This week are pleased to welcome Gary Mirfin, Director at InvestAcc Wealth Management Ltd who is offering us all advice on how to manage our finances better in 2020!
With the first month of 2020 almost at an end, the chances are that many New Year’s Resolutions have already fallen by the wayside. Whilst the promises of a new improved healthy diet, going to the gym, or doing a ParkRun every weekend, may have already floundered, all is not lost because it’s not too late to follow our New Year’s Financial Resolutions instead.
Make Your Money Work Harder – If you are fed up with receiving poor interest rates on your savings it’s time to take action. The bank base rate has been no higher than 0.75% for more than 10 years, with little prospect of it rising any time soon. Commit to looking at alternatives that may at least provide returns that are above inflation.
Keep an Emergency Fund – What happens if your income suddenly dries up? Perhaps due to illness, injury or unemployment? Or a large bill lands when you least expect it? By having an emergency fund to fall back on at such times you can take away a lot of stress and worry and provide the peace of mind to put things right. As a general rule of thumb, the equivalent of 3 months of income is a good starting point.
Protect what is important – Do you and your family have adequate protection in the event of a long- term absence from work through either illness or injury. Do you have enough life cover in place to ensure those left behind can maintain their standard of living in the unfortunate event of your death? Why not resolve to review your existing protection arrangements and ensure they match your current financial and family circumstances
Make Regular Savings – Once that Emergency fund is in place it’s time to save for the nice things in life, perhaps the holiday you’ve always wanted, the home improvements, that new car, or simply save for a rainy day. As an example, we all have a tax-efficient ISA allowance of £20,000 per year which allows us to save tax efficiently into either a Cash or Stock & Shares ISA.
Pay Less Tax – do you use all your reliefs and allowances? ISA allowance, Capital Gains Tax Allowance, Pension Contribution Annual Allowance, Annual Gift Allowance…. and more.
Action is needed before 5th April.
Save & Plan for retirement – So now you’ve saved for this years’ summer holiday, how long will you spend scouring the internet planning it? Compare that to how long you will spend planning your longest holiday….. retirement! Set aside some time to review your pensions and retirement savings so you have a better understanding of what your income may look like at retirement, and at what age that may be. Don’t leave it too late to discover your planned 5-Star all-inclusive retirement doesn’t look anything like it did in the brochure!
InvestAcc Wealth Management Ltd can help with all these matters and more.
If you would like a free no obligation initial consultation, please contact our Tees Valley Office on 01642 917106, or email Teesvalley@investacc.co.uk, to make an appointment.
