Building Your Capital

Investments 

If you are starting to save towards buying your first house then there are Lifetime ISAs. Cash ISAs offer easy access to capital and are a good way to start saving.

As you start to build your capital, and more of it is viewed as medium term savings that you hope not to touch, then you should start to use asset backed investments such as stocks and shares ISAs and unit trust portfolios. Historically, assets have performed better than deposit accounts but this depends where we are in the economic cycle. As we get older our capital should increase and so will the complexity of the life we live in, investment solutions need to move with these changes. This is where more active advice and investment management becomes important - such as our Wealth management Service.

Investments can also be important when mitigating taxes such as income, capital gains and inheritance tax. Higher risk schemes are available and we provide advice on these if they are appropriate.

how we can help

Clearly understanding why you are saving, what you hope to achieve, and what risk you are prepared to take to achieve your goals enables us to use our knowledge and experience to design a savings structure that meets those needs. The level of savings then dictates the appropriate level of ongoing support needed from us.

Pensions

If you are saving for the long-term, and in particular your retirement, then you should use pensions because of the tax relief available on the contributions you make. If you can join your employer scheme then you should do so as you may receive employer contributions that will be lost if you don’t join.

Small amounts of pension savings are best held in simple and cheap contracts using a broad based set of funds. As you build your pension capital you will want to consider more flexible and sophisticated pension solutions.

How we can help

We’ll design the pension arrangements that suit your needs and objectives, changing this with you as you build your funds towards your eventual retirement.

Investment Platforms

Once your combined pension and investment capital exceeds around £80-100,000 then you should consider more active investment management specifically focused on achieving your financial planning goals such as our Wealth Management Service.

This is where investment platforms come into their own. Yes, there is a platform charge to pay but the bulk buying power of the platform should reduce the cost of the investment funds you use thereby reducing the impact of the platform charge. It is then really easy to switch investment funds on a platform with cost.

Platforms also offer the flexibility needed when you come to start drawing on your capital.