ICP067 - Justin Harper, LV, Cost of a Child Report

In this bonus episode of the Informed Choice Podcast, Martin chats to Justin Harper, Life & Health Specialist at LV, the UK's largest friendly society, about the 13th annual LV Cost of a Child report.

The report has found that the cost of raising a child is at an all-time high, increasing by more than £2,500 in the last year alone.

Some of the key figures from their research included

-The average annual cost of raising a child now takes up more than a third of the average UK household’s net income.

-The biggest increase over the year has been 4.3% for childcare costs.

-Six in ten parents admit they’re struggling to manage their outgoings.

-Half (49%) of parents don’t have a plan in place if the main breadwinner were to lose their income due to accident or illness.

Do visit lv.com to find out more about their annual Cost of a Child report, which includes a useful online calculator you can use to calculate your own costs of raising a child until their 21st birthday.

Martin and Informed Choice

Martin Bamford is a Chartered Financial Planner, Chartered Wealth Manager and SOLLA Accredited Later Life Adviser. As Managing Director of Informed Choice, the award-winning firm of Chartered Financial Planners in Surrey, he is responsible for nearly £200m of client assets.

Martin is the author of several bestselling personal finance books and produced his first feature-length documentary in 2014, about the post-war Baby Boomer generation in retirement.

“Bamford excels at making even the dullest topics interesting” – Pensions Management

Visit www.icfp.co.uk to find out more about Informed Choice, or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/informedchoice.

Follow Martin on Twitter at www.twitter.com/martinbamford or email him at martin@icfp.co.uk.