Lifetime Planning News & Blog

As news of the Coronavirus continues to hit the headlines, we thought we'd update you with how we will continue to serve you.

The health of our staff and their families comes first, so we have advised them all now to 100% work from home.

The Scottish Government has launched a pilot scheme called First Home Fund. The scheme is to help first-time buyers with the cost of purchasing a home in Scotland.

The scheme will contribute up to £25,000 towards the cost of buying a property through a shared equity scheme.

Season's Greetings from everyone at Lifetime Planning. We will be open during the festive period, please see our opening hours below.

For the third year running, we, at Lifetime Planning, are taking part in the Salvation Army’s Christmas Toy Appeal.

Along with the Salvation Army, we believe every child deserves a new gift at Christmas. That’s why we have chosen to take part again this year. Last year our staff donated toys and gifts ranging for all ages. This year we are donating a further 20+ gifts - ranging from Lego, Barbies and Transformer toys to name but a few.

This month men all over the country will be growing out their facial hair for Movember as a fun way to raise awareness of men’s cancer and mental health risks.

We all think “It won’t happen to me”. But most of us know of someone either directly or through friends and family that have been affected.

We’re delighted to announce, from our generous staff donations from our “Dress Down” Fridays over the past few months, we have raised an incredible total of £1,067!

Instead of focussing in on one charity, we asked our advisers and case managers which charities meant the most to them. So, with that in mind, we are happy to announce the five charities that have been picked to share our fundraising total.

With the summer months long gone and the festive month(s) nearing, now is a good time to look at your mortgage.

If you haven’t looked at your mortgage for a while, you could be paying more than you should on your mortgage. This could because you have been transferred over to your lender’s standard variable rate (SVR). A lender normally transfers you onto their standard variable rate when your fixed rate comes to an end. Allowing your mortgage to revert to the SVR can cost you dearly, as lenders typically hold their SVR at a significantly higher rate. Recent research from Which? states that UK homeowners are spending £4,000 too much on their mortgages each year [1].

AIG have launched Smart Health. It gives unlimited access to a 24/7 virtual GP as well as a range of other health and wellbeing experts. With any AIG policy, Smart Health is available at no extra cost.

24/7 virtual GP

Managing your health doesn’t always fit in to the 9-5. That’s why when you need a medical appointment, the Smart Health service provides you with unlimited, round the clock access to a GP.

If you’re a first-time buyer looking to buy a home this year, read on for our four top tips to secure your first mortgage.

1. Save deposit

You won’t get anywhere on the property ladder with out money for a deposit.

Critical illness can strike at any time.

• 1 in 2 people in the UK (born after 1960) will be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifetime. [1]
• Every 7 minutes someone will have a heart attack [2]
• Every 12 minutes someone will have a stroke [2]

Serious Illness Cover from Vitality helps protect you financially if the worst was to happen to you, and you fall ill with one of the 178 conditions that they cover. They pay out a cash lump sum based on the severity of your condition. It gives you financial stability allowing you plenty of time to recover.

A recent report from Macmillan Cancer Support, state there are 400,000 of the UK cancer population who struggle to pay household bills [1].

With improvements to diagnostics and treatments, the cancer population is increasing, but surviving cancer doesn’t mean living well. Everyone’s priority should be ensuring every person living with cancer gets the financial support they need when they need it.

Teachers endure greater job-related stress than other professionals, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) [1].

Research revealed that 3,750 teachers were signed off on long-term sick leave in 2017 because of pressure of work, anxiety and mental illness. [2]

According to a report from Scottish Widows, more than half (58%) of men with dependent children have no life insurance. That means that just over 4.5 million dads could be leaving their families with no financial protection if the worst was to happen to them.

Life insurance is designed to come to the rescue of your loved ones in the event of your death. It pays out a lump sum to those closest to you, relieving the financial worries from your family. It can help cover the cost of your mortgage, bills, general living expenses and funeral bills. Could your household survive without your income, a fifth of dad admitted that theirs wouldn’t.

Buying your first home is an exciting time, but it can take a while to build up enough savings so that you can put down a deposit. We’ve compiled a list of 9 money saving tips you can use to work towards saving for your first-time buyer mortgage.

1. Make a shopping list

Plan your week’s meals at the start of each week. Buy what you need at the shops. Remove the need to go to the shops everyday & the temptation of buying expensive takeaway food.

Could you and your family cope without your income?

Recent statistics released by RedArc have shown almost two-thirds of stroke victims (60%) fall within the traditional working age bracket of 40 to 59.

One in four of the 100,000 strokes in the UK each year [1] happen to people of working age or younger. Almost two-thirds of stroke survivors leave hospital with a disability [2].

April is Testicular Cancer Awareness month. It’s a cancer that’s most common in men ages 15-35 years, but men of all ages can be at risk [1].

Statistics from the Movember Foundation revealed that 1 in 10 men don’t know how to check for signs of the disease [2]. So as it’s Testicular Cancer Awareness month, we’ve put together three key points so that you are prepared.

With 2019 well and truly here, getting in shape is one of the top new year’s resolutions. But you shouldn’t just focus on physically and mentally getting in shape – let’s look at financially as well. Here are our top 3 financial jobs you shouldn’t put off in 2019.

1. Remortgaging

In August 2018, the Bank of England increased the base rate from 0.5% to 0.75%*. It’s highest level since March 2009. With this increase, mortgage lenders have started increasing many of the lower rates that many contractor borrowers have been enjoying. By reviewing your mortgage, you could secure your mortgage onto a new competitive fixed rate while they still exist (2, 5 or even some 10-year fixed rates are available). Lifetime Planning can search for remortgage deals on your behalf with major high street lenders and have access to exclusive deals that aren’t available on the high street.

For the second year running, we at Lifetime Planning have taken part in the Salvation Army’s Christmas Toy Appeal.

With the Salvation Army, we believe every child deserves a new gift at Christmas. That’s why we have chosen to take part again this year. Last year our staff donated toys and gifts ranging for all ages. This year we have donated a further 25 gifts - ranging from the latest Paw Patrol toys, Barbies and Transformer toys to name but a few.

Our very own mortgage adviser Liam Anderson has recently returned from his trip to Nepal where he runs his charity Raise Funds For Nepal, which supports and maintains two orphanages called Happy Home.

Lifetime Planning had recently donated £500 to Raise Funds for Nepal through our weekly dress down Fridays. Liam assessed with their sister charity, INFO Nepal, on where the raised funds could be used.

This month men all over the country will be growing out their facial hair for Movember as a fun way to raise awareness of men’s cancer and mental health risks.

We all think “it won’t happen to me”. Well as much as men might like to bury their head in the sand and pretend that’s the case, the facts are somewhat different.