5% on your savings?

Despite the budget purportedly being for savers it is still a bit hard to see what you should do with any cash. The record low interest rates for savers over the last few years have been shocking especially following the government’s launch of the Funding for Lending Scheme in July 2012.  The scheme has now been re-focused to business lending and has allowed Banks and Building Societies to recapitalise but the effects been disastrous for savers. The longer term outcome has been that the will for provider to try and bring in new savers has simply not been there and the competition to sell savings accounts has virtually vanished.

The only light out there and the accounts with the high interest are current accounts and they have become the only beacon of light for savers as standard savings account rates have plummeted to record lows.  Obviously, high interest current accounts are just savings accounts going by a different name, many of them are quick and easy to open online and pay more than 2 or 3 times the interest of easy access accounts. If you’re willing to look at all the options you might be able to earn up to 5% and still have access to your cash on some current accounts.

Enable’s IFA’s would almost always say that one of the best things to do in all things financial is to spread your assets, looking at some of the top paying current accounts you might be able to increase your returns without the hassle of having to change your current bank account.


Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

Managing your own investments?

It is understandable that since the introduction of new regulatory rules to make the true cost of financial advice transparent, people have become wary of advice but it should be remembered there are still a lot of potential pitfalls when managing your own investments.

When making a new investment it is important to keep in mind your personal goals, time horizon and circumstances. However, the huge number of topical articles and write-ups heavily tipping particular funds can make this really difficult. Often something that might sound attractive may not really be suitable for your circumstances. What’s more, investing without advice carries less regulatory protection than taking it, so having a well thought out strategy and making decisions based on the context of how an investment fits alongside your portfolio is vital. It is also the case that buying investments on an ad hoc basis can lead to unnecessary levels of risk and a lack of overall balance.

One thing that seems obvious is to choose funds that top a performance league table or have the lowest costs. That may seem like an easy way of building a successful portfolio but unfortunately, the past is no guarantee of the future, so selecting a fund on backward-looking data alone is like trying to drive a car by only staring in the rear-view mirror. Having access to quality research rather than relentless marketing will help you make informed decisions and should be an important consideration when choosing who to invest with.  It might also be the case that you simply do not have the time.  Enable’s IFAs are happy to explain any fees or charges before moving forward.


Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

Portfolio retirements

As the dust settles on the radical freedoms Mr Osborne outlined in last Wednesday’s Budget at Enable of Bishop’s Stortford our IFA’s can see more clearly that the changes will give future generations the opportunity to be creative with their pension and other assets. It seems clear that the changes will significantly increase an already emerging trend of what is being called "portfolio" retirement income, where people combine paid work with regular income from property or other investments and annuities.

If you are planning for retirement there will be the challenge of choosing among a far wider range of investment possibilities but essentially everyone will still be trying to do as all retirees have always had to do and that it to make their assets last as long as is needed while generating the maximum income from them. One retirement specialist said recently: "Income planning for retirement is, and always has been, about delivering a sustainable income to meet a client's needs. And nobody wants their pension to expire before they do."

Enable’s Independent Financial Advisors imagine that annuities could very well still form part of a savers' overall retirement income plan - although in many cases they are likely to play a far smaller role and it will probably just be one of several income streams. If you want help, to work out portfolio future Enable’s IFAs might very well be able to help.


Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

Sorting out your tax allowances

Enables IFA’s in Bishops Stortford know that managing your investments requires an understanding of your tax allowances and maximising them alongside your financial planning. 2014’s budget changes mean that the personal tax allowance for everyone has, as predicted gone up. So now no tax needs to be paid until £10,500 has been earned next year, a £500 higher threshold than April 2014. The higher rate tax threshold is also set to rise to £41,865 - a rise of 1% as expected.

Another new tax-free option is to be introduced for pensioners, it  is a  new higher tax-free savings allowance or pensioner bond, from January 2015, pensioners will be able to put up to £10,000 a year in a new bond run by the government-backed National Savings & Investments. George Osborne promised that interest rates would be "market-leading", and could start at 2.8% on a one-year bond and 4% on a three-year account. Anyone aged 65 and over will be allowed to invest up to £10,000 in each product.  A quarter of the pension pot also remains tax-free on retirement but the tax rate on the rest has been cut from 55% to the pensioners’ marginal rate of tax (20% for most).

Another small boon for savers is that monies held in ordinary accounts are taxed, with a starting rate of 10% for low earners, but the chancellor said he would scrap that rate so savers with small incomes would be able to earn up to £5,000 in interest without facing a tax charge.

Making sure your savings and investments are tax efficient is all part of the wealth management service.  If you want to talk through the best options for your financial plans Enable's Independent Financial Advisors would be happy to help.

Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE 

Budget Savings...

With the 2014 budget one of the area’s Enable will be able to help with is a review of your savings. Osborne announced a complete overhaul of tax-free individual savings accounts (Isas), saying savers would be allowed to invest up to £15,000 a year in cash accounts, stocks and shares or a mix of the two, and to transfer money from stock market investments to cash savings and vice versa.
So cash and stocks Isas are to be merged and the limit for tax-free savings to be raised from £11 520 to £15 000 for adult individuals.

The changes in the rules will come into force on 1 July 2014 that is when we will see the birth of the "new Isa", or Nisa. The government will also raise the limits for Junior Isas and child trust funds from £3,720 to £4,000 at that time so it might be worth saving for the children or grandchildren this way. The investment limit on NS&I premium bonds is also set to rise from £30,000 to £40,000 from 1 June 2014, and to £50,000 in 2015, and the number of £1m top prizes will increase to two a month from August 2014, a safe investment with the potential to win big doubled!

Better products and genuinely impartial advice, had got to be the way forward to help millions of consumers get the best possible return on their savings and investments. Enable’s Independent Financial Advisors in Bishop’s Stortford are here to help.

Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE 

Making your own mind up about Annuities

As you probably know by now one of the major changes the chancellor made this week was that retirees would no longer be forced to buy an annuity with their pension fund.  It is expected that anyone over the age of 55 who belongs to a private pension scheme (as opposed to a final salary scheme) will be able to take out their savings as a lump sum to spend or invest as they like. Meaning that rom 2015, people reaching retirement age will be able to spend the money however they want, rather than having to use it to buy a guaranteed income.

Mr Osborne dismissed concerns that retired people will spend all their pension at once and end up relying on the state. "It's all part of a coherent pension reform," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "So we have a more generous basic state pension, less means-testing and that enables us to get rid of a quite old fashioned set of government requirements, put in place many decades ago, that people had to take out annuities. "While annuities might be right for many people, they are not right for many, and returns from annuities have been much lower over the last 15 years or so.
"In the end, people who have saved through their lives, who have earned that money, I think should be trusted to make their own decisions, with good advice, about what to do with that money in retirement.” Enables’ IFA’s in Bishops Stortford would be happy to help you consider your options for retirement.

Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE