What is financial advice?

Financial advice is a valuable service that provides individuals and businesses with personal recommendations to help make informed decisions about their finances. The advice can cover everything from budgeting, savings, investments, retirement, and tax planning. Financial advice is not to be confused with financial guidance. Financial guidance provides you with information about the options available to you, whilst financial advice will recommend products that would best suit your personal circumstances.

Do I need financial advice?

Whatever life stage you're at, financial advice can be help you to plan and manage your finances now and for your future. You don't have to be super-wealthy to benefit from financial advice. Whether you’re planning for your retirement or just a little peace of mind, we all want to preserve our wealth and maintain our financial security. Some of our clients have created their money, some have acquired or inherited it, and some earn higher incomes than average. With this comes a certain amount of complexity and the burden of increased taxes, so they turn to us for support and advice. If you’re unsure, you can arrange a no-obligation consultation with one of our advisers to discuss how financial advice can help you to achieve your future goals.

Is financial advice worth it?

When it comes to seeking guidance in critical aspects of our lives, we instinctively turn to professionals we trust: doctors for our health, solicitors for legal matters, dentists for our teeth and mechanics for our cars. These experts play integral roles in safeguarding our well-being, providing expert advice, and helping us navigate less familiar terrain. But there's a profession that often flies under the radar when it comes to recognition and trust: financial advisers. The value of financial advice can not be underestimated. As well as the kind of value you can measure in pounds and pence, there are also many non-tangible benefits to receiving financial advice, particularly when it comes to peace of mind. A lot of the strongest benefits of financial advice can only be realised if you have an ongoing, trusted relationship with your adviser. For example, if you just have a one-off recommendation – perhaps about an investment – you may end up making unwise decisions through periods of stock-market volatility, or you won’t be able to adjust your plan to suit your changing circumstances.

What is wealth management?

Put simply, wealth management means helping you make the most of your assets. That might include savings, investments, ways to share with your family and other strategies that make the funds you’ve worked for work for you – now and in the years ahead.

What does a financial adviser do?

When you picture professional financial advice, you might think about your tax bill, guidance on a particular investment, pensions, and mortgage advice. However, financial advisers do far more than this. It's not just about 'the most tax efficient way' to do this or that. You can think of a financial adviser as being like a personal trainer. They’ll help you figure out what your goals are, what you might need to achieve them and then help keep you on course as you work towards them. Regardless of personal circumstances, money touches all parts of our lives. Unfortunately, our brains are not naturally wired for effective financial decision-making. We’re prone to behavioural biases that can seriously harm our financial plans. A financial adviser can help steer you around these psychological traps. Additionally, unforeseen circumstances like bereavement or divorce can complicate our financial journeys and lead us to make poor decisions. Considering these challenges, it’s crucial to be fully informed and guided by an expert. The role of a financial adviser extends well beyond just being technically competent on mortgages or tax optimisation. The relationship between an adviser and a client can span not only years but also significant life events and milestones. A financial adviser is a crucial support system and knowledge-base for clients, their loved ones and future generations, guiding them in making informed and sensible decisions that can help secure their financial futures.

Saving for children

SJP Saving for children

Saving a nest egg can get children off to a flying start in life. But planned saving is just as important at any age – whether you’re saving for a big holiday, or in case you need to pay for social care for yourself, or your loved ones.

Both saving and investing become more powerful the longer you keep doing it, and your money grows at a greater rate thanks to the effect of compounding. So, whether you’re saving for yourself, saving for children or saving to help your parents out, the secret is to start saving as much as you can comfortably afford, often, and early.

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested.