Professional Financial Planning is the process which aims to help you realise your ambitions. As professional financial advisers we can help you make informed decisions about your financial future, short, medium and long term.
You will almost certainly have plans of one kind or another - buying a home, starting a family, living abroad, perhaps retiring, but such ambitions have financial implications and you can't leave it all to chance. Careful planning aims to help turn your plans into...
Health Insurance is probably one of the most important types of insurance you can own. Without it, an illness or accident can have serious financial implications for you and your family.
Most people will be aware that Health Insurance can cover the cost of private medical treatment for any acute conditions you may suffer in the future. However, there are a number of other types of Health-related Insurance policies which are worthy of serious consideration.
The main purpose of Life Assurance is to provide money for those people who may depend on you financially, in the event that something should happen to you. These people could include family members or business partners.
This type of protection plan is called life 'assurance' because death is at some point inevitable, which means that you are 'assured' that the plan will definitely pay out one day, so long as you have paid all the premiums and you die whilst the plan is in force.
All businesses are exposed to risks in their day-to-day operations. Without insurance cover to provide protection against some of these risks, businesses would find it difficult to operate efficiently and profitably.
Adequate insurance is therefore not a luxury - it is an absolute necessity.
These days, many people are not afraid to seek compensation. No win - no fee advertisements encourage claims, and businesses need to protect themselves against liability claims that could run into millions of pounds.
Accident, Sickness & Unemployment insurance (ASU), is designed to provide you with an income to meet your outgoings in case of absence from work due to illness, an accident or redundancy.
With an accident, sickness & unemployment policy you pay for a monthly premium for the level of cover you need, and if you lose your job or can't work, you will receive that amount of money each month to cover your costs and spend as you wish. Policies usually pay out for up to a year or until you...
If you are in full time employment you should consider the benefits of a redundancy cover plan. We are all vulnerable to the potential of involuntary redundancy and the good old days of knowing that you have 'a job for life' seem to be gone.
Part of the payment protection insurance - PPI - family, redundancy cover provides a tax free monthly amount that can be used to help you manage financially in the event of involuntary unemployment.
Your mortgage is probably the largest financial transaction and commitment you are likely to undertake. Surely then you should seek mortgage advice which is individually tailored to your needs and requirements?
We are not tied to any particular lender, which means that we have the ability to act on your behalf, representing your best interests, in order to establish the most appropriate mortgage solution for you.
When you retire you still need food and shelter as an absolute minimum, but of course you will want to maintain the lifestyle to which you have become accustomed, so unless you can guarantee a large windfall, you need to provide yourself with a secure income for the rest of your life.
A well prepared pension plan which is regularly reviewed should go some way to providing this.
When someone talks about savings and saving money, it could be referring to a piggy bank or a high interest deposit account. Savings are effectively cash or cash instruments, such as deposit accounts, term bonds etc.
Investing is what you do with the savings you have - if you are looking to generate a greater return on your money than is available to you through your savings instruments.
Taxation can be very complicated and the rules, reliefs and allowances often change, so it is worth obtaining a clear grasp of how these taxes work by discussing with a professional adviser the most efficient way to arrange your finances.
An expert will be able to help you plan your taxes in advance, and come up with effective strategies that will use the lawful reliefs and allowances to minimise the amount you have to pay.
Wealth, just like your health, must be carefully preserved. Your assets need to be protected against the potential threats of erosion by taxation, the effects of inflation and investment risks.
Whatever your level of wealth, there is nothing wrong in making the decision to prepare a risk aversion strategy. Risk aversion is a reasonable and prudent strategy for anyone who is sure that they already have ample to provide for themselves and their family into the future.
The IHT threshold is currently £325,000 (2020/2021) and many people are still getting caught in the trap of property inheritance tax as the threshold has not kept pace with the inflation of property prices, and so is affecting more and more people.
There is also an additional ‘main residence’ allowance which applies if a person’s home is given to their children (including adopted, foster or stepchildren) or grandchildren. This is set at £175,000 (2020/2021) and is added to the IHT threshold providing a total allowance of £500,000 (2020/2021).
When a relative dies and leaves an estate worth more than £325,000 (2020/2021) or £500,000 (2020/2021) if the ‘main residence’ allowance applies, families are required to pay tax on a proportion of the money and property left to them within six months. After that, they are charged interest at a rate of 2.6% (2020/2021).
However, there are ways to lessen the burden of property IHT.
The IHT threshold is currently £325,000 (2020/2021) and many people are still getting caught in the trap of property inheritance tax as the threshold has not kept pace with the inflation of property prices, and so is affecting more and more people.
There is also an additional ‘main residence’ allowance which applies if a person’s home is given to their children (including adopted, foster or stepchildren) or grandchildren. This is set at £175,000 (2020/2021) and is added to the IHT threshold providing a total allowance of £500,000 (2020/2021).
When a relative dies and leaves an estate worth more than £325,000 (2020/2021) or £500,000 (2020/2021) if the ‘main residence’ allowance applies, families are required to pay tax on a proportion of the money and property left to them within six months. After that, they are charged interest at a rate of 2.6% (2020/2021).
However, there are ways to lessen the burden of property IHT.
When you die, it is likely that you would wish to leave as much as possible for your loved ones. Unfortunately this is often not as simple as you might believe. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will apply 40% tax to the value of your estate over and above that of the current threshold.
No IHT is applicable if the estate is being passed to a spouse, as the law sees your property as one estate together, unless there is a will stating otherwise, so nothing is being passed from one to another, it is merely no longer held jointly.
Your estate could include more than you originally realise. It is often easy to dismiss IHT as something that may not affect you as your property may not be over, or much over, the IHT threshold. However with all your other assets, such as investments, life cover, bank accounts, as well as physical property such as cars, furniture and family heirlooms, many estates are considerably over the threshold without the individuals being aware of it.
For assets passed between spouses and civil partners, the nil rate band allowance will pass along with the assets. This gives a couple available allowances (nil rate bands) of up to £650,000 (2020/2021), which increases to £1,000,000 (2020/2021) with the addition of the ‘main residence’ allowance detailed above.
With effect on and after 21 March 2012, if a person enters into arrangements through which they acquire an interest in excluded property such that the value of their estate is reduced, the reduction will be charged to IHT as if that person had transferred assets of that value directly to a relevant property trust.
The assets settled in the offshore trust will cease to be treated as excluded property and will instead become subject to the relevant property regime.
These provisions will also apply to existing schemes or arrangements entered into before 21 March 2012, but only in relation to periodic charges and exit charges that arise on or after that date.
For further information about the 2020 Budget changes please click here.
INFORMATION IS BASED ON OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF TAXATION LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS. ANY LEVELS AND BASES OF, AND RELIEFS FROM TAXATION, ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
THE FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY DOES NOT REGULATE INHERITANCE TAX PLANNING, TAXATION & TRUST ADVICE.
TAX TREATMENT IS BASED ON INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.
