Practice Test 8 - Kate divorced Flashcards

1
Q

State the key additional information that you would require to advise Kate on how to achieve the following financial aims.
Provide adequate financial protection until her children finish university.

A
  • Nomination of beneficiary on pension.
  • Costs.
  • Duration of university fees/period of dependency.
  • State of health/family health/smoker/hazardous hobbies/lifestyle.
  • Affordability/budget/current expenditure.
  • Kate’s willingness to write a new Will.
  • Any assistance from family members/student loans/use of savings.
  • Any debts/liabilities.
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2
Q

State the key additional information that you would require to advise Kate on how to achieve the following financial aims.
Ensure she has adequate income throughout her lifetime.

A
  • How much income does Kate need/current expenditure/future expenditure.
  • Kate’s planned retirement age/when does she need the income/projection of pension.
  • BR19/State Pension entitlement.
  • Hours Kate has worked/entitlement to State benefits e.g. Child Tax Credit/Working Tax Credit.
  • Kate’s willingness/will she work full time?
  • Kate’s willingness to make pension contributions.
  • Interest rate on savings account/use of savings.
  • Expected rental income from buy-to-let property/cost of buy-to-let.
  • Capacity for Loss.
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3
Q

Explain briefly to Kate, based on her current working arrangements, if she has any entitlement to State benefits at present to provide her with additional income. No calculation is required.

A
  • Child benefit as Kate earns less than £50,000/she only earns £15,000.
  • If Kate works less than 16 hours a week;
  • she may be entitled to Child Tax Credit.
  • If Kate works more than 16 hours a week;
  • she may be entitled to Working Tax Credit.
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4
Q

State five advantages and five disadvantages of Kate using a buy-to-let mortgage to purchase a rental property rather than buying a property outright.

A

Advantages
• Low interest rates currently available.
• Rental income can be used to cover mortgage payments.
• Reduction in the initial capital outlay/liquidity/funds can be used for other objectives.
• Interest payments are tax deductible/allowable expense.
• Gearing/may provide superior returns..

Disadvantages
• Monthly mortgage costs/interest rates may rise in future.
• Void periods.
• Fees and costs e.g. upfront fees, early repayment charges, protection costs.
• Rebroking mortgage/mortgage admin.
• High risk strategy/borrowing to invest/may not match attitude to risk.
• Higher returns could be available from other investments.

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5
Q

State six drawbacks of Kate’s stakeholder pension remaining invested in a lifestyle fund.

A
  • Kate may not wish to retire at the normal retirement date.
  • Fund may not match Kate’s attitude to risk.
  • Fund switches are automatic/market timing issues.
  • Assumes annuity purchase/not suitable for drawdown.
  • Reduced investment growth.
  • Lack of control/no investment flexibility.
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6
Q

Explain to Kate why it may be beneficial to transfer the value from her ex-husband’s pension plan into a self-invested personal pension plan (SIPP).

A
  • Wider investment choice/can hold cash/diversification.
  • A choice of benefit options e.g. flexi-access drawdown, phased.
  • Lower charges.
  • Online access/ease of admin/can monitor performance.
  • Easier to match attitude to risk.
  • Potential for higher returns.
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7
Q

Explain to Kate why the holding in her existing cash deposit account may be unsuitable for her circumstances.

A
  • Lack of diversification.
  • Kate needs income/growth.
  • Low interest rate/poor rate of return from cash.
  • Not tax-efficient/interest is taxable/not using her ISA allowances/JISA for children.
  • Not in line with Kate’s attitude to risk/too low risk.
  • Default risk as exceeds Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) limit of £85,000.
  • Six months temporary additional FSCS protection up to £1,000,000/proceeds of divorce.
  • Lack of potential for growth/better growth potential may be available elsewhere.
  • Inflation risk.
  • Interest rate risk.
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8
Q

Recommend and justify one suitable protection policy to protect Kate and the children both in the event of Kate’s death as well as serious illness.

A
  • Life cover/lifetime allowance/whole of life/family income benefit/decreasing term assurance.
  • Critical illness (CI) cover included.
  • Total permanent disability included.
  • Term to end of university/children financially independent/normal retirement date.
  • Sum assured to cover university fees/childcare costs/normal living costs.
  • Waiver of premium, to ensure premiums are paid in the event of illness/disability.
  • Indexation to keep pace with inflation.
  • Guaranteed Premiums to ensure affordability throughout term/known premium.
  • In trust for benefit of children/not in estate/speedy payment.
  • Split trust (for CI).
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9
Q

Explain what effect Kate’s divorce will have on her existing Will and Lasting Power of Attorney.

A

Existing Will
• Former spouse treated as though they were omitted from the Will/treated as though deceased unless Will made in anticipation of divorce.
• Ex-husband cannot be an executor/new executors may need to be appointed.
• The rest of the Will remains valid/Will not revoked by divorce.

Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
• Kate’s ex-husband can no longer act as attorney/existing LPA may still be valid unless LPA written in anticipation of divorce.

Both
• Kate should prepare a new LPA/Will.

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10
Q

State six actions Kate could take to reduce or mitigate the potential Inheritance Tax liability on her estate.

A
  • Whole of life policy in trust.
  • Update/check pension nominations.
  • Make gifts/potentially exempt transfers (PET)/JISA for children/discounted gift trust.
  • Utilise annual allowances/£3,000/£250/gifts out of normal expenditure/wedding.
  • Pension contributions.
  • Enterprise investment scheme (EIS)/AIM/invest in assets that qualify for business property relief.
  • Charitable/political party donations.
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