Well, two BIG things happened in the last 2 weeks.
- We elected a new government and a new Prime Minister.
- England didn’t win the Euro cup final.
First, the government. We voted for change and that’s what Sir Keir Starmer says he and his team are going to deliver. In his very first speech and press conference as PM, he set the tempo for that change too:
“There is no magic wand… changing a country is not like flicking a switch … We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work.”
Now, the football. Gareth Southgate might say the same as the PM – changing a team is not like flicking a switch either. Southgate gave a breakdown on his view in the post-match press conference, summarising that:
“Ultimately we lost to the better side and we have to reflect on how that happened …. (but) I think the team have done the country proud.”
Now the whole squad all need to sit down, talk through the competition, analyse what they did well (and not so well) and work out how to do better next time.
The speed of change
So, from both MPs and football squads, we can expect change, but not at breakneck speed. The Labour government have set out changes they want to make, but those changes will inevitably require changes in implementation and legislation before they will directly affect us, the voters.
However, that doesn’t mean you should sit back and wait until those changes are announced. Now is the time to take stock of what provisions and plans you have in place, and consider how any future government policy shifts might affect them.
Think of the various aspects of your estate planning as a football team. You want them all to perform well and as a cohesive whole. To do that, you need insight into your key players, the specific role they play, their performance to date, plus what might influence their performance moving forward.
Knowledge is key
Knowing the current status of all your players is key information. So for your estate planning team, for example, do you know:
- What the current thresholds are for IHT
- How much your pension is actually worth
- How much of your home you actually own
- How to ring fence assets for the next generation
- Whether you will have sufficient reserves for long-term care
- Who would run your life or business if you became incapacitated
- The annual return your ISA/share portfolio/pension pot is earning
All of these facts and figures will feed into your estate planning to provide a holistic overview of where you are now. With expert help and advice from Panthera Estate Planning, that holistic overview can turn into a forward-thinking plan that covers where you would like to be at the date of the next General Election or World Cup.
The time to act is now
In short:
- If you already have estate planning in place, review it now so you know where you’re at.
- If it’s a few years since you’ve looked at your estate planning, make it your No.1 priority this summer. Use a rainy day to see what you’ve saved for a rainy day. Then you can relax when the sun comes out again!
- If you’ve not made any plans for your estate yet, now is the perfect time to start. The country has a fresh sense of impetuous, so why not ride that wave yourself and get cracking.
So, what should your first move be? Feel free to get in touch. With my background as a financial planner, and my current role as a retirement coach and estate planner, I’m uniquely positioned to help you. Contact me to create an estate plan that’s comprehensive, robust and flexible enough for future changes to be accommodated as and when required.
