IMPORTANT: Take Specialist Later Life Financial Planning Advice
Before making life changing decisions with money or property that has taken a lifetime to build, please seek specialist later life financial planning advice.
In addition, before choosing and self-funding your care or care for a loved one, again, please seek advice. It is important that you know all of the care and funding options available to you and how they interact with your other financial and legal planning priorities. Only a specialist, suitably qualified later life financial adviser can provide this for you.
What To Look Out For In A Financial Adviser
IMPORTANT: Use a SOLLA adviser.
The bare minimum requirement to engage with any financial adviser is for them to be registered and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This at least means any advice will be regulated, with all the associated protection like the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
The next thing to ask is has the adviser got any other relevant later life financial planning qualifications like the Diploma in Long Term Care? This shows the adviser has at least an interest in later life financial planning matters.
However, what you really need is an adviser who is accredited with the Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA) – the gold standard for financial advisers working in the later life field. SOLLA was founded in 2008 as a not-for-profit organisation to meet the needs of consumers, advisers and those who provide financial products and services to the later life community. SOLLA’s aim is to ensure that those in later life are better informed about the financial issues related to that stage of life.
The SOLLA accreditation process is tough and requires on-going assessment. It not only requires the absolute gold standard in later life financial planning technical expertise, but rigorous on-going training and assessments are based on real-life client situations which fine-tune soft-skills around advising clients in later life.
Harold Stephens is a local, later life financial and legal planning specialist with a special interest in long-term care provision and tax efficient funding options. If you, or your loved one, are at the point of care need and are currently making important care funding decision then get in touch now for an initial chat with one of our specialist advisers by calling 0117 3636 212 or emailing office@haroldstephens.co.uk.
We will also be putting on some in person events throughout October and November in the local area covering the topic of care funding decisions and related later life financial and legal planning. Event details are updated regularly here: https://www.haroldstephens.co.uk/events/
