Investments

Financial Planning and Investments Advice

With so many types of investments and savings available to you and so much to understand about the markets, investing can be very confusing without the right advice.

It's commonly thought that bank or building society accounts provide a steady, defined return. Many people assume that an average high street bank account gives a return around the Bank of England base rate. That a typical current account only pays about 0.12%* gross interest? And this is taxed yearly - a higher tax payer will only receive 0.072% net and a basic rate tax payer will get 0.096% net.

Savings and investments should ideally keep up with inflation so the overall "value" of your money is not eroded over time. For most of us, investing is for the medium to longer term. The clearest way to demonstrate the effect of inflation over time is to consider what £1 would have bought you in 1991 compared to in 2009. That £1 would have bought 290g of cheese in 1991, 1.9 loaves of bread or 10 eggs. In 2009 that same £1 would only have bought 148g of cheese, 0.8 loaves of bread or 4.5 eggs.**

There's no doubt that a lump sum of money - such as an inheritance or matured policy or even a work bonus - is an opportunity being wasted, especially if it's just sitting around in a bank account or under the mattress waiting for a rainy day. So whether you're looking for capital growth, want to generate a regular income or a combination of both, we can recommend ways to make your money work harder.

Most of us, when asked about investing money would say that they want to achieve maximum returns with minimum risk. As professional advisers, we know that only with a comprehensive understanding of your circumstances, goals and views regarding investment risk, can we propose a strategy that will make your investment start to work for you.

We'll only make suggestions based on you fully understanding the risks you may be taking alongside the potential capital growth you can hope to achieve, and with access to the latest investment technology, we'll keep you up-to-date with how your investment is progressing.

As with any financial planning it is important to review both existing investments plus any future plans regularly. We offer a review service where we discuss how your investments are performing with reference to your original objectives. Although people regularly now review their utilities and insurances people still tend to let their investments look after themselves and run the risk of losing money in the process. As well as regular reviews, if you have any changes to your circumstances you should be reviewing your investment needs - changes to consider – are you now retired? Can you now leave your money longer before you need access to it? Do you have more money to invest? Has your marital status changed? These are just a few reasons for a review.

To arrange a meeting to discuss your investments in a no obligation consultation please contact us on 01489 574355 or via the Contact page.