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+ Could Budget leaks force the wrong move?

As ever before Budget statements, the media is doing its best to create headlines based on what could be announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves in November.

Last year, the noise around potential changes to the tax-free lump sum caused a substantial increase in people accessing their pension pots earlier than planned. Figures published recently by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) show that over 25,000 people accessed pots worth £250,000 or more in the six months to September 2024 –more than 50 per cent on the same period a year earlier.

However, once the Budget was declared, the predicted change to taxfree cash (formally known as pension commencement lump sum) did not materialise leaving many to regret their decision.

Now HMRC and the FCA have issued a warning that those making pension withdrawals before the forthcoming ﬁscal statement will not be able to use the 30-day ‘cooling off’ rules to change their mind should the chancellor choose not to amend the tax-free cash rules.

The ofﬁcial statement reads: “a contract allowing an individual person to take a pension commencement lump sum or uncrystallised funds pension lump sum is not listed as a cancellable contract, so cancellation rights do not generally apply to these transactions.”

The statement adds that in situations where cancellation rights will be upheld, the tax consequences of withdrawing lump sums (including any use of the individual’s lump sum allowance) will not be reversed even if the payment is returned.

We would always suggest progressing cautiously in terms of acting on the basis of what is still, at this stage, speculation. We cannot be sure of the chancellor’s proposals until the ofﬁcial Budget information is released or she takes to the lectern on Wednesday 26 November.

If you have any concerns about what you might be seeing in media reports, please speak with your adviser who will be happy to chat through your current position and the potential impact of any proposed government changes. We also have a reminder of how you can protect the amount of cash you can take tax-free inside this issue.

Have you considered the impact of inheritance tax on your family?

+ Comment: Paul Hart, director

It is clear from ongoing chats with clients that inheritance tax continues to cause concern. Headlines tell us that IHT receipts hit a staggering £4.4bn for April to September 2025 – a £100m increase on the same period last year. The full 2025 receipts are likely to reach nearly £9bn.

Over the last ﬁve years, inheritance tax payments have grown by more than 50 per cent – the result of freezing the nil rate bands back in 2009. In a recent YouGov poll, more than 54 per cent of responders voted to abolish inheritance tax altogether.

Recently we have started a partnership with the Royal Society of

+ Protecting your lump sum cash

HMRC has announced a deadline extension to the ‘protection’ scheme which can safeguard the amount of tax-free lump sum available from your NHS pension.

The lifetime allowance – which limited tax-free pensions savings –was ofﬁcially abolished in April 2024. This means there is no longer a tax-charge on overall pensions’ savings in excess of the available lifetime allowance. However, there is still a cap on the ‘maximum pension commencement lump sum’ (or ‘tax-free cash’) available when beneﬁts are drawn for those without ‘protection’ schemes in place. This limit is currently £268,275 (25 per cent of the former lifetime allowance which was £1,073,100).

Medicine (RSM) to deliver presentations on the key matters affecting medics. Unsurprisingly, inheritance tax was one of the most requested webinars for us to host.

The IHT freeze is due to continue until April 2030 and from April 2027, the government will proceed with the proposals for pensions to become liable for inheritance tax too.

If you have any queries about your own estate planning, your adviser will be happy to discuss further. There are numerous considerations that can help you and your loved ones to mitigate your tax position. For example, you may wish to look into creating Trusts, establishing insurance policies, using equity release or using appropriate gifts and allowances.

First and foremost, you must have a valid Will in place. We talk about this all the time but still meet successful, wealthy individuals without the basic documents that can help maximise your allowances and protect your legacy.

Over £5bn of property assets in the UK is expected to change hands over the next 30 years. All ﬁnancial planning considerations should begin with supporting your family and therefore assessing the best way of transferring wealth between generations. Now is the time to have important conversations with relatives – and your adviser can help facilitate this.

Protection schemes were introduced by the government whenever the lifetime allowance limit was reduced to give savers a chance to secure a previous higher allowance before the change took place.

It is still possible to apply for Individual Protection 2016. The deadline was originally 5 April 2025 but this has now been extended to 5 April 2027 for those affected by the McCloud remedy.

The official criteria to apply as part of the extension includes having had more than £1m in pension benefits on 5 April 2016 –which may be the case following the recalculation of figures due to the McCloud remedy.

+ Pension statements and Scheme Pays deadlines

Many clients are still awaiting their Remedial Pension Savings Statements (RPSS) as part of the McCloud remedy – despite the original October 2024 statutory deadline for them all to be issued.

In response to the considerable delays, the government has now extended the mandatory Scheme Pays deadline to 6 July 2027 from the original date of 6 July 2025. Under Scheme Pays, annual allowance charges can be paid by the NHS Pension Scheme, rather

than the individual. To qualify, the annual allowance charge for the tax year must exceed £2,000 and the pension input amount must be greater than the annual allowance.

If you have any queries on Scheme Pays, or your RPSS, please contact your adviser. If you have already received your RPSS but have not sent it to us, please may we ask you to do so at your earliest opportunity.

+ Introduction to Oliver Prichard

Financial planner Oliver Prichard joined Medical Family Finance in the week leading up to the ﬁrst Covid lockdown in March 2020. Despite starting at a unique and challenging time, he has enjoyed growing with the business and supporting our clients through such an unusual period.

What do you like about the way Medical Family Finance approaches ﬁnancial planning?

I really appreciate our commitment to keeping things clear and straightforward. In a world where tax rules, markets, and ﬁnancial products are constantly changing, it is easy for things to feel overwhelming for clients. That’s why we focus on cutting through the noise and explaining things in a way that’s simple and easy to understand.

Our goal is for clients to leave meetings feeling conﬁdent, reassured, and in control, knowing they’re making the right decisions for their future. I think we do that really well and it makes me proud to be building that kind of trust.

What do clients value when working with you?

We’re not just here to talk about numbers, we’re here to understand what really matters to our clients, whether that’s family, future plans, or personal goals.

Good communication is key, and over time, that often leads to genuine connections and even friendships. When clients feel comfortable discussing the more personal aspects of their lives, it allows us to give advice that’s truly tailored and meaningful. I believe that trust and connection are at the heart of great ﬁnancial planning, and it’s something we really focus on at MFF.

What does the future hold for ﬁnancial planning in the UK?

The use of AI in ﬁnancial planning is exciting from a point of view of easing the administrative burden on advisers such as automating meeting notes, or saving documents to client ﬁles so that they can spend more time on client matters. However, we deliver a client-focussed and personal service that simply can’t be replaced by online tools.

When it comes to complex or sensitive topics, like family planning, retirement, or legacy decisions, people want to speak to someone

they trust and a real person who understands the nuance of every choice made or milestone reached. That personal connection and reassurance would be impossible to replicate with technology.

What is the most rewarding part of your role?

Helping clients make sense of ﬁnancial matters, whether it’s something simple or more complex, that they might not have fully understood before is particularly rewarding.

It doesn’t matter whether someone is already confident and financially savvy or just starting out on their savings or investment journey. That moment when something clicks for them, when they feel more informed and empowered, is incredibly satisfying. In fact, knowing that I’ve helped someone feel more confident about their financial future is what makes the job so fulfilling.

What do you love most about working for Medical Family Finance?

The opportunity to work with such dedicated and inspiring clients is wonderful. As specialist advisers for medics, it’s a real privilege to support the people who spend their careers caring for others. Even though ﬁnancial planning might seem small in comparison to the incredible work they do, being able to take some of the pressure off, whether it’s guiding them through investments, helping them reach key ﬁnancial goals, or simply giving them peace of mind, feels very meaningful.

What would you like to change about the finance industry? I would love to make financial advice more accessible, especially for younger people. There’s still a perception that you need to have significant wealth before seeking advice but I don’t think that’s true at all.

In fact, getting good guidance early on can make a huge difference over the long term. Whether it’s starting to invest, building savings, or planning for retirement, having the right advice from a young age can really set people up for a stronger ﬁnancial future.

I’d love to see financial advice become more widely available so that more people, regardless of their starting point, can benefit from it. For this reason, I have really enjoyed being involved in our ‘Financial Education’ webinars for adult children of our clients. They started when a client told us that their children in their 20s were making some life choices of their own and he believed they could benefit from learning some of the fundamental points of savings, pensions and investments.

We have had some great feedback from our ﬁrst webinars and hope they can become a useful toolkit for loved ones.

If you would like to recommend the Financial Education Series webinars to your family members, please forward this web address https://medicalfamilyﬁnance.co.uk/ﬁnancial-education-series

+

There has been a sharp increase in scams from fraudsters pretending to be from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Nearly 5,000 such incidents have occurred in the last six months, with many targeting those aged over 56.

The scams often involve attackers pretending to recover crypto funds or offering to ‘help’ victims of previous loan scams.

The scams are using FCA logos, staff names or similar email addresses to make their attempts to defraud appear genuine. Fraudsters may also use urgency or fear to rush victims into acting quickly.

Please remember that the FCA will never request sensitive banking details or direct fund transfers. If you receive any such requests and are uncertain of their validity, please do telephone your ﬁnancial adviser for assistance.

The FCA’s scam-spotting checklist

1 Be cautious of unexpected contact - If someone contacts you out of the blue, by phone, email, text or social media, pause and verify before engaging.

2 Watch for urgency or pressure - Scammers often create a false sense of urgency. Take time to think and talk it through with someone you trust.

3 Do not share sensitive information - The FCA will never ask for your PINs, passwords or to transfer money. Never give remote access to your device unless you are certain who you are dealing with.

4 Check credentials - Use the FCA Firm Checker to verify if a ﬁrm or individual is authorised. Do not rely on links sent via email or text.

5 Be sceptical of ‘too good to be true’ offers - High returns, exclusive deals or secret opportunities are common scam tactics. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

6 Look out for emotional manipulation - Scammers may use ﬂattery, fear or authority to inﬂuence your decisions. Stay grounded and seek independent advice if unsure.

7 Protect your online accounts - Enable two-step veriﬁcation (2SV) on important accounts to reduce the risk of unauthorised access.

8 Report suspicious activity - If you suspect a scam, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via actionfraud.police.uk.

+ Asking for your help

You may have been contacted by us recently asking if you would be prepared to give a review of our services. We have embarked upon a ‘testimonial’ project because we know it can be really helpful for people looking for ﬁnancial help to hear quotes from our real life clients about your experiences of working with us.

We would be most grateful if you are able to write a few lines in response to one of our requests about working with your adviser or our wider team. To make it easier, we can send you ‘prompts’ that help you to consider what you most enjoy or value when working with Medical Family Finance.

+ Thank you for thinking of us

We are delighted to announce that the winner of our referral prize draw this quarter is Torie Appleyard. Torie has won a Montblanc Meisterstück Classique pen.

We are always delighted to speak to your colleagues who may beneﬁt from our specialist services and are grateful for the many recommendations that help us to support more people. For every referral that contacts us, you will receive an entry into our quarterly prize draw which will take place in December. Please ask your contact to mention your name when they ﬁrst enquire with us.

Many thanks for supporting our business.