Why an addition to the family means another visit to your financial planner...

As many of you who read this will know, we've recently had a new addition to the family.  Little Sophie was born at the end of November and our life is back to sleepless nights, constant feeds and having to plan with military precision how we get everything we need in the car when we decide to take a trip anywhere.

So, what has this meant to our personal finances.  Firstly, it means life has just become more expensive.  A recent study by LV= places the cost of raising a child at £218,024 in total with the main cost being education (which has increased by 120% since 2003)

One of the main reasons for the huge increase is the rule change in tuition fees and whilst many young people will fund this with student loans, many parents want to ease the burden post university by planning to contribute toward these fees.  This is where a relationship with your financial planner should come into play.

However there is another fundamental reason you should see your financial adviser if a new arrival comes along....the need to review your existing protection needs.  In our household the arrival of Sophie meant that our life cover designed to protect our family needed to be reviewed.

So, you may be asking why?  Before Sophie arrived all our family protection policies were due to finish when Charlotte was 21.  However if I kept the same policies in place without reviewing these plans they would finish when Sophie was 13....meaning that I've got a gap in the cover needed to protect my family until Sophie was 21.  Therefore, it's important I look at the options to ensure this gap is filled.

So, a couple of questions....

When was the last time you reviewed your protection needs?

Was the last time you saw your financial planner since an addition to your family?

What action are you going to take to ensure you have the peace of mind to ensure your family are protected?