It's time to start planning for the future.

That’s the message from Huddersfield-born Richard Green and colleague Nick Butcher to hard-working business owners and their employees.

Both men are involved in advising people on “later life planning” – helping clients to make adequate financial provision for their retirement. And at a time of economic uncertainty, cuts to the welfare bill and worries about the sustainability of state pensions, the issues have been thrown into sharp relief.

Both men have extensive experience in the finance industry.

Huddersfield-born Richard, 45, is audit partner at accountancy firm Garbutt & Elliott in Leeds.

He works mainly with owner-managed businesses specialising in the care sector and has nearly 30 years experience in the accountancy profession. Richard grew up in Salendine Nook, where he still has family, and attended Salendine Nook High School before joining Huddersfield accountancy firm Revell Ward in 1984.

Although he now lives in Selby, he is a Huddersfield Town fan, and says: “I am proud of Huddersfield. I started my working life in the town.”

Nick, 44, worked as an independent financial adviser for HSBC in the Huddersfield area between 2008 and 2013 having previously worked for Norwich Union and Royal London. Sheffield-born Nick attended Penistone Grammar School and began his career in the financial advisory sector in 1992.

Now living in Barnsley, the Sheffield Wednesday fan joined G&E Wealth Management in January this year after seven years at HSBC. He specialises in pensions, life assurance, equity release, long-term care and investments.

Nick worked for TV and radio rental business Visionhire before a family member suggested he get a job with Royal London.

“Back in the early 1990s, electronic equipment was getting more affordable and people were switching from renting to buying,” he says. “I had joined Visionhire on the YTS and worked my way up to branch manager. But I saw no future in it.

“I worked for Royal London, knocking on doors and collecting premiums for about a year before becoming an assistant manager.

“I stayed with the company for 12 years until they no longer had a direct sales force.”

Based in Leeds, he is working with both corporate and private clients and is looking to make new professional connections in Huddersfield and elsewhere in West Yorkshire.

G&E Wealth Management, which offers a full range of independent financial services to both corporate and private markets, has offices in Leeds and York and is the wealth management subsidiary of Garbutt & Elliott established by the accountancy firm seven years ago.

Says Nick: “Later life planning is a specialist area and not all independent financial advisers are qualified to work in that area.

“We aim to help people make sure they can fund the care home of their choice and ensure there is an inheritance left to the family.

“We also work with care homes because the worst scenario is what happens if the money runs out. Many local authorities will only provide funding of approximately £350 a week and if the costs are higher, people may have to move from their preferred home to another one.

“The care home owner’s income is at risk if the resident has not taken up any planning at the start.

“Adequate financial planning can ensure that payments to the care home owner are guaranteed for life as well as providing an inheritance for the family.

“The care home owner is happy, the resident doesn’t have to worry about where they will find the funding and the family know how much money will be left.”

Richard says: “The number of people living longer is growing well beyond levels sustainable by the state. At the same time, the austerity measures are forcing local authorities to look very closely at what they will subsidise.

“We are moving away from funding by local authorities while care homes have to run a profitable business.”

Nick said another issue was ensuring clients had a suitable power of attorney in place if ever they lost the capacity to make their own decisions. “We can advise on power of attorney and the benefits for which people may be entitled,” he says.

The financial services industry had gone through a lot of changes to make their dealings much more transparent, says Nick.

IFAs were also becoming more professional by gaining recognised qualifications. Nick is qualified to diploma level and holds the necessary qualifications to advise in the areas of long term care and lifetime mortgages.

Looking at the general economic climate, Richard says: “There is a constant message among businesses – and particularly owner-managers – that everyone is having to work harder just to stand still. I look after a lot of businesses in West Yorkshire that are very successful but others will continue to struggle for some time yet.

“Owners are having to focus closely on their businesses and the people in those businesses.”

He says: “I work with about 100 businesses across a number of sectors and at very different stages in their life cycles. Some are third and fourth generation firms.”

Returning to the issue of planning for retirement and old age, Nick says: “Families don’t really like to talk about the subject.

“But if people know there is a route that gives them certainty in terms of paying for care and protecting an inheritance it becomes an easier conversation to have.”