The appeal of being a contractor allows for more freedom of work with flexible hours, working from home, and setting your own hourly, or project rate. The financial aspect, however, can also bring worries and challenges for the future; when you work for a company, you have a workplace pension scheme that provides you with security for your retirement.
It can be stressful and costly – often even impossible – to manage your finances in order to account for health expenses and save for your pension. In addition, should you wish to buy a house, getting funding for a mortgage can be difficult. Here at ICS, we have been helping contractors with their pension, mortgage, and insurance, since 1999, ensuring their loved ones are protected.
How can we help you keep your money in your pocket for the future and for your family?
Insurance Protection
As a contractor, saving money for unexpected events such as illness might not always be at the front of your mind. Paying your bills and carrying yourself over the ‘low season’ of work can often be overwhelming, and you might find it difficult to support your loved ones while recovering from a serious illness. To try and minimise the potential stress and other consequences of such, you can benefit from a variety of different covers:
- Life Cover: Thinking about the eventuality of you passing away is unpleasant, however, it is something to consider if you have a family to support. You can have either ‘Term Cover’, which provides your loved ones with a monthly payment should you pass away within a set period of time, or ‘Whole of Life Cover’, which provides you with protection for your lifetime.
- Critical Illness Cover: Critical illnesses can be very debilitating, even if ‘invisible’, and leave you unable to work. This insurance provides you with debt, mortgage, and medical expenses coverage if you don’t possess enough savings to cover your payments while being signed off.
- Income Protection Insurance: This insurance doesn’t have a list of claimable illnesses, unlike Critical Illness Cover, and ensures that your outgoings are covered if you are declared unfit to work by a doctor.
Should you require more information about insurance cover, click here.
Getting Mortgage Funding
Approaching a lender or a bank to get mortgage funding can be daunting, particularly as a contractor. Often, contractors might be seen as a high risk due to not being a permanent employee in a company, with misunderstandings happening about how much money you earn.
We can help you to get the funding you need for your mortgage, as our partners Contractor Financials have a bespoke underwriting with a variety of High Street lenders. As a contractor, you have access to the same competitive products as a permanent employee and can easily start planning your family home and your future.
Saving For Your Pension
Your pension provides you with enough means to retire, a factor which you might receive when you work for a company. As a contractor, however, you are not entitled to the enrolment in this pension scheme. Saving up money while working for yourself can be difficult, particularly when unexpected illnesses occur and you need money to cover your expenses. Here at ICS, we help you structure a financial plan for when you wish to retire and we ensure that this plan keeps up-to-date should there be any changes in the market in order to keep money in your pocket.
When you’re a contractor, it’s vital to ensure that you can plan for the future and are able to enjoy buying a home and having a relaxed retirement. At ICS, we can help you to structure your financial strategy to ensure that your future is planned.
Simply get in touch with our friendly team if you want to know more about our other services.