The right financial strategy
Once we have defined your lifestyle and priorities, we can implement long-term financial planning to help meet your aspirations . . . we do this by recommending appropriate strategies and programmes
We typically have five strategies…
This is free of charge to you and solely at our cost. The purpose is to introduce you to this new totally impartial fee-based concept. You need to be completely confident and totally clear about what you are going to get for the fees you pay. So, you can expect a culture of straight talk, honesty and a structured process from the outset. It is up to you to then decide whether our service can make a real difference to your life right now and over the many years ahead
Financial Foundations
Advanced Tax Mitigation
Targeted Wealth Accummulation
Accelerated Retirement
Wealth Distribution
Financial foundations
Just as when building a house your finances needs to be built on strong foundations.
This strategy will start by guiding you to becoming financially organised. You will learn new ways on how to budget and plan around your income and outgoings. Together we will then work out what is important about your money to you and identify what your lifetime goals are and what they mean to you.
Once these are identified we will work together to devise a strategy of debt reduction and building up some savings. We will also work out what are the main risks you are likely to face: change or loss of job, disability or inability to maintain a lifestyle. You will then be encouraged to define and commit to a plan of action which will help you achieve your main short term objectives.
The outcome
The main result of this is to help you to become financially organised, understand how your finances work and then feel confident about committing to a strategy of mitigating any loans and building up a reasonable amount of cash whilst ensuring that, whatever happens to you, you will have a supplementary income.
In summary
The Financial Foundations Strategy will work around:
Debt repayment
Income tax planning advice
Family protection – providing funds in the event of death or disability
Salary protection – providing a supplementary income if you cannot work
Will writing through a solicitor
Advanced tax mitigation
The recent tax increases could be just the beginning of things to come. Income in excess of £150,000 is hit by 45% income tax whilst we believe the current level of capital gains tax (at 18% or 28%) could rise further.
The Advanced Tax Mitigation Strategy looks at ways of reducing this outlay through legitimate means. . . which involves working with your accountant. For example, Appleton Gerrard can advise on authorised investments which can “give back” some of the tax you’ve paid. At the same time we can also work with an accountant who can advise on remuneration planning. There is no doubt that when professionals work in harness you are the major beneficiary. Tax planning is a complex area which we will discuss in depth depending on whether our solutions (together with the accountant’s recommendations) are appropriate to your current lifestyle.
The outcome
We always ensure that tax planning advice we give is approved by your other professional advisers. You will be in an educated position of being able to see how various aspects of financial planning, legal and accounting advice can work together for your overall benefit.
In summary
The strategy will give you:
A comprehensive tax assessment
Income tax planning advice
Capital gains tax planning advice
Utilising available tax relief schemes
Utilising available capital allowances
Targeted wealth accumulation
he Targeted Wealth Accumulation Strategy will initially give you a broader understanding of your finances, including how to budget and plan for future events. We would have discovered your goals and the time frame in which you want to achieve them.
When you know the amount needed, at a particular date, we can then show you what else is needed to get there. This would include knowing how much to put aside initially or how frequently, and then ultimately identifying the Target Growth Rate needed for this particular purpose. Once we know these figures, the investment decisions become much clearer.
What about risk and choice?
The Target Growth Rate identified will tell us what level of risk you would need to take in order to achieve your goal. Our thorough psychometric or “personality based” risk profiling will show what level of risk you can handle and, more importantly, the level of loss you can tolerate.
We will then monitor your investments to ensure that they are on target.
We will also help with tax planning to ensure that your money isn’t unnecessarily wasted by selecting the wrong tax wrapper. Choosing the right tax wrapper is very important… it is all well and good investing money for the sake of investing, but if you choose the wrong tax wrapper, it could mean you having to adopt an entirely different (usually higher) risk profile to make up for the loss.
The outcome
We strongly believe that financial education is a key player in giving clients peace of mind during volatile market conditions.
You will learn the science of investing (on a simplified level!) and how we can actively plan around the strategy. When you understand the thinking behind the strategy you are more likely to be interested in following its progress and not worrying about things you simply can’t control…such as the market.
In summary
The Targeted Wealth Accumulation Strategy will solve issues around
Repaying the debt on your private residence – how quickly to ease this burden
Investing for a special goal
School/University fees planning
Building up a retirement nest egg
Aligning existing investments in line with your goals
Minimising investment risk
Minimising tax outlay
Accelerated retirement
This is used by people who are high earners (above £150,000 per year) or those above age 45. The most obvious word associated with retirement is “pension” and, thanks to all the new legislation, we should not automatically assume that a pension is the only option for saving towards retirement. We are now at a stage where we must give serious consideration to alternatives, other than pensions. People want us to think creatively and show them how to retire early. It boils down again to the lifestyle you want to enjoy in retirement.
The Accelerated Retirement Strategy will be based around lifestyle both now and in anticipated retirement. Many people want to maintain the same standard of living in retirement, but do not know what to do (apart from putting money into a pension!) or have the discipline to maintain a retirement strategy.
The outcome
You will have a clearer understanding of what would be needed to achieve your retirement lifestyle. You will also be able to see (literally!) how long your present assets will maintain that lifestyle. This is shown through Lifetime Cashflow Modelling. You will have a defined strategy which will enable you to lead the lifestyle you want at your chosen time in the future.
In summary
The Accelerated Retirement Strategy will work around
Understanding the impact of retirement
Identifying your needs in retirement
Forecasting your life in retirement
Utilising tax schemes to accelerate your retirement nest egg
Reclaiming tax paid
Wealth distribution
This is for people who are thinking about leaving a legacy behind for loved ones, or for charitable causes. It is all well and good to accumulate significant sums of money, however why pay 40% inheritance tax unnecessarily?
Wealth can be passed down the generations in a highly tax efficient, yet simple manner and it will involve understanding your values and wishes.
The Wealth Distribution Strategy will enable you to distribute your wealth in a highly tax efficient manner, and yet, in some cases retain control of gifts made.
The outcome
You will have a clear plan of what you can afford to give away, whilst still retaining control, and maintaining your desired standard of living.
In summary
Key features of this strategy include:
Forecasting when you will run out of money
Organising your assets so you can decide when you should run out of money
Identifying ways to distribute your wealth without the need to pay inheritance tax
Understanding the impact of divorce on gifts made
Understanding that you can gift and still retain control
Planning to leave a large legacy to your offspring
Utilising tax schemes to enable you to pass on wealth without losing total control
Understanding which Trust to use to achieve the above
Whichever strategy we agree with you be sure that you can trust us to look after your financial future
