As financial planners, we pride ourselves on understanding each and every client’s goals and circumstances and using that to shape the most appropriate method of investing your money over the short, medium, and long term. All clients are different - they have different timeframes, different attitudes toward risk, different capacities for loss, and importantly different objectives.

Tax is also important, and specifically, utilising any allowances available to you in order to give your money a boost, allowing it to grow with as few restrictions as possible, or withdrawing it without giving more to the ‘tax-man’ than is necessary.

There is a wide range of recommendations that we can make depending on your current and future expected circumstances, as well as your objectives. We take the time to understand you as a person and use that knowledge to make a personalised recommendation.

Your capital is at risk. The value of your investment (and any income withdrawn from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount invested.

Saving for the future is important and being able to retire comfortably and, after working hard throughout your life, being able to enjoy your later years as much as possible. We fully understand this and appreciate that everyone’s objectives are different in retirement – you may want to be able to go on holiday more, see more of your family, or simply retire without any financial worries. We take the time to understand what’s important to you and help you to maximise your pension planning in order to best achieve this. This is usually best achieved through modelling what your cashflow looks like now and what it may look like in the future, taking into account changes in future expenditure (e.g. perhaps your children growing up or your mortgage being repaid) and what income you may need to achieve in order to meet this. There are also a range of methods of withdrawing your pension and we are able to provide guidance on what your options are and the advantages and drawbacks of each of these.

Your capital is at risk. The value of your pensions (and any income withdrawn from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount invested.

We all hope that protection is a total waste of money and we never need to claim. However, if something does happen, and no protection is in place, then it changes everything! Not only will there be obvious personal loss or worry, but on top of that, financial worry can play a significant part – and could actually mean potentially losing your home, or not being able to pay your bills at a crucial time in your life (or in your family’s lives). We can help by discussing your protection needs and ensuring you have adequate ‘peace of mind’ that at least your financial worries will be taken care of should a claim need to be made.

We find that protection is often an under-utilised element of financial planning, but it can really be one of the most important. Apart from the serious consequences above, such as losing your home, not having protection can ‘scupper’ many of your other financial plans. For example, if you need to use your investments to provide for loss of income for a period of time due to illness or injury, then they can’t be used for their original intended purpose, which may be the children’s education.

Protection plans typically have no cash in value at any time and cover will cease at the end of the term. If premiums stop, then cover will lapse.

We’ve made it our business to understand your business; and we appreciate that no two companies are the same, even if they operate in the same environment. We can work with you to assist in providing benefits for your employees, such as Auto-Enrolment pension schemes or private medical insurance, as well as provide tax-efficient benefits to you as the director/owner, through direct employer pension contributions for example, or perhaps through relevant life cover. We can also assist in protection of the business itself ensuring that, should a senior member of staff be unable to work for any reason for example, the business can benefit from a cash injection allowing it to either replace that member of staff, or enhance cashflow in order to buy time to determine the next steps.

For obvious reasons, most business owners are concentrating on what they do best, whether that is building houses or manufacturing clothes. It is our job therefore to assist business owners to look at their business ‘from the outside’ to determine what it is all for, and what they are ultimately trying to achieve.

Once you have accumulated your wealth, you want to retain as much of it as possible for the benefit of yourself, as well as your family. Inheritance Tax is no longer a concern just for the wealthy. It is a growing worry for many people - especially homeowners who have benefited from growth in the value of their properties over time. We can assist with the management of this, providing advice as to the most appropriate solution taking account of how much control you want to retain over your money, what you want to achieve, and how best to plan for the future.

This may include investing via a trust for example, or may involve utilising a solution which provides for more favourable death benefits. In any event, we will determine what is right for you and what you want to achieve.

We are also able to assist with planning ahead in the event of potentially requiring long-term care. Unfortunately, this is becoming a reality for more and more people and it is important therefore to consider this eventuality and how you may best pay for this should it be required.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate Estate Planning and Trust Advice.

Buying a home will be one of the biggest financial decisions you will probably make and it is widely regarded as one of the most stressful times of your life. Whether you are a first time buyer, re-mortgaging your home, or considering a buy to let property, we can help guide you through the mortgage maze. How much can I afford to borrow? How will my employment status affect me getting a mortgage? Which type of mortgage would suit my needs best? It can be a minefield, but we can assist you to make sense of the whole thing and take the stress out, allowing you to concentrate on which new furniture you want for your new place, or which wall your TV is best mounted on.

Your home maybe repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.