Financial Advice Blog

Often one of the biggest benefits of a bespoke financial plan is that it allows you to devise a blueprint to follow, with your goals placed at the centre. It’s a strategy that could help you focus on what you want to achieve in life and make working with a...

Retirement planning – preparing for the future  20 Maximise tax relief on your pension contributions by using all of your annual allowance. The annual allowance for 2024/25 is £60,000, but you can also use surplus allowance from the previous three tax years (see tip...

Your property – making the most of bricks and mortar  16 Let rooms in your own home to one or more lodgers. Rent-a-room relief allows up to £7,500 of rent per property to be received tax free per year. The rooms must be let as residential accommodation in the home you...

Savings and investment – making the most of your money  10 Contribute up to £9,000 into your child’s Junior ISA. The fund builds up free of tax on investment income and capital gains until your child reaches 18, when the funds can be either withdrawn or rolled over...

Introduction to Tax Planning 2024/25 The new tax year brought some good news for employees, with a second two percentage point reduction in the main rate of employee national insurance contributions (NICs) to 8%, with the main rate for the self-employed falling from...

Women are less likely to invest than men – in fact, more than a third (37%) of women don’t invest at all. There are many reasons for the gender investment gap, and it could widen the wealth gap. According to an Aviva survey, men are almost twice as likely to invest in...