Estate Planning North East - Estate Matters

Legacy Network

The Legacy Network is our very own Charitable Project which we established to help increase the amount of funds people leave to Charity.

Many people want to leave the world a better place than they found it and arrange to leave a monetary gift to their favourite charity in their Will. These generous people make a huge difference to the lives of others and we now have a way of making their generosity spread even further.

There is a way to make a much greater difference at no additional cost and take steps to ensure that the funds are in place for your chosen Charity prior to your passing.

So how does it work?

You decide to  which Charities you would like to bequeath a gift and how much you would like that gift to be. Pension Matters then calculate what that amount could be turned into if you were to pay your gift amount on a monthly basis for the rest of your life

Monthly contributions

You could decide that you wish to leave a specific amount to charity regardless of when you die. For example Mr & Mrs Generous, a 65 year couple decide they wish to donate £100,000 to their chosen Charity. This can be achieved by paying £175 per month into a Life Assurance Legacy Policy (please note that we do not charge any commissions or fees for arranging policies as a part of our Legacy Network ). Your Charity is then guaranteed to receive £100,000 when the last of you pass away, providing you continue to pay the premiums and the policy is placed in an appropriate Trust for the Charity (we can arrange this for you).

OR

Lump Sum Legacy

You have a lump sum you are planning to leave to your Chosen charity which you invest in a tax efficient investment and use some of your return to fund the monthly premium for your Legacy Policy. For example using our 65 year old couple, above,a return of 4% per annum would be more than sufficient to pay for their policy and provide a hedge against inflation. This method has 3 distinct advantages;

1. You retain the use of your capital to draw on as and when you need it
2. You don’t have to worry about paying the premiums to fund your legacy policy, this will be taken care of automatically by your investment.
3. The invested capital (plus any growth) can also be left your chosen charity if you so wish, thereby doubling the size of your gift or left to another beneficiary

So what’s the benefit?

In our above example if you both were to live for 20 years to age 85 the Legacy would have cost you £175 x 12 months x 20 years = £42,000 so your chosen charity benefits by £58,000 more than if you have had left a Legacy in the traditional way!

Does it always work out better value than simply leaving an amount in my Will?

YES!! It certainly should do. Using our example of Mr and Mrs Generous who started their Legacy Policy at age 65, one of them would have to live to be 112 to be worse off and Whilst I am not saying it couldn’t happen….

This has 4 added advantages;

1. The amount you leave to Charity is guaranteed
2. The amount you leave to Charity can be far greater than you originally planned
3. You can use the residue of your capital for living expenses
4. The capital can be invested to fund your monthly legacy premiums

This is never an exact science as none of us know how long we are going to be here but it is highly unlikely you will be worse off, although of course the costs are determined by your age and state of health at outset.

You can begin your Charitable Legacy from as little as £25 per month

Whatever you age or the amount of Legacy you would like to leave there is a more than a fighting chance we can vastly increase the amount bequeathed to your chosen charity at no extra cost to you.

So why doesn’t everybody do it?

The short answer is – I don’t know! Raising money for Charity is one of my lifetime goals and I am always looking for ways to increase levels of donation.

I was inspired by hearing a talk given by Bruce Etherington, a Canadian financial Adviser who in the last 20 years has arranged legacies of more than $1,000,000,000, an incredible achievement that will positively touch the lives of thousands of people around the world.

Yes it does require additional effort on your part, but doesn’t everything that is worthwhile? There are forms to complete, but we will do that for you and there is of course the ongoing financial commitment. You can stop this at anytime should you need to, although this could of course invalidate your legacy.

Even if it takes up a morning of your time, surely the benefit will be worth it – Think of the lives you will touch.

By arranging your legacy with Pension Matters you have the opportunity to put all your affairs in order once and for all. To find out more contact us today.

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