June 2012 - Page 2 of 2 - Financial Planning in Wimbledon

Its not about the Money

1958: The Happy Feeling – Edwards

It has been another full on week, with some significant work being done for clients. It is a fantastic feeling to be able to reveal to clients that they have enough to do the things that they want. I had a case last week where a couple were very concerned about their future and thinking that they would be have to work until in their late 60’s perhaps older. Imagine the feeling that they had when I demonstrated with proper financial planning that not only did they have enough to retire at 65 but could actually afford to lose an income and still do so. This was quite a shock… were my numbers right? well we had certainly checked their information several times, yes there was the reality that assumptions about the future are just that – assumptions, but the data was indeed correct. I had even built in some doomsday scenarios showing the impact of stock market crashes – which still revealed favourable long-term results…. with a big caveat.

The caveat being that they do not increase their lifestyle spending significantly. This is why asking clients to complete details about spending patterns is really vital. Having realistic expectations of what you intend to do during “retirement” or as I prefer to call it your “work not required” period, is rather vital to get broadly right. Hence the more I understand a clients real plans/desires/aspirations, the better and more accurate the financial plan. This is why I spend a considerable amount of time updating income and expenditure information, as clients will know, who have been asked for their P60’s etc over the last few weeks. Whilst it may appear that I’m asking about the money, I’m really asking about your lifestyle, which is the one thing that few are prepared to give up or reduce upon retirement.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Its not about the MoneyDominic2023-12-01T12:22:00+00:00

Cash ISA – Updates

1952: Singing in the Rain – Donen

If I were a betting man, I would have put a significant amount of money on the weather worsening once I had been asked to replace the garden parasol by my wife at the weekend. As I’m a financial planner and therefore not a betting man, I simply have to acknowledge that I have no special powers over the elements or anything else for that matter. Anyhow, its a wet, Monday in London. I have been busy all weekend trying to think of ways to improve our services to our clients and have already been putting some of this to trial today. In the meantime, its time for a quick update about Cash ISAs and various deposit accounts.

At the risk of being very tiresome, this is not advice, its a list of some top rates. Either ask me or look up the detail for yourself using something like moneyfacts. Importantly over the weekend, there was news to sure up the Spanish Banks, though quite how this will solve the problems in Europe remains to be seen.

Instant Access Account

Online: Santander 3.20% (yes a Spanish bank)

Bank: Virgin Money 2.60%

Building Society: Nottingham 3.25%

Cash ISA – Fixed Rate

Online: Aldermore 3.70% (3 year fix)

Bank: Halifax 4.25% (5 year fix)

Building Society: Kent Reliance 3.75% (5 year fix)

Cash ISA – Variable Rate

Online: Santander 4.00%

Bank: Barclays 3.05%

Building Society: Market Harborough 3.00%

As if to point out that Cash ISA rates “aren’t that good” a 2 year deposit account with Kent Reliance is paying 3.51% and even Santander’s 1 year deposit account pays 4.20%. All this tells you that the longer-term outlook for fixed rates remains low, but there is precious little benefit in a Cash ISA with inflation at 3.0% As ever, be mindful of the FSCS compensation levels and the rules about Banking licenses.

Here’s something to cheer up a wet afternoon in June. A production of Singing in the Rain is currently running in London’s West End.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Cash ISA – UpdatesDominic2023-12-01T12:21:59+00:00

How To Select Your Future Wisely

2011: Future Lasts Forever – Alper

Great financial planning tends to involve providing a variety of options to achieve goals. A meeting with a couple recently generated a good example of what I mean by this. The clients want to retire early, before final salary pension schemes would normally begin payment. Having discussed an outline of their required lifestyle previously, at this review, we had more detailed information to work on. They now had quite a clear idea about where they would live and the sort of lifestyle that they required.

Initially I was able to identify that there was a shortfall in their required income target between early retirement and the normal retirement ages of their final salary pension schemes. There were a number of ways that their goals could be achieved. By way of broad example, we considered simply building a fund to “plug the gap” which involves investment risk, although this is very manageable. We also considered part-time work at a much reduced income, moving home to release equity, as well as taking the final salary pensions early incurring a hefty early retirement penalty along with a few other options, including assessing clearing the mortgage earlier. There were lots of options and consequences with each, yet we did not really mention any financial products at this point. A great financial plan will provide you with possible scenarios about the future, not in the sense of depression or optimism, but in the very real, grounded values that a client has and the results that they wish to achieve. A financial planner, well a good one, will help assess what is realistic, help prioritise and design a plan that enables the goals to be achieved. The precise way that this is done using financial products and an investment strategy are very much subservient to this, yet many financial advisers talk about the money and products first, which is the wrong way around and in my opinion leads to poorer results, which may be the difference between having the lifestyle you want, or the one that your adviser picked for you.

Whilst Fund Managers, Stockbrokers, Traders, Dealers, the investment media and a few others may talk about trading in options and futures, the only future that you really should be concerned about is your own and this will have a variety of options to help you build it. A great financial adviser always puts your plans and values together to form a workable financial plan.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

How To Select Your Future WiselyDominic2017-01-06T14:40:01+00:00

Seriously Average Statistics?

1987: Less Than Zero – Kanievska

Interest rates remain depressed and look set to do so for some time to come. The Bank of England today announced that they were holding rates at the current level of 0.50%. Inflation (currently 3.0%) seems to be returning to within the range that the Bank have set as the target and we are all aware that the economy looks somewhat fragile with the combined output of all business being pretty much stagnant. A fairly unhelpful word given that in practice, businesses are far from stagnant. Most are working very hard to win orders, customers and contracts, requiring new business to replace any that is being lost. So to term this “stagnant” would seem exceedingly unfair. However as a combined average figure, the economy is currently growing at something around 0%. The first quarter of the year had a negative rate of growth -0.3%, which was from a revised figure of -0.2%, depending upon your political leaning, you might term this as a reduction by 0.1% or alternatively a 33% decline. Hence care needs to be taken when reading any such figures, whatever their source. After all, this is still only an estimate. It would appear that most of the negative growth (?) came from the manufacturing sector (-0.4%) whereas the service sector grew at +0.1%. As with all statistics, whilst accurate, how they are interpreted is open to debate. To focus on the average net result, can miss vital detail – such as the often used example, head in the oven, feet in the fridge – on average “just right”. By the way, as humans we aren’t very good at processing “average”… ask any room of people about their driving skills. Most will assert that they possess above average driving skill, which of course, cannot be possible. By the way, very few indeed would admit to having below average skill.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Seriously Average Statistics?Dominic2017-01-06T14:40:01+00:00

Stop Wishing, Start Doing or Delegate

1996: Wishful Thinking – Park

Financial Planning is not about wishing, it is about planning and doing. The long Jubilee weekend was not something that we wished into being, but something that had been planned. We may have wished for the weather to have been rather better in June, but that is beyond what we can control. Indeed some of the performers at the main concert may now be wishing that they hadn’t agreed to perform as it revealed some rather obvious and disappointing shortcomings. Some of them should have kept to “their own” material or normal way of doing things. Wishing for a talent is not the same as possessing it (I’m being very generous compared to many of the views expressed on Twitter and in homes across the country, though it would seem that most of the newspapers reviewers must have been too worried about Leveson or enjoying their street party somewhere or else at the Coldplay concert). The occasion itself seems to have largely escaped normal newspaper critique, which is surprising to say the least. Perhaps the media are now too afraid to upset the celebrities. Sadly, leaving people with a sense that they can do things that they really shouldn’t is not helpful in the long-term. A good financial planner will not flatter the ego, but will calmly help clients to be realistic and provide a truthful assessment. Financial planning has nothing to do with some sort of hocus pocus wish list (such as being able to sing). Certainly in discussion with clients I help them to prioritise what is important to them, some of the list may be rather wishful and this needs challenging. For example, having a pension of £75,000 a year is a wish that won’t come true (barring the miraculous or windfall) if you only save £5,000 a year. Wishing to retire at 55 is rather different from planning to do so.

The skilled financial planner is essentially acting as one that helps prioritise and then take action. There may be a degree of challenge as well, we all want high returns for low or no risk, but sadly that is not realistic. However, great financial planning is more than that, it goes deeper. Great financial planning works in partnership, exploring together what actually is important to you, uncovering and applying your own values and confronting unrealistic expectations. Great financial planning provides peace of mind, focus and freedom.

This prompts a vital question, can you delegate? Do you want to spend your valuable time becoming skilled in aspects of life that you know are important, but not your own skill set and may hold little real interest? Do you act as mechanic to your own car? There are obviously some tasks that you might select to do – perhaps mowing the lawn, but I would suggest that this occurs where some pleasure is derived (being the mechanic to your weekend vintage sports car is rather different from servicing the X5). In short, stick to what you are good at and delegate to the things you cannot do to those that can. So too with financial planning, (and singing live) sure, have some fund money to play the stock market, but don’t bet the house/pension/school fees/lifestyle. Wishing things were different has no part in financial planning. Clearly identifying your lifestyle and working towards the best way of achieving it is about taking action.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Stop Wishing, Start Doing or DelegateDominic2017-01-06T14:40:01+00:00

Moneysaving Expert Banks £87m

1947: The Web – Michael Gordon

Well, you have to hand it to Martin Lewis. Today he has agreed sale of his consumer website Moneysavingexpert.com to the portal moneysupermarket.com simples! (oh no that’s the other lot!). Anyway, the content, much of which is provided by users in forums has a focus on saving money, covering everything from a 2 for 1 deal at a fast food outlet to complaining about poor service and mis-selling. The company (his own) has been sold for an agreed £87m….now you are wondering where the value is in this free to use site and why anyone would pay £87m for it…is this another one of those overpriced dot.coms? Well, who knows… the thing is that the site has become a portal for a way in to consumer purchases, be it car insurance or burgers. It is essentially an advertising hub, which in the days of online advertising which leaves traditional print advertising in its wake, is very much a part of future sales.

So how does this leave the consumer? perhaps with a sense that the site is little more than a gateway to discounts, money back and hopefully some useful tips to avoid being ripped off. I have considerable time for Martin Lewis, he has done a pretty good job in attempting to educate the public about budgeting in a way that the Money Advice Service, FSA and many financial advisers have clearly failed. He has also made tremendous efforts successfully campaigning about PPI mis-selling. I’m very much on his side (and not paid to say so). I have to admit to finding the site all too busy, but that.s because it is aiming to do so much, it is massive. However is it really independent? links to companies are not put there for free. This may sit rather uncomfortably with many of the users who seem to believe that they are being taken for a ride and generating too much profit for others. Perhaps they don’t know how business operates and that somehow it is wrong to make profit. So Martin may not want to publish his £87m coup too loudly.

So who are Moneysupermarket.com? a FTSE250 listed company, predominantly owned by Simon Nixon. The company grew out of a mortgage comparison database for mortgage brokers (Mortgage 2000) but began adding more credit searching functionality. Currently, the business is not offering “whole of market” but offers a comparison from limited range of providers. There are deals cut with providers, so each sale involves something going towards moneysupermarket and why not? the site and service are free to use. However, be aware that your details might also become a marketing “lead” which is traded to firms interested in selling to you. There’s nothing wrong in this per se, but I do wonder if people realise what they end up with. However, this is the future for most UK consumers, who will not be able to pay for financial planning advice. The million dollar question about whether it will be good enough remains to be seen, but in the meantime, at least one British entrepreneur has cashed his chips and not a meerkat in site… er sight.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Moneysaving Expert Banks £87mDominic2017-01-06T14:40:01+00:00

Tax Task Force Target Landlords

1949: Task Force – Delmer Daves

Its a weekend of celebration for Her Majesty and many will be holding street parties and decorating their homes with bunting and the Union Jack. So perhaps a little surprising that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has chosen now to announce a new crackdown on tax evasion from rental properties. HMRC “task force” teams (rather a dramatic term, don’t expect them to swoop down from helicopters on a rope!) will be inspecting the books to ensure that tax is being properly paid – all part of the focus to ensure that everyone is paying their dues in these austere times. The focus will be on London, Yorkshire, East Anglia and the North East. They anticipate finding £17m of unpaid taxes. So whilst you take a bite on your community burger, be mindful of the fact that the landlords amongst you need to have your tax affairs in order (which of course is true of anyone anyway).

Mike Eland, the Director General of Enforcement and Compliance for HMRC said “These six new taskforces will bring together specialists from across HMRC to tackle tax dodgers. If you have paid all your taxes you have nothing to worry about. But deliberately evading tax you should be paying can land you with not only a heavy fine but possibly a criminal prosecution as well. “This is not an empty threat – HMRC can and will track you down if you choose to break the rules”.

Remember tax avoidance, (using the tax rules and allowances to your advantage – such as ISAs, pensions, capital gains tax allowances) is perfectly legal but tax evasion is most definitely illegal. I would also remind you that it is now a requirement for Financial Advisers and Accountants to whistleblow on suspected tax evaders (failure to do so can result in a custodial sentence). Thankfully, this has never been an issue with any of our clients.

We are a boutique firm of financial planners. We create financial plans designed to achieve a desired lifestyle. We will craft and implement your plan that will provide you with the greatest chance of accomplishing your unique goals based upon the values that you hold. Financial products are little more than the tools to achieve your required results
Call us today or visit our website for more information and to arrange a meeting

Tax Task Force Target LandlordsDominic2017-01-06T14:40:01+00:00