This is your Captain speaking….
I had a long, pleasant conversation with a guy called Tom, a commercial airline pilot, at a recent party. After sharing some amusing stories about his hair-raising experiences, we discussed finances. Tom admitted he should be doing more to prepare for the future but found it confusing and didn't know where to start.
Your Annual Health Scare is due
Fitness is a big part of my life, and I believe I’m in good health, but on reflection this year, I decided to book in for a health check but what about your financial health check?
Christmas and Financial Planning - A seasonal guide to fiscal responsibility
As the festive season approaches, the twinkling lights and cheerful carols remind us that Christmas is just around the corner. While it’s a time for joy, family and celebration, it can also be a period of financial stress if not managed properly. With a little foresight and careful planning, you can ensure your holiday season is both merry and financially sound.
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Navigating the Initial Challenges of Financial Planning
Sometimes the hardest part of the Financial Planning process and becoming financially well organised is getting started!
Being financially well organised is crucial for managing money more effectively. Making smart financial decisions is only possible when all the relevant information is available. However, many people find it challenging to begin this process and therefore end up doing nothing.
Taking Control of Your Financial Future
As the summer sun beckons with promises of relaxation and escape, it’s the perfect time to reflect on your financial future. Whether you’re lounging on a beach or exploring a new city, taking a holiday can provide a unique opportunity to step back from our busy lives and focus on setting financial goals and retirement plans. Here’s how you can make the most of your time away from work to secure a comfortable and fulfilling retirement.
Costs and Service Standards
In recent news, one of the UK’s largest wealth managers suffered a huge share price plunge - attributed to potential fee complaints and client refunds which in turn has sent shockwaves throughout the industry. The missteps of this provider, underscore the delicate balance between profit and service quality. Investors demand and deserve both.
In this article, we unravel the complexities of costs, explore their impact, and shed light on the delicate balance required.
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How to Start 2024 on the Right Foot
The New Year is a great time to review your financial situation and set goals for the future. Whether you want to save more, pay off debt, or invest wisely, read our article for some great tips to help you get started on your financial planning for 2024.
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How to choose a Financial Advisor that’s right for you.
Choosing a good Financial Advisor is an important decision that can have a significant impact on your financial future. This article looks at steps to help you find a suitable Advisor for your needs.
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A Question of Trust
Trusts can be an effective planning tool that can be used throughout life’s progression, however there is often a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about the purposes of Trusts, so we thought it would be useful to explain what they are and some of the reasons to use them.
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Holiday Plans
Holidays are important for many reasons. They can help improve our physical and mental health, strengthen bonds with family and friends, and help us catch up on sleep. Although holidays are a time for relaxation and enjoyment, they can also be expensive and stressful if you do not have the finances to pay for them and can force some families into debt.
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Rewarding our future selves
It is widely known and psychologically accepted that human beings can be very short-sighted and find it difficult to see their future selves. Imagine your own life and what it might look like in 10 years’ time. Will you still be working in the same job, will the children be leaving for university or will you be enjoying your retirement and spending time with grandchildren?
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Financial Wellbeing
In last month’s article I spoke about the benefits of budgeting and how it can have a huge impact on our mental and physical health not just an effective way of managing our money.
There is a great deal of research which suggests that money itself does not make us happy, but it is how we use it that matters. For example, a Harvard study on happiness highlighted that the largest contributor to our wellbeing is the quality of our social relationships. Therefore, financial wellbeing is about how we use our money to support the other areas of our wellbeing and what is important to us.
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What are the benefits of budgeting?
The Chancellor of the Exchequer presented his spring budget back in March. Dealing with the country’s budget must be an arduous task but an essential one! Much like personal budgeting, you may not want to face it but it’s an important job which will help you to manage your money.
Managing your money well is all about careful planning. It’s easy to let your spending get out of control if you don’t know exactly how much of your money is ‘disposable income’.
What is the value of Financial Advice?
Research indicates that paying for investment advice generates a better return than not taking advice. The potential value added is in the region of 3% a year – although, to be absolutely fair, some aspects are annual and delivered smoothly while other parts are "lumpy" chiefly at times of market euphoria or stress.
The real value of working with a Financial Advisor is in avoiding expensive mistakes. It’s less about picking the best investment and more about making smart decisions with all aspects of your money.
Start Fresh Financially in 2023
2023 is likely to be another challenging year for many and I am sure, like most years – it will be full of surprises, both good and bad. However, I am a great believer in starting the year with a positive mindset!
The new year is a great time to take stock of your budget, debt and investments and generally get your house in order. Take time to reflect on the past year and set new goals for the year ahead.
Planning for Christmas
Well what a year 2022 has been, a memorable one but not perhaps for the right reasons.
We are currently in a very changing and turbulent environment with the pound hitting all time lows, energy bills and living costs rising, a new Prime Minister and King! As I sit down and write this article the Bank of England has just increased interest rates to 3% when they began the year at just 0.25%.
Almost all of these changes have been outside our control which has certainly felt unnerving at times.
Despite this, we do know that Christmas is still just around the corner and over the next few weeks we will all be reminded frequently of the number of shopping days until Christmas.
Don’t be frightened of Financial Planning this Halloween!
Don't be scared to start something new in life, whether it's financial planning or a do-it-yourself project.
Most people are apprehensive about starting something new because they are afraid of making a mistake. Clients often have the same bout of fear when they first start investing or planning for the future. Lack of experience can make people feel vulnerable or anxious. To help them overcome their fears, we tell our clients: Never let fear of the unknown prevent you from living your best lives.
Create a plan to deal with tough times
A lot of people are stressed out about a lot of things right now. Markets are down. Prices are up for many of the things you need to buy. Interest rates are rising and make it a confusing time to consider buying or selling a house, or making other major financial decisions. This all adds to the stress you may be feeling about the ongoing pandemic and the health of loved ones.
If you’re stressed out about what is happening right now in the stock market, there is a better way to invest.
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Be prepared
A real financial planner helps a person to identify the life that they wish to lead at some point in the future, typically during retirement. Part of this entails building a picture of this future life and then analysing which pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are relevant to that future.
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The benefits of real financial planning
Whilst writing this article, it has been another week of chaos at UK airports, with hundreds of flights cancelled and holiday makers facing long queues, with reports of waits up to eight hours.
Pent up demand for travel and staff shortages have combined to put pressure on airports and airlines and it looks like the problems are likely to continue through the peak holiday season.
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Learning by mistakes
One of the most important aspects of real financial planning is to accept that there is always bad news somewhere. One of the most important financial planning decisions is not to make the mistakes that other people make. In particular, by not responding to bad news without thoroughly understanding the consequences.
How much enough?
How much money do you really need for the rest of your life? The fact is the majority of people have no idea where they are heading financially. They may have assets, investments, and/or high levels of income, but most people have no idea what it all means, or what sort of financial future awaits them.
A Question of Trust
In many of our earlier articles we have spoken about ‘real financial planning’, in particular pointing out that most financial advisers do not perform ‘real financial planning’. What we mean by this is that most people have no idea how much money they need for the rest of their life. They often significantly overstate the amount that they need and end up not enjoying their life is much as they might be able to.
Setting Financial Goals
As we begin the New Year, many of us start thinking about the year ahead and setting goals for the future.Regardless of what age you are, you are likely to have some short and long term personal financial goals. Setting tangible and realistic goals, following them, and tracking your progress is the key to being successful and achieving those goals.
Why bother with a financial plan? Can’t I just invest wisely?
Last month Mark explained some of the steps that people can take in building a financial plan, but you might ask “Why should I bother with a financial plan? Can’t I just invest wisely?
What’s the Plan?
There is a recurring phrase that Andrew uses in his articles which is “real financial planning”. He uses this phrase as most financial advisers, incorrectly in his view, describe themselves as financial planners.
Do you have a Financial Plan?
Firework night is nearly upon us and hopefully this year we will all be able to celebrate with some sparklers.
We may remember this date each year, but do we remember to check our finances each year? Do we have a financial plan? It’s vital to keep on top of what you have and haven’t accomplished.
Avoiding Disappointment
The summer of 2021 has certainly been eventful for all sorts of different reasons and as this article was written, the news is still full of uncertainty such as overseas travel, tax rises and volatility in the stock market. There has been some great sporting events for us to finally enjoy but no matter what sport you enjoy watching - they all have the same goal - to win.
Financial planning and investing is no different.
What is Financial Planning?
One definition provided by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investments (the financial body for Certified Financial Planners) is, ‘Financial planning is a professional service for individuals, their families, and businesses, who need objective assistance in organising their financial affairs to achieve their financial and lifestyle objectives more readily’.
Winning Ways
Sadly, the Tokyo Olympics have finished. After 17 months of living with Covid, 17 days of sporting endeavour have come to a close. Luckily, we only have to wait three years for the next one!
I am fascinated by sport and often marvel at the wise words that are spoken by many of the athletes. Much of what athletes do and say has a direct relevance to financial planning. In this article Andrew concentrates on two aspects – marginal gains and focus.
Inflation - How quickly things change
Less than a year ago, the Guardian reported, “Why low inflation is a worrying sign for the UK economy”. More recently, an article in the Independent presented a headline that likely touched a raw nerve among investors, “Bank decision in sharp focus amid beast of inflation warning”.
Is inflation headed higher?
A hole in your bucket?
In Andrew’s most recent articles for the, he has been attempting to explain that real financial planning is all about ‘knowing your bucket.’ Your bucket, essentially, is the amount of money that you currently have, taking into account all future inflows and outflows, for the rest of your life.
Setting a course
The difference that a real financial planner can make can be illustrated by the following case study. Michael Confused owned his own business, but quite frankly he had had enough. Work was no longer enjoyable as it once was and Linda, his wife, was about to retire, so he wanted to know if he could too.
What is a Financial Advisor?
How can they help? One view is that advisers have unique insights into market direction that give their clients an advantage, like gazing into a crystal ball. But of the many roles a professional adviser should play, fortune telling is not one of them.
Financial Wellbeing
Financial wellbeing means having financial security and financial freedom of choice, both now and in the future. Many things are tightly wrapped into financial decisions – beliefs and values, emotions and experience, so, what steps can you take to establish financial wellbeing?
Is it time for a financial spring clean?
Many people that come to see us have been busy living life, buying houses, bringing up the children, changing jobs and then suddenly find themselves with numerous bank and savings accounts, ISAs, shares, life assurance policies and Pensions.
Does money make us happy?
Financial wellbeing is the study and application of how money can be used to increase our happiness and fulfillment. Firstly, money itself does not make us happy, it is how we use it that matters.
The emotions of money
Money underpins almost everything we want to accomplish in life: what we do, where we live, our lifestyle, financing a family, and so on. Our spending patterns are linked to who we are, and many people have a difficult relationship with money as a result.
Click here to look at some common negative money emotions that can cause distress
Focus on what you can control
As we head into the New Year, you may want to begin the year by focusing on the many things we can control in 2021 rather than those we can’t. Asking yourself some simple questions might help.
Reality Check
Most people imagine that a financial planner is a person who sells them life assurance, pensions or investments. Most people have no idea that a real financial planner does much much more than sell these products.
Planning for Christmas
Well what a year 2020 has been, a memorable one but not perhaps for the right reasons.
Unusually this year has seen all our lives changed in some way or another whether it be home schooling, working from home or not being able to see our family and friends. Most of these changes have been outside our control which has certainly felt unnerving at times.
Education is Key
Historically the financial services world has been dominated by and marketed to men and although the industry as a whole has made a more inclusive shift particularly over the last 10 – 20 years, because women identify that they have different objectives and motivations when compared to men, it is a world from which women can still feel alienated. This article looks at some interesting statistics when it comes to a woman’s view to financial planning.
How much is enough?
How much money do you really need for the rest of your life? The fact is the majority of people have no idea where they are heading financially. They may have assets, investments, and/or high levels of income, but most people have no idea what it all means, or what sort of financial future awaits them.
He who hesitates……
Sometimes the hardest part of becoming financially well organised is getting started. Sometimes we become paralysed by the ceiling of complexity – not knowing where to start because there are so many choices – that we end up doing nothing.
Now might be a good time to Review your Finances
As we’ve all been spending more time at home and we’re getting to the end of our do lists, now could be a good time to review your finances and take some useful steps in becoming financially well organised. It could make you wealthier or it could just make everything easier for you and your family.
Exploring the Why?
If you’re seeking some financial advice, whether it’s searching the internet comparison sites or speaking to a professional, you may already have a loose reason on why you want to invest or some pre-set ideas or a particular financial goal in mind.
This article looks at why we believe it is best to put the ‘why’ rather than the how and the what, at the first step of the financial planning process.
Protecting you and your family
It’s the time of year when some of us adrenaline seeking individuals escape to the snowy mountains for a week or a long weekend of skiing or snowboarding.
For others they prefer to escape the rain, wind and cold to a warmer climate and spend their days relaxing in the sunshine.
As a lifestyle financial planner, I get to speak to many different people and we all have different ideas and aspirations about how we live our lives now and our plans for the future. What risks we take and what we do to reduce these risks.
A Plan - It’s not just for Christmas
What’s at the top of your Christmas list? New clothes, the latest gadget or perhaps it’s spending time with family or friends or giving to others. Do you leave Christmas shopping and preparation to the last minute? Is this how you plan for your future?
From little acorns
Recently Mark went out for a run in the grounds of Montacute House and whilst stretching some very tired limbs, he was fortunate enough to watch a squirrel collect an acorn and bury it only yards away from him. Comically, it then very carefully, delicately and precisely covered up the burial site with two freshly fallen leaves (which promptly blew away only a few seconds later).
Planning beyond the here and now
Mark recently attends a wedding where he gets into a very interesting conversation with some of the other guests after disclosing his job as a lifestyle Financial Planner.
Prescription in Financial Well-being
Take, for example, a friend of mine, who was experiencing some troubling medical symptoms. Typing his symptoms into a search engine led to an evening of research and mounting worry. By the end of the night, the vast quantity of unfiltered information led him to conclude that something was seriously wrong.
One of the key characteristics that distinguishes an expert is their ability to filter information and make increasingly refined distinctions about the situation at hand.
Planning for Christmas
Well what a year 2022 has been, a memorable one but not perhaps for the right reasons.
We are currently in a very changing and turbulent environment with the pound hitting all time lows, energy bills and living costs rising, a new Prime Minister and King! As I sit down and write this article the Bank of England has just increased interest rates to 3% when they began the year at just 0.25%.
Almost all of these changes have been outside our control which has certainly felt unnerving at times.
Despite this, we do know that Christmas is still just around the corner and over the next few weeks we will all be reminded frequently of the number of shopping days until Christmas.
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Reality Check
In many of our articles we have deliberately described FFP’s approach to investing as ‘real financial planning’. Unfortunately, although most financial advisers describe themselves as financial planners, very few are.
Setting Financial Goals
As we begin the New Year, many of us start thinking about the year ahead and setting goals for the future. Regardless of what age you are, you are likely to have some short and long term personal financial goals. Setting tangible and realistic goals, following them, and tracking your progress is the key to being successful and achieving those goals.
Planning for Christmas
It’s that time of year again, one minute we’re enjoying the sunshine and our summer holidays and then before we know it, Halloween has been and gone and the shelves are filling up ready for Christmas.
Busy People
What is a financial planner worth to you or your family?
I speak to many different people of different ages and at different stages in their lives. I have noticed that there appears to be a common trend that life is getting busier and busier and there are always so many things to deal with and decisions to make.
Spending strategy
The number of retirees is rising rapidly; many investors have both taxable and non-taxable investments and recent budget changes have increased the financial options open to the recently retired. Significant extra value can be obtained by ensuring that post-retirement spending is undertaken as tax-efficiently as possible.
School and University Fees
At this time of year many parents are preparing for the next chapter in their children’s lives, whether it’s starting school in September or heading off to University. Private School fees and University fees are increasing at a faster rate than inflation and for many people the cost of putting your child through school and university is a daunting one!
The average cost for a day pupil is in the region of £18,000 per annum and over £30,000 for a boarder. Source: Independent Schools Council
Although this looks frightening, especially if you have more than one child, with sensible planning it can be achievable without ending up with a huge mortgage or stopping the family holidays for the next 15 years.
Budgeting for a better lifestyle
Many people will have started the year thinking about their money and asking themselves questions like, did we spend too much on Christmas? Where does all our money go? How can we start saving money? We really need to start thinking about our future and how will we ever afford to stop work?
Real Financial Planning
At its simplest, Real Financial Planning is identifying how much money you really need for the rest of your life and then identifying the steps that need to be taken to make sure that your money will last as long as you! The fact is the majority of people have no idea where they are heading financially. They may have assets, investments, and/or high levels of income, but most people have no idea what it all means, or what sort of financial future awaits them.
Sailing into the Future
Most of us will start the year with some New Year’s resolutions. I’m sure that getting healthier by going to the gym is probably highest on most people’s lists but financial goals are also a popular choice. Whether it’s saving for something important, reducing credit card debt or being more careful about what we spend.
Do you feel financially well organised?
Many people that come to see us have been busy living life, buying houses, bringing up the children, changing jobs and then suddenly find themselves with numerous bank and savings accounts, ISAs, life assurance policies and Pensions.
How easy is it to stick to a plan?
It’s often said that the secret of success in achieving a goal or plan is “stickability”, a person's ability to persevere with something; staying power. But success also depends on having goals or plans you can actually stick with. Managing that tension is what a good coach, mentor or adviser does.