Paraplanners' Assembly

Welcome to The Self-Assembly Paraplanning Show, a monthly unscripted conversation where we invite a small group of paraplanners to compare notes on what’s actually happening in their world.Just so you know: guests appear in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the business that employs them.**This month’s host, Julie South, is founder of outsourced paraplanning firm, Bee Paraplanning. Julie is joined by guests Lucy Halliday, a senior paraplanner at Argonaut Paraplanning, and Chris Wormwell, an in-house paraplanner at Wesleyan Financial Services.Among the topics that Julie, Lucy and Chris cover this month are:- the UK Government’s Autumn Budget – set for Wednesday 28 October – and what’s rumoured to be in it?- who’s been hearing about clients asking to take their tax-free cash?- the potential CGT changes that are on their radars plus chat about IHT and agricultural property relief- why clients should plan for both sides of care – paying for their own, and understanding what caring for someone else could mean for their finances- why cash flows should factor in the risk of redundancy and illness (and caring responsibilities)- what the UK Government's consultation on the rights of cohabiting couples in England and Wales could mean for things like IHT and willsIt’s an episode that’s big on the potential of cash flows and annual reviews as a way to prompt conversations with clients about the stuff that doesn’t get mentioned as much as it could.Oh and Lucy and Chris offer their gaming and streaming recommendations for October, plus plugs for events they’re planning to attend, too.AI in this episodeWe used Adobe Podcast's Enhance tool to clean up audio levels and quality.We used Canva's background remover for the head-and-shoulder shots of Julie, Chris and Lucy in the cover image of this episode.Useful linksOnline Assembly: Les Cameron's take on the Budget, 5 November 2026Previous Assembly: A dead interesting Assembly on death and dying, 12 August 2026Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA)SOLLA membership for paraplannersONS life expectancy calculatorUK Government: A fairer end to relationships – consultation (closed 14 August)Lucy and Chris's recommendationsA Big Day Out Whodunnit, 3 NOovember 2026SOLLA Later Life ConferenceGrand Theft Auto VIBBC iPlayer: Colin from AccountsITVx: Jordskott

Host Richard Allum is joined by Transact’s chief development officer, Andrew Cullen-Jones, to explore how paraplanners and the firms they work for can get the most out of advice tech.Among the topics Richard and Andrew tackle in their half-hour conversation are:the enduring issue of rekeying datawhat an API is and what it doeswhy you should know which system’s data wins when two disagreedistinguishing between AI hype and AI helphow the role of CRMs could changewhy the human side of advice mattersPlus Andrew suggests one thing that all paraplanners and their firms should consider doing before seeking the next bit of software for help.When launches of new tech and AI innovation seem never-ending, and keeping on top of what’s new feels like an impossible task, this conversation offers a welcome pause for thought.Useful linksWoven Advice Market MapVideo: watch this episode on Vimeo

Most financial plans treat cancer as a rare event, or as though a diagnosis always means the end of the road.New joint research from Scottish Widows and Macmillan, tells a different story. By 2045, cancer prevalence in the UK is forecast to rise by 58%, taking the number of people living with or beyond cancer to 5.4 million and survival rates have doubled in the last forty years. So, cancer is no longer the death sentence it once was, and that changes what financial planning needs to do.That’s why we invited Jonathan Hall from Scottish Widows to join host Richard Allum and talk through what the research means, and help paraplanners understand what it might mean to their day-to-day paraplanning.John talks about what’s driving the increase and what it means for clients at every stage: building cash flow models that stress test a plan against a cancer diagnosis, why premiums for the same cover roughly triple by your thirties and more than double again by your forties, and how needs shift from a client in their twenties protecting a lifestyle to one in retirement assuming their savings will simply see them through.Tune in now to find out how to bring this conversation to life for your clients.What can you expect?the numbers behind a forecast 58% rise in UK cancer prevalence by 2045, and what’s driving ithow to use cash flow modelling to bring a 'what if' conversation to life for clientshow protection needs and objections shift across generations, from Gen Z to those approaching retirementwhy 'I’ve already got cover' and 'I’ve got savings to fall back on' are worth gently challenginghow protection can work as an intergenerational planning tool, including for clients’ adult childrenCPD is available for this episode with links available below as well as further resources. Useful linksSlides: Living with and beyond cancer in 2045Report: Living with and beyond cancer in 2045CPD: request your certificateWatch on Vimeo

Temporary pension income guarantees are nothing new to retirement income planning. But how much do you actually know about how they work?During this Online Assembly, Richard Allum and M&G’s Mark Devlin take a practical look at temporary pension income guarantees, and what they mean for cases that you may work on. During this Assembly, Mark explained:what temporary guarantees are and how they workthe options available to clientswhat happens to death benefitswhy you might consider using them in a client's retirement planPlus they added a couple of real-world case studies into the mix to bring it all to life.What can you expect to take away?A clearer, more practical understanding of temporary pension income guarantees, and a sense of when and why they might be worth putting in front of a client.Ready to top up your knowledge? Catch up now.Useful linksWatch in Crowdcast (with Chat)Collect your CPDDownload: Mark's slides on temporary pension income guarantees

The near-Dickensian language of a Will doesn’t half make the clarity of its contents harder to grasp, doesn’t it?And then there’s LPAs, which come with limits that catch you out. Things like what an attorney can and can't gift, whether they can set up a trust, what happens if the attorney themselves loses capacity.So if you’re prone to befuddlement – and, let’s be honest, who isn’t? – then tune into this conversation with Shaun Moore, Technical Specialist at Quilter. Because Shaun joined us for a lunch-hour conversation that’s all about deciphering what wills and LPAs actually say.But this isn't about which form to fill in or which portal to log into. It's a planning conversation about why these documents matter, what they can and can't do, and what paraplanners need to look out for.And with pensions becoming vulnerable to IHT, and plenty of plans now out of date, this is the ideal time to revisit both documents.So during this Assembly we coveredwhy pensions coming into the estate means old wills need a second lookResidence Nil Rate Band (RNRB) pitfalls and old discretionary trusts left over from before the transferable nil rate banddeeds of variation, and what your options are when a will hasn't been drafted wellinvestment powers in will trusts, including bonds for life tenants, STEP provisions and when the Trustee Act 2000 defaults applythe limits on what an attorney can do, including gifting and setting up trustsLPAs and discretionary fund management, and the Office of the Public Guardian's reversed guidance on discretionary fund management (now allowed unless the document says otherwise)what happens when an attorney themselves loses capacity, and whether a will can be changed or revokedWhat can you expect to take away?Watch or listen and you'll gain a clearer idea of the role of wills and LPAs so you can spot the planning opportunities.Useful linksWe’ve listed useful links below, as well as all the places you can catch up on the Assembly. If you watch the Replay at Crowdcast, you can also see the very active Chat contributions posted throughout the session.CPD: Grab your certificateWatch in Crowdcast (with chat)What if someone dies without a will?Power of Attorney info for Northern IrelandArticle on charitable gifting and unused pensionsArticle on deeds of variation covering setting up trust through a DOVTechnical guidance from QuilterQuilter’s support page for paraplannersTools and calculators from Quilter

Thanks for tuning into this Self-Assembly Paraplanning Show. Just so you know, guests appear in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the business that employs them – even if it's their own business!Anyway, in this month's Show, host and ParaplanX founder Jawaad Tanwir is joined by Ceetal Katechia from Cooper Parry Wealth and Luke Sparkes from Sparkes Paraplanning for this month's unscripted conversation in which paraplanners compare notes on what's happening in their world and the wider paraplanning profession.Among the things on Jawaad, Ceetal and Luke’s minds in September 2026 are:The incoming pension and IHT changes – especially the work they’re doing to help clients try to simplify things before April 2027The way the focus of client and adviser conversations have shifted from decades of ‘don't touch your pension’ to factoring pension savings into IHT calculations – it’s a big changeThe FCA's simplified advice proposals: what could a more streamlined process mean for the advice gap? Is there a risk of sacrificing the place of professional judgment in the interests of speed? Could a reduced suitability letter serve some clients better anyway?Where AI does and doesn't fit into paraplanningUK life expectancy fell over the last decade so what might that mean for cashflow assumptions?And more generally, what are the wider forces shaping how people plan for their financial futures?This is a wide-ranging chat among paraplanners which covers some crunchy and very topical issues. Is what’s on your mind on the mind of other paraplanners? Listen now and find out.Useful linksCeetal and Luke mention a couple of reviews and consultations by the Financial Conduct Authority. Here are the links:Simplifying the pensions and investment advice rules (FCA CP26/10)Thematic Review of Retirement Income Advice (TR24/1)AI in this episodeWe used Adobe Podcast's Enhance tool to clean up audio levels and quality, and Async's text-to-voice feature to generate the listener message at the start of the episode.

In their regular quarterly political catch-up, host Leanne Pickering from Pivotal Paraplanning and self-invested pensions technical specialist at Barnett Waddingham (soon to be called Howden), James Jones-Tinsley, to chat about political goings on over Parliament’s summer recess, and what paraplanners should look out for in the new Parliamentary session.Their conversation covers:Andy Burnham’s by-election win and rise to become the UK’s new Prime MinisterMinisterial appointments in Burnham’s first Cabinet reshuffle including the arrival of John Healey as Chancellor of the ExchequerThe Clacton by-election and what Reform's result there might tell us about the wider pictureThe run-up to the 28 October Budget – including possible changes to capital gains tax and a windfall tax on oil companies or banks; andGaps left in HMRC's technical guidance on IHT and pensions – and the pressure that puts on personal representativesLeanne and James also discuss whether the new Prime Minister might call a snap election, and whether the IHT on pensions rules could yet change before April 2027.So if you like to keep half an eye on Westminster, this one's well worth your time.

Even very experienced paraplanners can trip over obstacles lurking in the shadows of IHT. So we invited Aegon’s tax and trusts manager, Elaine Cruickshank, to join host, Richard Allum, for an online Assembly to help you dodge the IHT perils.Over the course of one lunch-hour, Elaine:untangles the transferable nil rate band and residence nil rate band, including the detail that trips people up around second marriages and downsizing provisionsgets into the finer points of gifting exemptions, PETs and CLTs, beyond the seven-year headlineexplains how the inclusion of pensions in estates affects the taper threshold, and what that means for clients close to the £2 million markworks through charitable giving and the 36% rate, including the added complications once pension funds are in the mixbrings it all together with planning opportunities you can take straight back to your deskWhat can you expect to take away?Watch or listen now and you’ll have a sharper grasp of the IHT detail that’s easy to get wrong. Plus the confidence to spot these issues in your own client cases.Useful linksWatch the Replay in CrowdcastDownload slides: IHT the details that could trip up paraplanners

An odd feature of paraplanning is that quite a bit of our time is spent designing strategies that are all about the inevitability of death but – just like in our everyday lives – lots of our clients seem reluctant to talk about death and dying and being prepared for it.Yet the financial grief that families and friends face following a death serves only to compound the overwhelming emotional kind.That’s what this Assembly is all about. Kylie Clark of Wealthtime, Katy Hancock of Dorothy House Hospice Care and Lucy Halliday from Argonaut Paraplanning joined Richard Allum to talk about death and dying.Because at a time when a growing percentage of clients are reaching an age when they should be dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s in plenty of time before they die, what can paraplanners do to help them get death-ready?What you’ll learnOut-of-date expression of wish forms, account and app passwords, overseas accounts, tracking down former advisers and solicitors – what are the biggest and most frequent problems following death? And what can clients and their families do to avoid them?The way firms handle bereavement is one of the most significant sources of complaints across financial services. With bereavement support about to come under the FCA’s spotlight, what can advice practices do to improve things?Learn how the ‘last 1,000 days’ concept could offer a lens to help clients and their families planGrief isn’t just the client’s, it’s the paraplanner’s too. How we’ve been able to acknowledge grief in the past influences how we’re able to help clients experiencing it now and in the future.Watch nowParaplanners from all across the UK got together to share ideas, ask questions and break the big taboo about death. Plus there’s one hour’s CPD available.Missed it? Then follow the links below and watch the replay or catch up with the podcast now.Useful linksThere were loads of links shared by our guests and paraplanners in the Chat during this Assembly. We’ve listed them below. If you watch the Replay at Crowdcast, you can also see the very active Chat contributions posted throughout the session.Watch: Replay at CrowdcastWealthtime's Bereavement HubDorothy House's 'Part of Life' siteDorothy House’s information hub for end of life planningDownload 'Peace of Mind' Planner (PDF)Taking care of your digital legacyPodcast with James Norris about digital legacy planningAnswers to the most Googled searches about deathFCA: Announcement of focus on supporting bereaved customersDorothy House: Children and Young People's Wellbeing HubLottie.org for care statsThe Good Grief TrustAge UK: LifeBook to record practical details of your life