Crystallisation - must you take the 25% cash?

dunstonh

I think that's what is called Whole of Life insurance - but it's very expensive - a quick quote for the two of us for 500k of insurance comes out at £650/month in premiums!

It is expensive but you can also get single premium and play the odds game by hoping for later death rather than earlier.  You can also get non-investment linked WOL plans as well which can drop the cost a lot compared to the investment backed ones.

However, do remember that it is effectively looking at offset the 40% tax bill on the excess assets.   That means you need to balance the cost against the benefit and decide whether it is viable or not.  i.e. if WOL costs £xxxx over the projected term and the tax saved is £yyyy then is it worth it?

In reality, it is not the method used as much as it used to be.  Using pensions and gifting is cheaper and works well enough for most people.   

You can also consider BPR qualifying AIM for some of the investments (non mainstream and one of the experienced investor with more wealth)