In your 50s

Photographs by Martin Neeves Photography www.martinneeves.com

You may have lost a close family member to a life threatening illness, have you considered setting up your own Advanced Medical Decisions (also know as a Living Will by its common name) which allows you to choose life sustaining treatment, or not, if you were in this dreadful situation.

Has receiving your family inheritance taken you over the Inheritance Tax threshold? How much tax will your estate suffer unless you do something about it?

If you run a business and it is now worth a considerable sum, what will happen to it on your death or incapacity? Will anyone want to buy it, and will they have the means to pay a fair price (in your eyes that is!).

Your business could lose its inheritance tax relief if you simply leave it to someone in your Will. Have you looked at the options? Talk to us

Will you reach your retirement goal to fund the lifestyle you are looking forward to enjoying when the time comes? What about taking a cash lump sum from your pension?

Many of us will have cleared the mortgage, earnings will often be at their highest, so the upshot is more money available for retirement. Your demands on investment advice will be critically important now so choosing the right adviser could make a big difference. Why not ask us to recommend one that is suitable to your situation?

Okay, does my Will need changing again? It may. If your wealth is your home and significant investments you should upgrade the trust clauses in your Wills to ‘flexible life interest trust clauses’ to be able to protect half the investments as well as half of your property against the 6 basic problems we all face.