Successful inheritance tax and concerns about the pension pot: what you asked our financial planning experts this year

From wondering what to do with a much-sought-after bungalow inherited from a parent, to the fear of what will happen to a disabled child’s benefits if they inherit a house, This is Money readers have had many questions when it comes to their finances.

Our financial planning channel launched earlier this year and has exploded in popularity as a tough economic climate, combined with a new administration, weighed on minds and wallets as people looked to solidify their future.

Fears about the autumn budget and the resulting changes introduced by the Chancellor caused a lot of confusion.

A flood of questions poured in as readers feared losses from tax increases and struggled to figure out what the government’s plans mean for them.

These are the questions that were most on our readers’ minds.

Often people don’t know where to start with their financial conundrums, and this is where we come into the picture. See below how you can get your financial planning question answered by our panel of experts.

Legacies weighed on the mind

Many of the emails that hit our financial planning inbox this year focused on one thing: estate taxes.

Readers wanted to know how they could soften their future tax bills so they could leave as much of their estate as possible to their loved ones.

Although the amount parents planned to leave to their children ranges from just over the zero rate to well above the maximum amount for those using spousal transfer and the zero rate, no reader came quite close to a reader who contacted This is Money. about the £10 million they stood to inherit.

A fun problem perhaps, but one that caused the reader a few headaches.

Mostly, readers were eager to see how they could pass more modest amounts to their families without paying estate taxes, and how they could make the most of the gift lines and use the gifts from the surplus income line, and even start paying for family benefits. vacation to avoid the bill.

Others hoped to figure out what to do with the money they inherited, or in one case, whether they could pay off their estranged son’s student loans.

Capital gains rise

The words on so many lips this year were ‘capital gains tax’, and this was only reinforced by the announcement in the summer that the Autumn Budget would prove ‘painful’ – after months of fear and panic-driven financial decisions.

This is where the crazy comes into the picture. A reader, divorced for three years, reached out to ask whether it was worth remarrying her ex-husband to reduce her capital gains taxes on jointly owned property.

It could work as a tax relief strategy, although HMRC is likely to scrutinize a marriage that appears to be solely for tax relief purposes.

Whether remarriage to your ex-husband is a good idea for all non-financial aspects of your life… the jury is still out on that.

Another feared his investments had landed him in a capital gains tax trap after contributing £300 a month to his investments for eight years.

Pension pots were a concern

As your future source of income in retirement, it’s not surprising that most of us are concerned about the health of our pensions.

One reader contacted This is Money worried they could lose half of their £177,000 pension if their pension provider goes bankrupt, as the government only protects the first £85,000.

There is a small risk of this happening, although this largely depends on the type of pension you have as many pensions are fully protected.

For so many others, however, there is a fear that their pension will not be enough to finance their later lives. Figures from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association showed that those who used auto-enrolment were only able to save half of what they needed by the time they retired.

Many readers are keen to increase their pensions where they can, for example by taking advantage of redundancy payments while minimizing their tax bill, while others wanted clarity on whether they are on track to retire when they want. .

Then, with the announcement that pensions will be included in inheritance tax calculations, readers were concerned that they could be above the zero limit.

Readers looked for higher returns

With the democratization of investing that comes with the launch of online platforms, savers are increasingly dissatisfied with the meager returns offered by their bank accounts and are instead turning to stocks and shares to grow their money.

Many readers contacted This is Money to ask how they can increase the return on their wealth, whether it’s a £200,000 inheritance or £100 a month put aside for the future of a newborn baby.

A reader sitting in an inherited bungalow asked if it was best to avoid selling to cash in on the rise in property prices, or if they should shift it elsewhere.

Most of these concerns are unlikely to disappear in the near future, and with even more tax changes set to come into effect from April, This is Money’s financial planning inbox remains open for readers to ask our experts how they to get the most out of it. to keep and hold on to as much of their money as possible.