Five tips on looking after your financial wellbeing

The advice

Danny Jones, director of client services at Lloyd & Whyte

As a locum, you will be used to standing on your own two feet. Being self-employed means you need to manage your life and finances yourself – from completing your own tax return, to looking after your own retirement planning and insuring yourself in case something goes wrong. You will know that you do not qualify for sick pay, parental leave, or statutory holidays, so any breaks in your career will need to be planned and funded by you.

Lloyd & Whyte independent financial advisers specialise in providing locum optometrists with advice on organising all aspects of your finances so that you can breathe a little easier.

Here are five financial top tips for you:

1 Income protection

Lloyd & Whyte can source an income protection policy that could pay up to 65% of your regular income should you become ill or have an accident. You can also tailor your policy to cover you until you are fit to return to your specific profession, not just any form of employment; this is referred to as: “own occupation.”

As a locum, you will not be eligible for statutory sick pay, so having income protection insurance is vital. It can help pay for your mortgage or rent, household bills, and family expenses which, with rising interest rates and the high cost of living, could make the difference between keeping your home or losing it. 

You will know that you do not qualify for sick pay, parental leave, or statutory holiday, so any breaks in your career will need to be planned and funded – by you

2 Pensions

According to recent data, less than one third (31%) of self-employed people are saving into a pension. Reasons for this may be due to the complexity of pensions – how they work and how you can save into them; the vast range of pensions available to self-employed people, and perhaps the preconception many have that they can’t afford to pay into a pension at this time. However, paying into a personal pension (sometimes known as a private pension) can provide you with greater control over how and where your money is invested, such as investing ethically and/or ascertaining your personal level of investment risk. Lloyd & Whyte independent financial advisers can advise you on tailoring your investments according to your risk tolerance, and exploring your options around sectors in which you would (or would not) like to invest in.

Perhaps you are weighing up options around investing in property or pension, or would like to explore a self-invested pension plan (SIPP), NEST (National Employment Savings Trust) or other types of personal pension? However you envisage your retirement, we can help you take the most effective course of action.

3 Life insurance

Life insurance provides financial support to your family and dependents in the event of your death. Unless you have a huge amount of savings of between £160,000 to £200,000 for each of your children, taking out life insurance is a wise move. It will ensure your loved ones are financially stable and give you peace of mind.

Life insurance can be used for a number of purposes, but is most commonly used to repay a mortgage or provide family protection.

Your property is likely to be your single most valuable asset and your family’s home, so you will need it to be protected in the event of your death.

• Decreasing life insurance issues decreasing payments over time, tracking the decreases in a repayment mortgage. It is used to cover the remaining balance of your repayment mortgage should you die
• Life insurance could issue a lump sum payment to your family, should you die within the policy term. This payment could be put towards paying the mortgage if it is an interest only mortgage.

4 Mortgage advice

Are you trawling online property portals with a view to buying your first home? Is your fixed-rate deal coming to an end soon? Or are you concerned about rapidly rising interest rates and what this has meant or could mean for you?
Whatever your circumstances, securing the right mortgage and getting the right advice around your current mortgage deal is essential.
Lloyd & Whyte’s expert mortgage advisers can research the market for you, ensuring you get the right advice and most effective mortgage.

Your AOP membership entitles you to:

• Free initial consultation
• Expert, qualified mortgage advice
• Online mortgage calculators
• A personal service
• Access to a wide range of mortgages.

When making decisions, it is always important to consider it as part of your overall financial plan – which is best done with the help of an independent financial adviser

5 Private medical insurance

As a self-employed individual, you will not have access to healthcare benefits provided by your workplace. At the time of writing, 7.21 million people are waiting for treatment from the NHS. Are you willing to join the queue?

Lloyd & Whyte private medical insurance (PMI), which is designed to take care of your health on your terms, can help remove the stress from getting the medical attention you may need.

PMI offers the following benefits:

• Faster treatment with shorter waiting times
• Your choice of the level of treatment and aftercare
• Your choice of surgeon and hospital (which fits in with your timing and location)
• Access to medications and treatments which might not be available through the NHS
• Option of a second opinion with a consultant, following a referral by your GP
• Quick access to physiotherapy, bypassing long NHS wait times.

When making decisions, it is always important to consider it as part of your overall financial plan – which is best done with the help of an independent financial adviser.

At Lloyd & Whyte, we offer AOP members complimentary financial reviews with qualified independent financial advisers. That means they are not tied into any specific plan or product and will ensure they find the most effective financial strategy for you, whether that is sourcing income protection, advising on pensions, finding you PMI or life insurance, or getting you the right mortgage deal.

Book an appointment with an adviser online, or telephone: 01823 250750. 

Find out more by visiting Lloyd & Whyte’s website.