Our clients come to us for a many reasons – succession planning, investment planning, pensions, estate planning… it was a topic related to the latter which found FPC’s Mike Lea featured in The Times recently, sharing his expertise and pragmatic advice about things to consider when inheriting a sum of money:
“Money and emotions are closely linked and, depending on your relationship with the person who has died, you may feel more pressure about what you do with it, but this is usually self-inflicted pressure — in my experience few people give money with any caveats.
“Imagine you were in the room with the person, and they were giving you money, would there be any conditions attached?”
It’s paramount to weigh up all your options and make wise decisions. Mike advises that paying off debt should be your priority, “Setting aside the emotion, if you put the figures into a spreadsheet, this is what makes the most sense.”
Of course, inheritance doesn’t always need to be spent on ‘important’ things like mortgages. As Mike acknowledges, many people feel the need to do something altruistic or sensible with inherited money because they haven’t earned it. We believe that clients shouldn’t be afraid to use the money on something less tangible and more enjoyable – life is for living so there has to be a balance.
Follow the link to read the full article here.
At FPC, we understand that the impact of our work and the support we provide to our clients goes beyond financial planning – we are by our clients’ side when big life changes occur, providing objective advice to enable financial confidence at all times.
