Planning the financial security for yourself, your family and your dependents is important to all of us. There are many areas to consider, and when you are fully committed to your business and home life, it is sometimes difficult to keep your affairs fully up to date.

Pensions Advice

• Consolidating old Schemes
• Self Investment (SIPPs)

  A SIPP is in effect a Personal Pension with much wider investment choices. A SIPP could be suitable for any investor, although we would usually not recommend a SIPP if the starting fund value was below £30,000. Regular premiums and or lump sums can be accommodated within a SIPP.

  Below are some of the more popular wider investment options:

  • Investment Funds – Pretty much any investment fund can be accommodated within a SIPP, certainly the full range of Unit Trusts and any Insurance company fund can be included, this immediately gives access to thousands of investment funds. You are able to select (with our help) the very best from the whole market.
  • Quoted Shares – In addition, shares can also be held within a SIPP, you can either appoint a Discretionary Stockbroker to act for you, or if you wish to trade the occasional share, then this can simply be done via your bank, or online, for example Selftrade (www.selftrade.co.uk). Your share purchase will effectively receive tax relief at up to 40%, if bought via the SIPP. Ie say you wish to buy £10,000 worth of shares, you deposit this sum into your SIPP, if you are a Higher Rate tax payer, you receive 40% tax relief. The SIPP then buys the shares for £10,000. As the shares are held within the pension fund, there will be no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when the share are sold.
  • Unquoted Shares – A SIPP can also hold shares in unquoted companies, subject to certain restrictions
  • Property – Commercial Property can also be bought via a SIPP, and the SIPP may borrow to assist with the property purchase, loans of up to 50% of the SIPP fund value are permitted.
• Transfers from Occupational Schemes
• Income Drawdown and Annuities

  Income Drawdown (also called alternatively Secured Income), is an alternative to buying an annuity at retirement. Annuities are very inflexible, they usually provide a fixed level of income and have no or very limited death benefits.

  Income Drawdown allows you to draw income from an actively invested fund, allowing you to benefit from future fund growth. A Drawdown arrangement also has the following benefits:

  • Flexibility to be able to take maximum Tax Free Cash and an income ranging from zero to a pre agreed maximum. Your pension fund remains fully invested, allowing you to benefit from future growth (if markets underperform you could see a fall in the value of the fund too)
  • Maximum income is approximately 20% higher than an Annuity
  • Income may be varied between zero, and the maximum at any time
  • Death benefits are available via Drawdown
  • 100% spouse provision is also built in
  • Maximum income can be reassessed each year, and with increasing age this usually means a gradually rising income, in effect inflation proofing your income.

  As Annuities remain a very inflexible way of drawing an income in retirement, Income Drawdown provides a very real alternative for most clients.

Tax Planning

• Maximising your tax allowances
• Offshore Investments
• Other tax efficient schemes

Estate Planning

• Reducing your IHT liabilities
• IHT efficient investments
• General Trust advice

Pensions – Divorce

• Valuing Pension benefits
• Collaborative Law trained

  Collaborative Law is a new approach used by an increasing number of Family Lawyers to manage the divorce process. As a part of this process, the Family Lawyers and their clients agree to reach a settlement without Court involvement. They agree to collaborate to resolve children and financial issues arising out of the separation.

  At HFS Milbourne we work closely with Collaborative Family Lawyers and one of our specialists has the Resolution IFA accreditation which allows us to work closely with Family Lawyers undertaking Collaborative Law.

• Pension transfers and general retirement advice

Protection

• Life Assurance
• Critical Illness Protection
• Income Protection