Ipswich Financial Adviser

Posts Tagged ‘property’

When you are looking to invest or put money away into a pension you MUST consider where you are going to place your money e.g. into what are you going to invest.

Are you going to invest in Equities, Property, Gilts, Bonds, Cash, Commodities etc, or a combination of these?

But this is not your only decision, once you know what asset class you are going to invest in (Equities, Property, Gilts, Bonds, Cash, Commodities etc) there are many sub sections to these investments. For example, Equities can be in different parts of the world, UK, North America, Europe, Asia, Emerging Markets etc.  So you need to decide on that.

Further more, there are more sub sections such as large, medium or small cap equities.

As you can see the choice is huge and that is ONLY ONE asset class. You need to consider all these options for all of the other areas to.

So the above is too difficult and you decide that you will invest in a “Managed Fund” so that the decisions are made for you, but how do you know the Managed Fund is any good and will provide you returns? How do you know that the investment risk rating of the fund matches the level of risk you want to take. Managed funds can range for 3 up to 9 out of 10 on investment risk ratings depending on how the fund manager invests the money! Would you want to take that much investment risk with your money without knowing?

This shows that you should get professional help in organising your investments and pensions, to ensure the money works as hard as possible for you.

Please feel free to contact Thompson Financial Consulting and we will be happy to guide you through the right investment choices for you.

The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up and an investor may not get back the amount invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Inheritance tax is levied on your estate when you die. The first £325,000 (£650,000 for couples) is tax-free but if the value of your assets is more than that, tax will be levied at 40 per cent.

This may sound a large sum of money, but it includes all your assets, including property, cars, valuables, bank accounts and investments to name a few. With the increase in property values over time, more people get caught over the inheritance tax limits and end up paying 40% on the excess.

The best thing to do is to work out if your estate is worth more than the set limits. If your estate is worth more, then you need to get professional independent financial advice to find out ways of reducing the inheritance tax liability. On many occasions there are simple ways to do this and that can save the beneficiaries of your estate many thousands of pounds in unnecessary tax.

It is also best to look at inheritance tax planning as early as possible, because if you leave it to you are much older, you do not have as many opportunities to reduce this tax liability. My advice is to get advice early and start planning so that you can mitigate some or all of the potential tax overtime, making it easier for you to achieve you financial goals.

Please feel free to contact Thompson Financial Consulting and we will be happy to help with your inheritance tax advice needs.

When I am reviewing clients existing investment and pension holdings the one mistake I see time and again is the narrow way in which the investment content of the policy has been set up.

You will typically set the policy up within one or two funds and you have confidence that this will provide you with a return over a period of time. Unfortunately, the economy and markets  are always changing, so you need to ensure you have money invested in different types of funds so that you spread (diversify) your money. For example, if equities (shares) are not doing well, it could be that fixed interest holdings or property might be doing the opposite and are providing good returns. If you hold all your money in equities then you are MISSING OUT on potential returns from other areas that you do not have any money invested in.

This is why it is SO IMPORTANT  to spread your money between different funds and investment areas, so that you get access to a diversified portfolio and hence GREATER long term returns.

Don’t get caught out and believe that one type of fund can provide you with a consistently good return. You need to ensure you spread your money and with it, spread your risk for GREATER long term returns.

Please feel free to contact Thompson Financial Consulting and we will be very happy to help in advising you the best way to set up your pensions and investments to get the best potential returns.

The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up and an investor may not get back the amount invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

It struck me the other day, after seeing some potential new clients to help them with a house purchase, that many people may not even calculate what an affordable mortgage will be on their new home.

Would you find the house you wanted and then see if a mortgage is affordable to you long term on that property? Well it surprised me that there are people that will do things this way round. The problem is that once your heart is set on the home you want, people will quite happily ignore the cost of the mortgage and consider it affordable, even though it may not, and all sense goes out of the window. With the clients I saw, this leads to a difficult conversation with them to help them appreciate what they are entering into and that the mortgage may not be affordable to them.

In this current climate, you want to know exactly what size mortgage is affordable to you and do a realistic budget planner to ensure all your costs have been taken into account.  In that way you can be as certain as possible that you have the right level of borrow and so the right monthly costs.

If you require any help with organising or budgeting for a mortgage then please contact us at Thompson Financial Consulting.

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

There can be some very attractive interest rates available for mortgages at the present time, however, watch out for a possible sting in the tail!

When comparing mortgages you not only need to consider the interest rate that you will be charged, but also the other fees that are attached to it. There are arrangement/booking fees, legal fees, valuation fees and telegraphic transfer fees. You must consider all these as a total cost to see if the interest rate on offer is actually as good as it looks.

It can often be the case that it is better to pay a slightly higher interest rate, which comes with lower fees, than to go for the cheapest interest rate  and pay the higher setting up costs. When comparing the costs OVERALL the higher interest rate could be CHEAPER.

Without an accurate and professional review of all products, interest rates, options and charges on mortgages, you could pay more for your mortgage than you need to.

If you require any help or advice on mortgages then please feel free to contact us at Thompson Financial Consulting

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments as your mortgage.

Are you on the edge of a cliff!

I come across many clients that invest in a manor that can only be described as ”at the edge of a cliff ” a very precarious place to be. This is down to a lack of knowledge as to how to invest money. These people choose to invest in one particular investment area, great if things are going well but NOT good when the investment sentiment turns against them. Their hard earned pension or investment money heads downwards at an alarming rate, just like falling off a cliff.

Make sure you diversify your investments, ISA’s  or pensions into different areas like Equities, Property, Gilts, Bonds, Cash and Commodities.  If investment sentiment turns against you, you are then a long way back from the “edge of the cliff.”

If you want more information or help in setting up portfolios for investing go to Thompson Financial Consulting Ltd

The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up and an investor may not get back the amount invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.