It may seem basic but everything we do needs to be geared to managing our finances so that we can achieve long-term security. Comet Wealth can help you map out the best routes for you to take. We will offer holistic advice that will take everything into account to ensure that every possibility is explored, every base covered, and every penny works for you.
Financial planning can help everyone. It isn’t reserved for the rich, or sophisticated investors, because we all want to make sure we are making the most of our money.
Whether it’s making a retirement plan, investing to provide for your children’s education or preparing for retirement, financial planning can help everyone across their lives.
A good financial adviser should be a trusted partner who can help you achieve your financial aspirations and protect those you care for through the changing circumstances of your life and potentially in the event of disaster. However, most people don’t really know what financial advisers actually do.
Investment planning is now more of a science than an art. Technology, ever-increasing investment opportunities and stricter regulation have all encouraged a more scientific approach. But has your investment strategy kept pace?
Investment planning and asset allocation is a multi-stage process. The actual execution of investment transactions is virtually instantaneous, but the decisions behind them need time and should not be hurried. There are many different approaches to the investment planning and asset allocation process, but most will broadly follow the step-by-step framework explained in this guide.
Retirement is something most of us look forward to − particularly on a Monday morning. However, those thoughts are often little more than a whimsical cocktail of not having to work and prolonged holidays. The reality could be rather different, particularly if your retirement date is some way off.
For a start, retirement is now often not the sudden change from work to enforced idleness that it used to be. It has increasingly become a gradual process, with part-time work playing an important role. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 13.4% of men and 7.9% of women aged 65 and over are still in employment.
If you are a high-earner and feel you are paying more and more tax, you are not alone. More than one in seven income tax payers are taxed at the higher or additional rate and they pay about two thirds of all income tax.
Increasing the tax burden for higher earners has been a deliberate policy of successive governments. For instance, the thresholds for phasing out the personal allowance and the start of the additional rate tax threshold have both been unchanged since they came into force in April 2010.
Most people’s finances are like a house of cards, with their ability to earn an income acting as the bottom row. Everything else rests upon this bottom layer and, should the worst happen and your income stop, the whole house can come tumbling down. Life and health insurance protection underpins most good financial planning. These types of insurance can ensure that, if the worst should happen, the right amount of money will reach the right hands at the right time.
Most parents want to help their children financially, whether it is making sure there is enough money for their education or eventually helping them to buy a property. An early objective as they grow up may well be to help children understand the value and importance of money.
Whatever the reason, tax will be a major factor to consider, as will the risks of giving children too much money too soon. It is therefore important for parents and others to appreciate the basic tax and legal rules, and the investment products that are suitable for children to help achieve the goals set for them.
