PensionsOct 5 2021

We need to uncomplicate end-of-life admin

twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by
comment-speech

Long gone are the days where we kept all our most important information in box files in the office.

Now, everything is digital. We have online logins for everything from our pensions to our credit cards.

All our insurance documents are now saved in online portals, our utilities bills have online accounts and, with banks closing branches all across the country, most people are banking completely online now.

And while in theory, everything being online should make it easier, in practice, it can be hugely confusing and chaotic.

Trying to remember where everything is, and how to get to it - different URLs for online management systems, creating and remembering unique usernames and passwords etc - can be quite stressful. 

It encourages clients to talk to their children about the future.

The stress it can all cause was highlighted even further for me when I was helping my father get his financial affairs in order.

Trying to consolidate all the information when he was there with me was difficult enough, it would have been almost impossible if I’d been doing it alone.

This made me realise how hard it must be for those who have lost a loved one, and in their grief are also tasked with trying to piece everything together.

I wanted to do something to make it much easier for people to keep on top of all their important information during their lifetime, but also create a way for people to share all that key information securely with those closest to them to make estate administration easier.

This is why I created Zenplans.

Zenplans is a new digital estate planning service for advisers to help their clients securely organise, maintain, store and selectively share all their most important personal and financial information.

My aim is to enable advisers to help clients manage their assets, debts and other financial affairs, key information about their daily lives and details about their wishes - including information about their will and lasting power of attorney, and how to organise their digital legacy.

It can also be selectively shared with named delegates who can be granted restricted or full access, either immediately or after a particular time - for example, after death, or if the client becomes incapacitated - ensuring that information is quickly and easily accessible by the right people as and when needed. 

As well as organising assets and ensuring everything is easy to find, getting clients to start thinking about their wishes also opens up conversations with the next generation.

I hope this will encourage clients to talk to their children about the future, and that this, in turn, will open up conversations between advisers and their clients’ families, encouraging them to get to know each other, start to trust each other, and hopefully, start their own professional relationship.

My dad has taken advice from various advisers over the years, but I have never been involved, so as it stands, my first interaction with them will be following a bereavement - not a great start to a relationship, and therefore, not one that is likely to flourish. 

By using tools like Zenplans, advisers have a great opportunity not only to improve their relationship with and service to their current clients, but to create new ones with the next generation too.

And given that this generation is on the cusp of the greatest wealth transfer in history, that is an opportunity not to be missed.

Stephen Moses is founder of Zenplans