- Conference took place on 11th October at Central Hall, Westminster, London
- Highlighted the positive aspects of advising the Baby Boomers
- Speakers addressed real and pressing issues facing our aging population
- Event Chaired by Lord Lipsey
- Key speakers included Care England, FCA, DWP
On Tuesday October 11th the Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA) welcomed over 160 of its accredited Later Life advisers and guests to its 2016 conference in central London. The event was opened and chaired by Lord Lipsey, Labour Peer and Honorary President of SOLLA and Tish Hanifan, Founder and Joint Chair of SOLLA. The conference focussed on the need for advice to achieve a 'Happy, Healthy, Wealthy and Wise' later life. Speakers also highlighted the critical challenges facing the Later Life agenda over the coming years.
Steve Webb (Head of Policy, Royal London and former Minister of State for Pensions) spoke of the uncertainty regarding individual pension decisions, the continual erosion of the life time allowance, distractions arising the ongoing ISA versus Pension debate, and the urgent need to create a stable state within which effective long term financial planning for retirement can take place.
Professor Martin Green OBE, (Chief Executive, Care England) spoke of the ongoing challenges of providing social care and the need for real integration of policy, practice and budgets. Whilst insightful on current initiatives and challenges, he lamented the fact that many ideas are process driven rather than simply focussing upon improved outcomes for the end users.
On a very different tack Professor Keith Brown (Bournemouth University, and Specialist Adviser to the Government taskforce on older people and financial abuse) went on to highlight the devastating effects of financial scams on the vulnerable and older people. Personal details of as many as 500,000 vulnerable people are known to be available to those seeking to take advantage, and the impacts upon the victims and their families has been woefully understated at every level. He appealed to all to recognise the issues and to work together to build in safeguards - particularly the adoption of ‘cooling off periods’ and delays in payment transactions for those identified as being at risk.
Vivienne Mann (FCA Ageing Population Strategy) talked about how societal issues as well safeguarding the individual, and how the FCAs work aimed to review the holistic issues regarding the aging population. Bernie Hickman (Chief Executive, L&G Home Finance) made some compelling arguments for a need for a fresh attitude towards the contribution housing equity can make to a better later life and the wider care issue. Dr Chris Ball (Consulting Medical Officer, GenRe) provided great insight into the emotional issues surrounding ageing and mental health in particular depression. Michael Switsur (DWP) gave a remarkably clear update surrounding State Pension changes and those facing transitional issues due to their age.
Speaker after speaker pointed out the need to ensure that the highest standards of later life financial advice were available to people. The SOLLA Accreditation was clearly seen as a strong consumer benefit.
Tish Hanifan (Founder and Joint Chair of SOLLA) closed by thanking SOLLA Members for their efforts to create a trusted group of specialist advisers, and commended Just Retirement, Partnership and Octopus Investments for their very pro-active support in helping the SOLLA brand create better consumer outcomes. Tish concluded that “SOLLA continues to act as the consumer champion in the provision of Later Life advice, and is recognised for its unique contribution in advancing expertise and understanding. We will continue to advance the unique and important role of SOLLA in supporting consumers to find good advice”.
