Intergenerational Financial Planning Guide

The UK is in the middle of the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in its history — an estimated £5.5 trillion expected to move between generations over the next thirty years. For families who plan deliberately, the difference is measured in hundreds of thousands of pounds, not thousands. For those who don't, a substantial share goes to HMRC instead. And from April 2027, unspent pension pots move inside the estate for inheritance tax, fundamentally changing a strategy many families have relied on for years.

This guide is a plain-English walk-through of how wealth actually moves between generations in 2026: the full gifting toolkit, why the normal-expenditure-out-of-income exemption is the most powerful relief almost no one claims, how the seven-year clock rewards starting early, when trusts genuinely help and when they don't, planning around the family home and the residence nil rate band, and the April 2027 pension reform that may invert the optimal decumulation order. It includes a worked example — Robert and Patricia, both 66, with an £820,000 home and a £450,000 SIPP — showing how a coordinated plan over ten years reduces an IHT liability by an estimated £150,000.

It is written to help families make confident decisions across generations, not to sell a product. Read it in about fifteen minutes.