Protection

Professional Financial Planning is the process which aims to help you realise your ambitions - whatever they may be. As professional financial advisers we can help you make informed decisions about your financial future - short, medium and long term.

You will almost certainly have plans of one kind or another - buying a home, starting a family, living abroad, perhaps retiring, but such ambitions have financial implications and you can't leave it all to chance. Careful planning aims to help turn your plans into reality and the sooner you start your financial planning the greater your chance of realising your goals.

When someone talks about savings and saving money, they could be referring to a piggy bank on the mantelpiece or a high interest deposit account. Savings are effectively cash or cash instruments, such as deposit accounts, term bonds etc.

Investing is what you do with the savings you have - if you are looking to generate a greater return on your money than is available to you through your savings instruments.

When you retire you still need food and shelter as an absolute minimum, but of course you will want to maintain the lifestyle to which you have become accustomed, so unless you can guarantee a large inheritance or windfall, then you need to provide yourself with a secure income for the rest of your life.

A well prepared pension plan which is regularly reviewed should go some way to providing you with a reasonable level of income in your retirement. It requires action as soon as possible, so start now - and if you have already started, take the opportunity to have a closer look at your existing arrangements to make sure you are on track.

Wealth, just like your health, must be carefully preserved. Your assets need to be protected against the potential threats of erosion by taxation, the effects of inflation and investment risks.

Whatever your level of wealth, there is nothing wrong in making the decision to prepare a risk aversion strategy. Risk aversion is a reasonable and prudent strategy for anyone who is sure that they already have ample to provide for themselves and their family into the future.

Most of us face being taxed on our income, our capital gains, and in some circumstances the value of our estate when we die.

Taxation can be very complicated and the rules, reliefs and allowances often change, so it is worth obtaining a clear grasp of how these taxes work by discussing with a professional adviser the most efficient way to arrange your finances.

An expert will be able to help you plan your taxes in advance, and come up with effective strategies that will use the lawful reliefs and allowances to minimise the amount you have to pay.