Case study: spend and gift money to keep the value of your estate under the inheritance tax threshold
Mr and Mrs G wanted to leave enough money to be just under the inheritance tax threshold of £650,000, assuming they live to age 100. We calculated that, over the next 14 years (bringing them to age 85), they would need to spend or gift approximately £30,000 extra each year. They had to be very careful what they spent their money on so as not to increase the value of their estate. The obvious choice was holidays. Unfortunately, Mrs G was scared of flying so they were quite limited in the places they could visit. We suggested that she went on a flying phobia course which she did. This worked so well that within six weeks they were on a flight to Borneo to fulfil one of Mr G’s lifelong ambitions to see the orangutans. The following month they were in Barcelona with friends. Not your typical estate planning dull, boring or depressing image! In addition to catching up on holidays, they also decided to gift £10,000 each year to their daughter, on the condition it was used to repay their mortgage. Their son in law had been in and out of work and their mortgage was a struggle to pay. Now, the mortgage is projected to be repaid in five years, instead of 16!
“David has helped change our mind about our finances. It was very difficult to change a lifetime’s mind-set of accumulating money and David has spent a lot of time with us to change our habits by giving us the confidence to spend and gift money. He continually thinks outside the box and encourages us to go on as many holidays whilst we still can. It’s also nice to think that the government is effectively contributing 40 per cent towards the cost! David is always available to speak to if we have any concerns.”
Very impressed with attitude and values
“We wanted a complete assessment of our financial situation from an independent person. My mother has used David Lamb for many years and when I saw him regarding her estate, I was very impressed with his attitude and values. David did a complete assessment of our finances covering mortgages, pensions, savings, insurances and projections depending on what lifestyle we are looking for when we retire. He got us to think about current lifestyle versus retirement lifestyle and what is important to us as well as risk spreading investments. He has a great way of explaining things in a clear manner and has an outlook that makes total sense. David did a very thorough job and covered everything we asked of him. I particularly like his realistic approach to life planning and he takes time to find out what is important to you and how you like to live as well as a thorough financial assessment before tailoring his recommendations. We will be using him for many years to come.”
— Mr and Mrs A, Northamptonshire
I would recommend Lamb Financial to anyone
“As we go towards eventual retirement we needed to know, be assured etc that we were making the right decisions about finance, what our retirement date may or could be and much more! We have been given a few tweaks along the way with various aspects and given much needed other products and investments that has really meant our retirement will be a lot sooner than we would have thought. David has the right balance for us and has been totally affordable. I recommend Lamb Financial to anyone.”
— Mr & Mrs T, Ponteland
Always diligent and professional with service, pleasant and friendly to deal with
“Lamb Financial have been providing me and my company with financial advice for many years. They have always been diligent and professional with their service delivery…and they are pleasant and friendly people to deal with. I wouldn’t consider going to anyone else.”
— Mr C, Hexham
Lamb Financial look at the long term interests of their clients
“Are all financial advisers the same? No. Do they all put the interests of their client first? No. We work with David and his team because they are different, looking at the long term interests of their clients. By investigating what you want in the future, they aim to make your savings give you the future that you want, not simply saving for saving’s sake. When your bucket is full enough they will tell you, potentially bringing forward retirement by years or letting you decide to take it easy earlier than you would otherwise have thought. They will also work with you to help manage your lifestyle, budget for big life events and show you how you can achieve a better long term future than you had ever thought possible.”
— Mr R, Corbridge
