This content is for information and inspiration purposes only. It should not be taken as financial advice or investment advice. To receive tailored, regulated advice regarding your investments and financial goals, please consult an independent financial adviser here at Suttons IFA in Sale, Manchester or wider Cheshire area.
When you purchase a high-value item it’s often easy to identify the benefits. A new quality car, for instance, brings social prestige as well as greater comfort and safety. It might even save you money through greater fuel efficiency. When it comes to financial planning, it can be harder to demonstrate the value of something you cannot physically see, smell or touch. Yet, as our financial planners in Cheshire testify, the value is there for people across the region.
If you live in or around Sale and are considering financial advice, then we offer this short guide to help you determine the value of such advice (rather than attempting to do things yourself). We hope you find this content useful, and invite you to arrange a free, no-commitment financial consultation if you’d like to discuss your own financial plan with us:
T: 0161 969 1703
E: info@oursocialteam.uk
#1 Improving your take-home pay
Many people overpay on taxes, thus reducing the income which might otherwise be spent on their loved ones or saved towards retirement. Higher owners and business owners can be particularly susceptible, as well as those who suddenly receive an inheritance which might push them into a higher Income Tax bracket. By working with an experienced financial planner, however, you can identify areas where you are needlessly overpaying on tax and put measures in place to boost your real-terms household income.
#2 Protecting your family
Many people with simpler finances are probably capable of finding adequate life insurance or protection policies for themselves. Those with more complex estates or family situations, however, can easily make costly mistakes; paying more than is necessary, often on a bad deal which does not adequately protect their family from a range of tragic potential scenarios. Here at Suttons IFA, our Cheshire-based specialist team can help you survey the whole market to find the best, most cost-effective policies for your specific needs.
#3 Clarifying your retirement plan
Many of us grossly underestimate how much income we will need to support our desired lifestyles in retirement. It’s also easy to dismiss the importance of retirement savings earlier on in your career, and to think you can make up the shortfall later once the children have left home. A financial planner, however, can help you take an honest, more accurate look at what kind of cash flow you will need in the future, and craft a realistic savings and investment plan to reach your financial goals.
#4 Getting more out of your pension
It’s common for our financial advisers to speak with people in Cheshire who understand the importance of saving for retirement, but who are not getting the most out of their pension. A financial adviser can help you determine the suitability of your workplace pension scheme, for instance, and, if it is inadequate, help you to move to a lower-cost scheme with improved benefits. A good adviser can also assist you with getting the most out of your state pension, and also help you to track down and consolidate any past pensions which you might have lost.
#5 Improving your investments
It’s tempting for many people to believe they are natural investors. In our experience, however, our financial planners in Cheshire have found that many of these portfolios, when examined, are needlessly exposed to unnecessary investment risk, or overpaying on annual management fees. A financial adviser or planner can help you to take a careful look at your investment plan, and make improvements which can minimise needless risk exposure and improve returns.
#6 Reducing expenses
At Suttons IFA, we have found that a mortgage is typically a household’s biggest monthly liability. Reducing your monthly payments by as little as 1%, therefore, can add up to huge interest savings in the long run. Not all financial advisers help with mortgages, but our team here in Cheshire can help you survey different deals on the market – possibly identifying a good opportunity to remortgage and greatly reduce your outgoings. We can also help you tie your mortgage plan into your wider financial planning strategy, to make sure everything is properly integrated and working together towards a common set of financial goals
#7 Keeping more wealth in the family
Finally, one complex and important area of financial planning concerns inheritance tax. In 2019-20, IHT is levied at 40% on the value of your estate over £325,000. This can amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds, so it’s worth consulting a specialist to determine whether there are any opportunities to increase the financial legacy you one day leave to your loved ones. The good news is that, in most cases, there is a range of strategies available to people in Cheshire which our financial planning team can help you make legitimate use of.
Invitation
If you would like to know more about financial planning or wish to discuss your own financial goals and strategy with us, then we’d be delighted to hear from you.
Please get in touch using the details below, to arrange a free, no-commitment financial consultation with a member of our team:
T: 0161 969 1703
E: info@oursocialteam.uk
