Today's Wills & Probate’s Post

Here's an interesting read by Preet Banerjee published in the The Globe and Mail about how given the financial needs of many in retirement, unlocking the equity of your home may be necessary. As much as understanding what the best option is may be new territory for the homeowners, it's also new for the financial planning profession as well. Financial Planners may not necessarily be trained on all the different options and may have some unconscious biases or lack of knowledge into fully understanding their clients needs and then recommending the best solution for them. https://lnkd.in/en7AxiUS #babyboomers #boomers #retirement #retirementplanning #aging #longevity #housing #financialplanning #aginginplace

The Actuaries Institute's recent dialogue paper 'calls for a rethink on how the home is traditionally viewed' and its role as 'a fourth pillar' in retirement funding in Australia. It also revealed that 'while most retirees own their own home, 60% retire with less than $250,000 in their super'. Futureproof's submission to the Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety in 2020 identified that the 'fourth' pillar of funding support in retirement is a retiree's home. One of the recommendations included in the report is that for funds accessed through home equity release schemes, such as Futureproof's soon-to-be-launched Equity Preservation Mortgage®, the Government provide Age Pension means test relief on the money released. #Futureproof #EquityPreservationMortgage #RetirementFunding

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗪𝗶𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰!   The latest report from Scottish Widows presents some eye-opening findings that could reshape our understanding of #retirement planning in the UK.   Key Stats & Insights:   1. New Cohort - Renters at Retirement: Recognising the impact that renting can have on retirement savings, Scottish Widows has now split their research to focus on this group. 60% of renters at retirement rely on the state pension for a significant portion of their income. Could this be a signal that we need to redesign pension flexibility to better support home ownership over time?   2. Decline in Retirement Standards: The forecast shows a worrying trend—over 1/3 of people are at risk of not being able to cover their retirement needs due to the rising cost of living and housing costs (rent or ongoing mortgage payments into retirement). Renters, in particular, face higher financial pressures with increasing rents and living costs.   3. Barriers to Home Ownership: Helping people get on the property ladder is crucial. Building houses alone won't solve the problem—we need to find ways to help people secure deposits.   4. Saving for the Future: 28% of future retirees have not yet started saving for their pension. This is concerning, but it’s clear that many are prioritising daily living expenses and saving for a home.   🔎 The question we need to ask is: Can we make pensions a more central and flexible source of savings that evolves to meet these competing needs? By allowing more flexibility within strict frameworks, we could foster better savings behaviours, support UK economic growth, and address key market issues like engagement and data accuracy.   With the upcoming #PensionDashboard, this might just be the final piece needed to modernise our pension system, making it fit for today’s savers.

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) offers a Retirement Standard, outlining the expenses required for singles and couples to maintain a modest or comfortable lifestyle in retirement. Will you have enough to retire? #retirementplanning #retirement #superannuation #financialplanning #wealthplanning #brisbane

Some tips on belatedly entering (or re-entering) the property market. #homeownership #retirement #superannuation https://lnkd.in/gQ-egsnN

Quite a sobering headline flashed up on my screen this morning. Standard Life UK found that renters need a staggering £400,000 more in their fund at retirement than those who own their own homes at the point of retirement. It's not a small problem either - renters could be a larger proportion of people in retirement than we have seen in recent memory (almost 11 million people according to the report). High/very high UK housing costs is a big part of this of course - do you neglect retirement savings to have that home sorted out, or do you adopt the approach more prevalent in other countries and be comfortable with renting (which does have some benefits - maintenance is no longer your issue for example). The key part here of course is how to make sure that you (or your employees) know what the full picture looks like. One criticism of the PLSA(Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association)'s retirement standards is that they do not factor in housing costs. This could easily result in complacency setting in should renters using online tools (which often use PLSA income levels) that they are on track for a moderate retirement without realising that they also need to fund their rent! With the shift in home ownership, it's never been more important to ensure that pension and financial wellbeing engagement levels are as high as possible - let us know if you would like to chat about this in more detail.

Could downsizing be the answer to freeing up retirement funds? I was reading this article the other week which got me thinking about the economics of retiring - and how we can all make our money stretch the distance. According to the Financial Times, downsizing from a larger (mortgage-free) property at the right time can bring in over £1000 per month. It’s an interesting thought - with many European countries opting to live in smaller homes, especially as they age, do we really need all that space? What do you think? Could downsizing be a part of your retirement plan? #wealthmanagement #financialplanning https://lnkd.in/e_YRwZEi

#PropertyNews "𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐮𝐲 𝐓𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭?" 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 "𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥" 𝐨𝐫 "𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫" 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲, 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. ➡ When Rachel Reeves delivered the Autumn Budget, there were notable changes for property investors, mainly the increased stamp duty rates on second homes, so for those planning to use buy-to-let (BTL) property as a significant part of their retirement income, these changes could significantly impact their financial planning for the future. For retirees aiming for a “comfortable” retirement, the Retirement Living Standards says you would need an annual income of around £40,000. So if you want to achieve this income solely from your buy-to-let property investments, a good starting point is estimating the number of properties you would need to achieve this. Carina Chambers of wealth management consultancy Moneyfarm has worked out an example of what you would need, and how much it would cost: 1. Average rental income: Each property generates £10,000 per year in rental income after expenses, including property management, mortgage payments and maintenance 2. Total properties required: To achieve £40,000 annual income, you would need at least four properties that were rented out all year. 3. Purchase cost estimate: Assuming an average property price of £200,000 per property, purchasing four properties would cost £800,000 in cash if purchasing outright. Or you would need at least 25% cash deposit for each BTL property, totalling approximately £200,000 upfront, and a BTL mortgage on the remaining £600,000. You would also have to factor in other costs, like legal fees, surveys and stamp duty and have the cash to pay for those fees. Chambers cautions: “And let’s not forget stamp duty. With the new budget, this rises by an additional 2% on second homes, adding to the existing 3% surcharge on stamp duty that was already in place. “For our example, the stamp duty on a £200,000 property will now be 5% (£10,000), up from £6,000 before the budget. Via LandlordToday.

Good news - most Australians are on track to fund their retirement based on this report, which assumes your spending drops post retirement spending. In conversations with our clients, we observe a drop in spending but it’s not always as much as this article explains. It depends on what your ideal retirement looks like, your health (which is a big factor in what activities you engage in) and whether there are any other dependencies (bank of Grandparents), amongst other factors.

Hidden costs of retirement properties click to: https://lnkd.in/ekv9UevS Retirement properties in the UK offer many benefits for older adults, such as enhanced security, accessible living, and community amenities. However, they can also come with hidden costs that may not be immediately apparent. These costs can significantly impact the overall affordability and value of retirement living. This comprehensive guide will explore the various hidden costs associated with retirement properties in the UK, covering aspects such as service charges, ground rent, maintenance fees, exit fees, and other potential financial pitfalls. #retirement #sellto #webuyanyhouse #sellhousefast #quickhomebuyers #sellhousequickly #property #realestate #sell #selling