In Blog 61 we mentioned Section 72 plans and said the following....These are creations of the Financial Services industry endorsed by the Revenue and are sold to people as a means to reduce or indeed eliminate a potential Inheritance or Gift Tax Bill down the road. They cost money and I am told are not as much fun nor rewarding as giving the money to loved-ones while you are alive! Having said that they can work very well for some people in building an effective Financial Plan and planning their inheritance in a tax effective manner, particularly if the estate is of a size and time is against them in gifting enough in the time left! We will devote full episodes to both these types of plans in the near future.

So, as promised a few weeks ago we now going to try explain what exactly a Section 72 is, and isn't, and how to ensure that, if this is something you are thinking is for you, how to ensure it does what you want it to do for you, to achieve the goal you have in mind.

Speaking of goals, that is what we are on a mission to do here at Informed Decisions, to help you achieve the goals that are important to you. I completely empathise that our industry doesn't always make it easy to see the wood from the trees but that is our mission, to help you get whatever it is that is important to you. You can join our community here, and please do share this with anyone you feel may benefit from it. Boom!

If you can't or don't want to spend the money or give it away before you die then a Section 72 plan may very well be a really useful and cost effective last resort to help cover the tax bill that inherently (no pun intended!) arises when someone dies with too much money. The very worst case scenario is that a vast swathe of the estate is handed over to the revenue, this might just be a means to protect against that fate.

Thanks.

Paddy Delaney

QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach

Podcast 82: A Last Resort......Section 72