of the data inputs.
• ‘Fund of Funds’ – this is where we use a number of different funds and managers to cover a specific asset class. The benefits of this include being able to dove tail specific themes within one asset class to maximise the risk / reward within it.
• ‘Time’ –the timeline of your investments has a massive impact on the underlying risk of any investment. Some assets which would traditionally be considered ‘lower risk’ may over a short time frame have massive swings. For this reason, we have a ‘Time’ overlay on our solutions to once again ensure we get the correct risk allocation for your money.
• ‘Regular Reviews’ – With all the above going on, it is important to continually monitor the portfolios to ensure the ongoing suitability of the investments. For this reason, we have regular reviews which are conducted on a quarterly basis. We keep you informed of what changes we are making and the reasoning behind each of them. As part of the ongoing service we also recommend a regular review to incorporate and adjust to any major changes to your circumstances.

We at LifePlan don’t belief there is an outright 100% best approach, as some methodologies will work better than others depending on the market conditions. Our goal is to align your portfolio to your risk and get the best returns for you.

The benefit of our Scalable proposition is that it can be implemented across different size portfolios.

For a smaller portfolio, we may recommend a solution which incorporates one element of the Scalable approach. As an example, this may be a portfolio mainly made up of the Passive element. This ensures costs are minimised by making use of cheaper index funds. Although only using one component of a bigger approach, this provides a solution underpinned by the same research that we apply to clients with larger portfolios.

For larger portfolios, we take our Scalable proposition a bit further. Within these portfolios, we apply a blended solution for clients, whereby we combine the different investment approaches under an overarching investment strategy. This way, we reduce the risk of rigidly following a single investment philosophy.

Call us today to have a no obligation chat with one of our advisers.

Always remember that investing has an element of risk. Investment returns (and the income from them) can fall as well as rise and you are not guaranteed to make a profit. Past performance is not an indication of future returns.

all Investment and Pension advice is carried out by Odyssey Wealth Management Ltd.

Your options at retirement

Turning your pension into income is one of the biggest decisions you can make, and you have several options on what to do with your pension savings.

Almost £2.5 billion worth of payments were made to customers in the first three months since the new pension freedoms came in, according to the ABI statistics.

That’s equivalent to £27 million a day. ABI figures for April, May and June 2015 also showed £2.3bn had been used to buy nearly 37,500 regular income products, either pension annuities or income drawdown products.

The trend has continued.

The importance of accessing the right advice is vital, since there can be unexpected tax implications if the wrong decision is made.

Our helpful infographic outlines the main changes to personal pension freedoms from 6 April 2015.

With freedom comes great responsibility
For advice on all your options to make your money last a lifetime, book a free initial pension consultation with us now by completing the form below.

all Investment and Pension advice is carried out by Odyssey Wealth Management Ltd.

Saving for retirement
To get the most from your retirement it’s essential that you start planning for it as soon as possible, especially as life expectancy for a healthy man is 89 and for a woman is 91.

Born in the 1990s?
As you’ve just started your working life you got plenty of time to start saving for your retirement. Get into good habits now and start as you mean to go on.

Born in the 1980s?
As you turn 30 you need to think about your future. The sooner you start paying into a pension the better as you’re money will have to potential to grow for longer.

Born in the 1970s?
Although retirement may still seem a long way off you need to seriously consider your options such as combining small pensions or increasing your contributions.

Born in the 1960s?
If you aren’t paying into a pension then you may need to think about what retirement means to you. It’s not too late to start saving as any pension is better than no pension.

There are lots of ways to save for your future: pensions, ISAs and employer schemes. Whatever your personal situation, we’ll give you completely impartial pension planning advice. We’ll help you maximise your retirement income and advise you on the actions you need now to take so you get the retirement you dream of.

Start planning for your new life after retirement
To make your money last a lifetime, book a free initial pension consultation with us now by completing the form below.

all Investment and Pension advice is carried out by Odyssey Wealth Management Ltd.