Before the internet went mainstream, it could be extremely difficult for smaller-scale investors to access international markets at all, especially ones at the greatest distance from their country of domicile.  There were numerous practical barriers in the way, such as the lack of availability of key data and the cumbersome (and expensive) nature of international money transfers.  Now, however, global asset allocation is genuinely available to smaller-scale investors and there are many arguments in favour of taking advantage of it. Global asset allocation and the principle of diversification Global asset allocation and diversification are basically two sides of the same coin.  Diversification basically means getting the right number of investment eggs in the right basket.  Basically, it’s the art and science of robust asset allocation.  Global asset allocation means exactly that, in other words considering the options available in the whole of the world before deciding which is the right one for you.  For example, you may opt to diversify your assets by dividing them between cash and near-cash, equities and tangible assets  This is your first layer of diversification.  Your second layer of diversification is deciding exactly which of these asset-allocation options to pick.  For example, looking at cash on its own, even if you just want to keep it in an old-school, instant-access savings account, there are still a number of options from which you can choose and if you extend your range of options to the likes of bonds, then there are even more choices available.  Similar comments apply to equities and tangible assets.  Your third layer of diversification is deciding where in the world you wish to hold your choice of assets.  In other words, global asset allocation is used alongside the principle of diversification, rather than separately to it.  For example, you may decide that you would like to have X% of your overall asset portfolio held in bonds and you may then choose to diversify further by purchasing bonds issued in different countries and currencies. The basics of global asset allocation Just as the stock market contains young start-ups, blue-chip companies and everything in between, so the world contains emerging economies, mature economies and everything in between.  For investment purposes, the difference between emerging economies and mature economies tends to be the extent to which they offer robust protection to investors.  For example, the U.S. is a prime example of a very mature market and its Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 provides stringent auditing and financial regulations, which are backed by a credible enforcement process.  This last point is important, since rules are, effectively, meaningless without credible regulators.  Additionally, emerging markets tend to be growing at a faster pace overall than mature markets.  As is generally the case in life, however, there is a certain degree of nuance to both of these points.  For example, individual companies in emerging markets may deliberately go (well) over and above what is required of them by law, possibly in order to appeal to international investors, while individual companies in mature markets may look to find legal loopholes in regulations designed to protect investors, or they may simply have little interest in whether or not smaller-scale investors are happy with their performance.  On a similar note, while emerging markets as a whole may be experiencing rapid growth (or at least more rapid growth than mature markets), they too can experience periods of stagnation or even recession, while mature markets can be home to investments which offer great prospects for capital growth and/or long-term solid yield, for example, start-up companies or properties in areas with good prospects for growth. For Investments, We Act As Introducers Only

There are many ways of saving for retirement, but the option of saving through a pension scheme remains a firm favourite. There are many reasons for this but two stand out in particular. Firstly, pension saving is very heavily promoted by the government. Arguably the most notable example of this was the introduction of the auto-enrolment scheme, which basically forced employers to enrol employees into a workplace pension scheme unless they actively opted out. Secondly, pension saving can be a very tax-efficient way of saving for the future. Basically, you can make pension contributions out of your pre-tax income in the present and then access the returns in your later years, when you will have ceased to have income from employment (or at least the same level of income from employment). The basics of pensions and tax Basically, you can potentially save up to £40,000 per year into a pension fund without paying tax on it. There are, however, a couple of details worth noting. First of all, you will only receive tax relief on the contributions made out of your own total taxable income. In other words, if you are lucky enough to have someone else topping up your pensions contributions, you will not receive tax relief on their contributions. There is, however, a slight twist to this in that couples who are in a legally-recognized relationship can have the (higher) earner make pension contributions on behalf of their spouse (or civil partner). At the current time, they can make annual contributions of up to £2,880 on which base-rate tax relief will be applied, giving a total value of £3,600. Secondly, if your total adjustable income is over £150,000 your annual allowance will fall by £1 for every £2 excess income you have. Hence, if your total adjustable income is £230,000 per annum or more, you will lose your entire annual allowance. For the sake of clarity, your total adjustable income is your annual salary, dividends, rental income and savings interest, plus the value of any employer pension contributions. NB: If you are a member of a defined benefits pension scheme then the benefits you accrue each year will be assigned a monetary value which will form a part of your overall personal allowance and hence will reduce the amount you can save in other pension schemes. Options for pension saving If you are in employment and meet the criteria for auto-enrolment then you will be auto-enrolled into a workplace pension unless you actively choose to opt out of one. Opting out is a serious decision, as it means that you may lose the benefit of the employer’s contributions. It may, however, still be the right option if you are struggling to make ends meet and do not feel confident about making even the minimum level of employee contributions. If this is the case, you may wish to ask your employer if they will pay their contributions into a private pension, although this would be entirely optional. For those in other situations, a personal pension may be an appropriate option. Last but by no means least, you may wish to ensure that you maximize your entitlement to a state pension. This means paying National Insurance contributions, which will happen automatically if you are in employment and meet the relevant criteria but can also be done voluntarily. National Insurance credits can also be accrued if you are in receipt of certain benefits. This fact may be of particular relevance to those fulfilling caring roles, such as home-makers with children as it may make it worthwhile to apply for a benefit for which you qualify, even if you know that your overall household income is too high for you to receive any financial support at this point. For Pension We Act As Introducers Only

Special introductory deals can be very helpful, but they run out eventually.  Similarly, fixed-rate mortgages also have a finite run-time, after which you are typically switched onto your lender’s standard product.  Remember that when a financial product comes to the end of its life, you don’t necessarily just have to take what your lender gives you, nor do you have to go out and purchase a fresh version of the same product (or a product which is as close to it as you can find).  Instead, you can take your time to look at your options and think through them carefully.  Indeed, you may even want to get professional advice, especially for important decisions, such as choosing the right mortgage product for you. Remember to think about the possibilities of “hidden” products Let’s assume you bought your home two years ago and took out a fixed-rate mortgage with a two-year lifespan.  If you leave your mortgage just to run its course, then you’ll stay with the same lender but be moved onto a variable-rate product.  If, however, you approach your lender before the fixed-rate period ends, they may be willing to offer you an alternative deal, which could be more attractive.  This deal may not be advertised, hence the importance of asking directly.  You will only know whether or not this deal is your best option when you compare it to what else is on the market, preferably including the “hidden” deals, which aren’t widely advertised.  When making your comparison, however, you may want to take into consideration the fact that remortgaging with your current lender could save you the time and hassle of having to submit an entirely new mortgage application as you would have to do if you went to a different lender.  Whether or not this makes the deal worth it will, of course, depend on what is on offer and how you feel about having to go through the entire mortgage evaluation process all over again.  It is, however, a point worth noting. The bigger picture While it may seem only a short while since you last went through the process of finding and applying for a mortgage, it’s worth remembering that mortgages are significant financial products.  Therefore, even though the difference between the right mortgage and all the others may ultimately come down to fine details, the sheer size of the loan involved can mean that those fine details end up making a huge difference to the overall state of your finances.  Hence it follows that a fixed-rate deal coming to an end is an opportunity to assess your current lifestyle and financial situation to make sure that you get the mortgage product which is right for you now.  This may be a fixed-rate mortgage, but it may also be a variable-rate mortgage.  It may be a standard, repayment mortgage or it may be an offset mortgage.  It may be a mortgage from a mainstream lender or it may be a product from a niche lender (or it may be a niche product from a mainstream lender).  There are so many mortgage deals on offer from so many different lenders that navigating your way through them on your own could be something of a nightmare.  This is why it can be helpful to make use of the services of a professional mortgage broker.  While mortgage brokers do, of course, charge a fee for their services, you’re not just paying for the convenience of having the hard work done for you.  You could actually wind up not only being shown a great deal which you would never have found on your own but also paying less for it than you would have if you had gone directly to the lender. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Getting “on the property ladder” is notoriously difficult and moving up it can also be quite a struggle.  (In fact, even downsizing can bring its challenges, especially if you are moving to a more expensive part of the country).  The good news is that there are some government-backed schemes which can make the challenge a bit more manageable.  Most of these only apply to first-time buyers, but there are some which are also available to those moving into their second or subsequent home.  Here is a quick rundown of the ones currently available. Help to Buy ISA This scheme is only open to first-time buyers and is due to close its doors in November this year, but there are still a decent number of institutions offering it.  The basic idea is that you can save up to £12,000 yourself to which the government will add a 25% bonus up to a maximum of £3000.  If you are making a joint purchase then each purchaser can put their own Help to Buy ISA towards the purchase, so if you’re buying your first home as a couple, you could receive up to £6000 of help.  There is, however, a catch to the Help to Buy ISA which is that it can only be used for the actual purchase price of a home, it cannot be accessed to pay the holding deposit. Lifetime ISAs The Lifetime ISA is only available to those aged over 18 but under 40.  You can save up to £4000 per year onto which the government will add a 25% bonus each year up until you reach the age of 50.  You can only withdraw this money to buy your first home or when you reach the age of 60.  The question of whether or not Lifetime ISAs should be used as a replacement for or supplement to pensions is a complicated one and ideally anyone considering it should take professional advice.  They can, however, be a useful way of putting together some extra cash to buy your first home. Shared Ownership With shared ownership schemes you buy a share in a home and pay rent on the rest.  You may have the option to buy further shares in the home as your financial situation improves.  Shared ownership schemes are often associated with essential workers (such as those in the emergency services) and first-time buyers, but each scheme sets its own rules.  Shared ownership can lower the barrier to entry to buying your own home, but remember that you will not necessarily have the same degree of freedom you would have had if you had owned your home outright and, in particular, you will need to ensure that any future buyer meets the scheme’s criteria. Equity Loans Equity loans are available to those buying second and subsequent homes (for their own use) as well as to first-time buyers, but they are only available on residential property.  The Help to Buy: Equity Loans scheme only operates in England.  Wales and Scotland have similar schemes known as Help to Buy – Wales and the Affordable New Build Scheme respectively which are both the same general idea but are implemented slightly differently.  In the English scheme, qualifying buyers are supported with a government-backed loan of up to 20% of the cost of a new-build home, buyers are expected to raise 5% of the purchase price themselves as a deposit and to get a mortgage for the rest.  This support can make it much easier for buyers to get a mortgage but there are a couple of important points to remember.  The first is that these equity loans are only interest-free for five years and the second is that the amount repaid to the government will depend on the value of the home at the time it is sold (or when you buy yourself out of the loan).  If your home increases in value, the government will take a share of this increase. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

ISA stands for Individual Savings Account and the basic idea behind them has remained largely the same since they were introduced.  Essentially, they’re a tax-efficient way of saving and/or investing.  For adults, there are currently five types of ISAs.  These are: Cash ISAs, Stocks & Shares ISAs, Innovative Finance ISAs, Help to Buy ISAs, and Lifetime ISAs.  For children, there is also the Junior ISA.  Here is a brief guide to what you need to know about them. The overall limit for ISAs is £20,000 For the tax year 2019/2020, the maximum ISA allocation is £20,000.  You can put all of this into one, specific ISA or spread it across a number of them, as long as you keep within the overall limits.  Certain types of ISA have their own, further, limits. Cash ISAs Cash ISAs are basically tax-free savings accounts.  They may or may not be instant-access, this depends on the provider’s terms and conditions.  It is now possible to withdraw money from a cash ISA and then replace it within the same tax year.  You cannot, however, roll over unused portions of your ISA allowance. Stocks and Shares ISAs Keeping investments within a Stocks and Shares ISA protects them from capital gains tax, dividend income tax and tax on the interest income from bonds.  It does, however, have to be noted that stocks and shares ISAs can be subject to transaction charges levied by the hosting platform.  Having said that, so can regular trading accounts. Innovative Finance ISAs The term “Innovative Finance ISA” covers a lot of possibilities.  Possibly the most obvious is peer-to-peer lending, but there is also crowdfunding and some forms of business and property lending.  There is, however, a quick note of caution to sound and that is that you should really check whether or not a particular option is supported by your ISA provider before you get too carried away with the idea of investing in it.  Another point to remember about peer-to-peer lending, or any form of direct lending, is that your money is not protected the way it would be in a standard bank.  Basically, Innovative Finance ISAs are an alternative way to invest rather than a way to save. Help-to-Buy ISAs The clock is ticking on Help-to-Buy ISAs.  Launched in December 2015, they were billed as a way to save for your first home.  People who qualified as first-time buyers could open an account with a maximum deposit of £1,200 and thereafter they can save up to £200 per month.  When the account holder buys a home, the government adds a 25% bonus onto the amount saved, up to a maximum of £3,000.  The Help to Buy ISA ran into something of a media firestorm when it emerged that the funds could only be accessed upon completion of a sale.  Hence buyers were not able to use them towards the holding deposit on a property.  This may have been the reason why the government decided to end the scheme.  It will close on 1st December 2019.  In other words, the last day to open one is 30th November 2019. NB: Help-to-Buy ISAs are basically a niche form of cash ISAs so you may struggle to open both in the same year.  If you wish to hold both, then the easiest approach might be to hold them with the same provider and essentially split your allowance between the two. Lifetime ISAs With a Lifetime ISA, you can save up to £4000 per year onto which the government will add a monthly bonus of 25% up to a maximum of £1000 per year.  You can open one as soon as you turn 18 and you cease to be eligible for one as soon as you turn 40.  The bonus will continue to be paid until you turn 50 so, in theory, the maximum bonus is £33,000 (or £32,000 if your birthday falls on the 6th of April of any year).  Although you can withdraw money from a LISA for any purpose, you can only benefit from the bonus if you use the money towards the purchase of your first house or for retirement. For investments, we act as introducers only.

SWOT analysis is a hugely useful business tool.  The acronym stands for “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats”.  Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organisation, while opportunities and threats are external.  In principle, the concept can work just as well in the private world, in practice, it can be quite a challenge for a person to analyse their own situation from an objective perspective.  This is why it can be very helpful to get an opinion from a friend.  When dealing with finance, however, a friend may simply not have the necessary knowledge to be able to offer you meaningful guidance, hence the benefit of speaking to a financial professional. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses The basic principle of protecting yourself and your family is understanding how to make the most of your strengths and minimise your weaknesses, but it may take a bit of a jump to picture how your situation and lifestyle translates into financial terms.  For example, you may be aware that you benefit from having two sets of grandparents close by to support you with childcare and general help, but you may never have stopped to think about how much money this saves you and, therefore, never thought to take any precautionary measures about what you would do if they became unable to help let alone what you would do if they required your help. Opportunities and threats In financial terms, it might be better to think of this as “plans and budgets”.  Everyone will have their own idea about how they want to live their life and different dreams will require different levels of finance to turn them into a reality.  Added to this, there is the simple fact that the longer you can give yourself to accumulate the funds you need, the easier it can be to achieve your goal.  For example, if you need to save £100 and you give yourself two years in which to do this then, essentially, you only need to save £1 per week (and you can give yourself four weeks in which you don’t save anything) whereas if you only give yourself 10 weeks, then you must save £10 per week without fail.  Of course, this is a very simplistic example, which ignores matters such as interest (and its compounding) and investment returns (versus the loss of losing your capital), but it illustrates how useful it can be to make an early start on working towards your life goals. The golden rule of effective risk management The golden rule of effective risk management is that you must know what the risks are in order to be able to manage them and, life being what it is, you may well find that the nature and extent of those risks will change as your life changes.  For example, for young adults in the pre-child and pre-mortgage stage of their lives, the main risk may be of accident/illness with the corollary of being able to work as a result.  Even in this period of a person’s life, however, they may wish to think about how their death might impact the people they love, for example, not being around for parents as they age, and take steps to mitigate this.  As a person moves on through life, the nature and extent of the risks might change and increase, particularly if they buy a home and/or have children.  This fact of life means that in order for risk management to be effective, it must be appropriate to the nature and level of risk and this, by extension, means that it must be updated as circumstances change.  A financial professional can help to look at a person’s life situation from an objective perspective and help them to determine the right level and form of cover at any given time in their life.

Insurance cover falls into the category of purchases you’d probably rather not use but still want to have around in case you do actually need them.  It may not be glamorous and it is highly unlikely to be free, but it can be a whole lot more attractive and cheaper than having to manage a difficult situation without it.  Here are some ideas as to how the right insurance cover can benefit you. Health cover While the NHS is an institution, the fact is that there are a lot of demands on it, which means not only that the waiting time for treatment may be longer than you’d like but that treatment may be limited to what you need rather than what might be optimum.  Health insurance can make it possible for you to get the treatment you need more quickly and may support you in getting the treatment you want.  Even if you’re not convinced about the need for full health cover, you might want to consider dental cover as anyone can have an accident which damages their teeth and dental bills can be expensive. Wealth cover Even those in paid employment are recommended to think about how they would meet their financial commitments if they became unable to work for a time.  You may find that a combination of work-related benefits and state benefits will suffice, but you may not and you will only know either way if you check.  The self-employed may be eligible for state benefits but will need to arrange their own insurance cover if this is insufficient. Those in employment might wish to look at payment protection insurance to cover financial commitments such as credit cards and loans, including mortgages.  While this type of cover is (still) in the news due to the historic mis selling scandal, it is important to remember that the scandal related to inappropriate sales practices rather than an issue with the product as a whole.  For some people it is a very useful form of cover. Income protection insurance is available to both the employed and the self employed.  As its name suggests, it is intended to replace income lost if an illness makes a person unable to work for a period of time.  This has obvious relevance to the self-employed but may also be of relevance to the employed.  Similar comments apply to critical illness cover, which, as its name suggests, pays out if you are diagnosed with one of an agreed list of critical illnesses. Life cover From the perspective of the insured person, the main benefit of life insurance is knowing that you have taken care of those who survive you.  Because of this, it’s important to review any policy on a regular basis, such as once a year, to ensure that you have the right level of cover for your current situation.  You should also review it in preparation for or immediately after any major life events such as births and marriages.  Life insurance can be written into a trust to keep it separate from your main estate, which not only reduces the value of your formal estate (thereby potentially reducing your family’s inheritance tax bill) but also allows a claim to be processed immediately and the money released to your beneficiaries (long) before probate is completed.  This can help them to move on with their lives.  As a final point, because life insurance is treated separately from the rest of your estate, you need to make any updates to the policy (e.g. change of beneficiary) through the insurance provider rather than by means of changing your will.

We all have to face up to the fact that at some point in time we are no longer going to have a place on this earth.  By acknowledging this reality, we put ourselves in a position to take steps to mitigate the impact our death could have on other people, especially those who look to us for financial support.  Here are some tips on how to achieve this, including a basic guide to the use of trusts. Take steps to minimise your taxable estate prior to your death The less you leave behind, the less inheritance tax will be levied on your estate.  Obviously, you will need to exercise some common sense about this and ensure that you still have sufficient funds to meet your own worldly needs right up to the point where you no longer have any, but as a rule of thumb if you can pass on a gift to someone while you are still alive (and ideally when you still have a reasonable expectation of living for seven years after making the donation), then from an IHT perspective, it can make great sense to do so. Leave a will Making a clear will can go a long way towards easing the practical burden on those left behind.  Remember to keep it up to date if your circumstances (or wishes) change. Have appropriate life insurance Even if you believe your assets should be enough to give your loved ones all the support they require, life insurance claims are entirely separate to probate and can be processed much more quickly to give your nearest and dearest helpful financial support at a difficult time. Write your life insurance into a trust There are two advantages to writing a life insurance policy into a trust.  The first is that it ring-fences it from your overall estate, thus potentially reducing the IHT bill your heirs will face.  The second is that it can allow you to exercise a degree of control over how the money is used.  This last point means that it may be appropriate to bequeath other assets via a trust even if there is no IHT benefit.  While the forms a trust can, in theory, legally take, are many and varied, in practice, there are three forms of trust which are particularly common for estate planning. Bare Trusts As their name suggests, bare trusts really are a “bare bones” form of trust, but then, depending on your situation, you may not need any more.  Bare trusts are held in the name of a trustee but once the beneficiary is of age (18 in England and Wales, 16 in Scotland), they can access the capital and income at any time and use it as they wish. Discretionary Trusts The difference between a bare trust and a discretionary trust is that in the latter case, the trustee can be given a far greater degree of authority with regards to how the capital and income are used.  For example, a parent might prefer a discretionary trust to a bare trust to prevent a (very) young adult from going on a spending spree with their inheritance and then having nothing left. Interest in Possession Trust With an interest in possession trust, the beneficiary receives the income from the trust but does not take possession of the underlying capital/assets, which will be passed on to someone else in due course.  This type of trust could be used to support children for a certain length of time, for example, until they finish their education, but could also be used to support dependent adults e.g. elderly relatives, without increasing the IHT burden on their estate when they eventually die. For investments we act as introducers only.

Starting a new job can be an exciting, not to say nerve-wracking, experience for anyone, especially if it is your very first job (or at least your very first proper adult job).  Joining one of the armed services can be particularly emotional, particularly if it results in deployment far away from your family and established social circle.  On the plus side, working in the army can offer excellent financial rewards so here are five tips to make the most of them. As soon as you apply to enlist, start tracking your spending rigorously Having a clear record of where your money is going now can be a great help when it comes to working out how to budget your army pay so that you meet your essential expenses, save a little and still have enough left over to enjoy yourself. As soon as you have been accepted review your current spending When you join the armed services, accommodation, of some form, will be provided with the job.  The exact form of this accommodation may vary, for example, you could be living in a private room in a barracks or sheltering in a tent during an operation in the desert, but you will be provided with a place to live.  As the previous sentence indicates, however, this will be where the armed services need you to be rather than where you choose.  If you are currently living in rented accommodation, you will not only (presumably) need to give up your accommodation, but remember to cancel any services you use (and pay for) in connection with it.  If you are currently living with your parents, then you may want to look through your spending and see if any of it relates to services which not be of any benefit to you while you are in the armed services.  This could be services which are restricted to your local area, or services which you will now get for free (membership of your local gym, for example, would probably fall into both categories). Consider selling possessions you will not use but need to insure While it might be tempting to keep a car for when you are in the UK and able to use it, you have to weight this convenience against the cost of insurance.  If you do decide to hold on to a car, you may be able to lower your premiums by looking at options such as paying annually (even if you wait until after you have received a few month’s pay), choosing a higher excess and/or agreeing to have a “black box” fitted. Remember to update any financial providers with your contact details While snail mail may seem an antiquated means of communication in the 21st century, financial services companies do, generally, require their customers to provide them with a physical address, which, for armed services personnel will typically be a BFPO address, which must be given in the correct format, including postcode.  You will need to update all of your financial providers every time you move. Make sure to pay all bills on time If you have financial commitments, such as credit cards, you need to make your payments on time just the same way as you would in any other job.  If you set up a direct debit, this will be done automatically.  Alternatively, if you make manual payments, then remembering to send the money as soon as you are paid regardless of when the payment is actually due, will ensure you don’t forget or, even worse, forget and spend the money on something else. Bonus tip In addition to the financial rewards associated with joining the armed services, you may also find that you have opportunities for professional/vocational training.  Making the most of these opportunities can not only help you to develop your career in the armed services but can also be of benefit when it comes time to make the move back to “civvy street”.

Politicians of all persuasions clearly believe that saving for our old age is a good idea and are particularly keen on encouraging us to save via pensions.  While the cynical might suggest that the main reason politicians are so keen on saving for retirement via a pension is because pension funds are locked away until retirement, the fact is that the government does offer incentives to save through a pension and so it is worth at least looking at what is available before you take a decision on what is right for you. The state pension While it may seem odd to start with the state pension, the fact remains that it is a pension scheme into which everyone is, effectively, automatically enrolled assuming that they meet the qualifying criterion (i.e. they pay national insurance contributions) and it can be an extra source of funds in retirement.  If you are working and earning over a certain level of income, then you will have to pay national insurance whether you like it or not and therefore will automatically build up entitlement to a state pension.  If, however, you are not working, you may still be able to build up entitlement to a state pension if you are in receipt of certain benefits.  Therefore, it may be worth your while to claim these benefits even if you do not need the money or even if you do not get any money in your hand at this time.  Similarly, it may be worth your while to fill in gaps in your national insurance history in order to ensure that you have the necessary level of payments to qualify for a state pension.  There is, however, a caveat to this, which is that governments can change the rules on state pensions any time they like, for example, they can increase the age at which you receive one, hence if you do make extra payments towards your state pension, you may wind up receiving less benefit than you thought. Workplace pensions Under the government’s auto enrolment scheme, all employees who meet the qualifying criteria must be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension unless they specifically opt out of enrolment.  The employee is obliged to make (at least) a minimum level of contribution to which the employer adds (at least) a minimum level of contribution on top.  These employer contributions are the main advantage of saving for a pension via a workplace pension scheme versus a private pension, to which an employer is not obliged to contribute (although they may agree to do so voluntarily).  At the same time, however, it has to be noted that the workplace pension scheme (as it currently stands) has a conspicuous lack of flexibility.  Once you are enrolled in the scheme you must contribute at least the minimum amount for as long as you remain a member of it.  With private pension schemes, you are in control of the amount that you pay. Private pensions While the self employed, obviously, will not receive employer contributions towards their pension, they can still benefit from tax relief on contributions.  Similarly, home makers can benefit from their spouse’s tax contributions.  Under current rules, the earner can pay up to £2880 into their spouse’s pension and the spouse will receive the benefit of tax relief to a maximum of £720 meaning that the total contribution will be £3,600.  It is important to note, here, that although this is the maximum extent of the tax relief, this level of contributions may not be sufficient to provide the level of income you wish to generate for your retirement.  Therefore, it may be best to increase the level of contributions even if they do not attract tax relief. For pension advice we act as introducers only.

When it comes to getting a loan of any description, the key to success is to convince the lender that the risk of lending you their cash is justified by the reward they can reasonably expect to receive in the form of interest payments.  Although mortgages are secured loans, meaning that they are backed by an asset, the fact still remains that the price of an asset can go down as well as up, even if it’s only on a temporary basis, which means that lenders have to feel confident that borrowers can continue to make payments over the longer term, regardless of changes to their personal circumstances or the broader economic situation.  Here are four tips to help you make that happen. Start building up your credit record as soon as you can As the old saying goes, you need to learn to walk before you can start to run.  In other words, you it’s generally best to start small and work your way up to greater challenges and more responsibility.  In financial terms, that means that you want to start establishing your credit record as soon as you can so that by the time you are ready to apply for a substantial level of credit, such as a mortgage, you have a long-term track record of using credit responsibly and paying it back in full and on time. Build up as big a deposit as you possibly can There are two advantages to being to put down a substantial deposit.  The first is that it demonstrates to a lender that you can manage your money well enough to have meaningful savings (or that you have family who can support you).  The second is that it reduces the lender’s risk.  In simple terms, the greater the amount you can put down as a deposit, the more value a home can lose before a lender’s capital is at risk. Be careful what shows on your bank statements These days (post the mortgage market review) banks no longer want just proof of income, they want to see evidence that you can manage your money and while some people may think this is intrusive, it’s a fact of life and if you want a mortgage you will just have to deal with it.  In practical terms this means that you will be expected to turn over your bank statements for scrutiny and you may therefore want to think a little about how a third-party might perceive them or, to look at the situation from another perspective, just how much of your lifestyle information you’re willing to share with a stranger.  If you conclude that you make purchases you don’t necessarily want to have scrutinised for reasons of privacy, then you may want to think about making them in cash. Check your personal records are full and accurate The most obvious record to check is your credit record, even if you have checked it before.  Mistakes can happen at any time and if they do you want to get them rectified before you apply for a mortgage.  Similarly, you want to make sure that you are on the electoral role at your actual, fixed address, rather than at a hall of residence, your parents’ address (unless you do really live there) or an old address (even if it’s in the same constituency).  This not only helps to confirm that you are who you say you are (an important consideration these days) but also that you are organised enough to keep your personal records up to date, which is (another) indicator that you are a responsible individual. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Illness can strike anyone at any time and, depending on how you earn your living and what kind of lifestyle you lead, it doesn’t even have to be particularly serious to be a drag on your finances.  As always, being prepared can help to cushion the impact. Short illnesses (e.g. colds) Colds and mild bugs are a fact of life, as are seasonal ailments like some allergies (e.g. hayfever).  If you’re self employed being laid low for even a day or two can be a problem, (especially if it occurs at a time when you’re chasing a deadline).  For those in paid employment, loss of income may be less of a concern (although there are exceptions such as employees who derive significant income from commission or who may miss out on the chance of overtime), but it may still impact you in other ways.  For example, if you have essential tasks to do, which cannot wait (e.g. taking children to and from school) and you cannot do them yourself, then you will have to arrange for someone else to do them and this may involve payment.  Because of this, regardless of whether you are self-employed or employed, it can be very beneficial to have an emergency fund you can reach into when the unexpected happens. More serious illnesses Similar comments apply to more serious illness although, of course, to a greater degree given that a more serious illness will, presumably, have a more significant impact on a person’s ability to work.  While those in employment may have access to in-work benefits as well as state benefits, it is highly recommended to check what this would actually mean in practice and how well the income you could expect to receive in certain situations would stack up against your expectations of what you would need to maintain your current lifestyle and to factor in the possibility that being struck by a serious illness could actually increase your expenses, for example, through the need to pay for transport to get to and from hospital. The self-employed, by definition, will not be eligible for in-work benefits and therefore will need to make their own provisions.  There are various forms of insurance cover which might apply to those looking to protect themselves against the possibility of being forced to deal with a serious illness of which the two which stand out are income protection insurance and critical illness insurance.  You might also want to consider pet insurance, to avoid having to make difficult and painful decisions when both your health and your finances are suffering.  Last but by no means least, in a worst-case scenario, having appropriate life insurance in place can make life easier for anyone you leave behind. The economically inactive So far, this article has focused on income-earners, be the employed or self-employed, however even those who are classed as “economically inactive”, such as home-makers can play an important role in ensuring the health of the family finances.  For example, in a family with children, the presence of a healthy home maker can remove (or at least reduce) the need to pay for child care.  Because of this, it can make sense to arrange relevant insurance cover for non-income earners, such as critical illness insurance and life insurance.  It may even be worth extending critical illness cover to children since it could provide you with extra money to help with any expenses caused by the child’s illness, for example adapting a home to their needs as they convalesce, or paying for other people to look after siblings while the home maker nurses the sick child (or vice versa).