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.

Protecting yourself and your family

SJP Protecting yourself and your family

We protect our possessions as a matter of course – our houses, cars, even our luggage. What about the most important thing in our lives – the people we love?

Protecting your family is often at the bottom of a busy to-do list, yet it’s an important element of a family’s financial plan.

Protecting your family: what to consider

Would your family be financially secure if you couldn’t work, suffered a serious illness or died?
Do you have a ‘rainy day’ cash fund that you could live on for six months?
Would you be able to afford to keep up payments for the family home if you or your partner lost your income?
How would your children manage if they were unable to pay their mortgage? Would you be able to step in to help?

Protecting your income if you fall ill

Income protection is more than just a safety net, it protects your family and your way of life. An income protection plan replaces a percentage of your income while you can’t earn, meaning you can continue to pay the bills, make mortgage repayments, and simply stay afloat. And you’re protecting your savings and investments too. If you or your partner were suddenly unable to work, you wouldn’t need to raid your savings to pay the bills.

Life insurance can pay out a lump sum on death or cover for a specified period of time, for instance when the children have left home.

Critical illness cover pays out a lump sum if you suffer a serious illness such as cancer or a heart attack.

Protecting others in the family

You can insure other family members too. You can insure your children whilst they’re still living under your roof or cover their life or critical illness insurance if they’re a student or on low income. You can also take out mortgage protection for them. Paying a family member’s insurance often pays for itself in terms of your peace of mind.