Shaun Pearce | Ascot Wealth Management

December 21, 2018March 14, 2019

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The Christmas jumpers have come out, the eggnog has been poured and the festive lights are illuminating the neighbourhood. Yes, it is that time of the year again – The time for families to come together and make memories that will last a lifetime.

From left to right: Compliance Manager Maddie Delboy, Graduate Wealth Manager Matt Fagan, Graduate Wealth Manager Difang Deng, Wealth Manager Assistant Connor Griffiths, Wealth Manager Assistant Emilie Sotty, Wealth Manager Catriona McCarron

We asked some of our employees what their favourite Christmas memory or tradition is. Compliance Manager, Maddie, told a story about how they take a pre-Christmas lunch stroll every year to prepare themselves for the pigs in a blanket they are about to have. On the other side of the world in South Africa, Global Wealth Manager Greg, also shares an anecdote that involves his favourite festive food, something that seems to be the main feature in everyone’s holiday tradition. He tells the story of how his family debates around the Christmas table on the proportions of the crackling from the gammon every year.

We are sure Wealth Manager Assistant, Connor, would’ve appreciated some crackling in his tree house circa 2004, when he spent the remainder of his December holiday up there after his dad surprised them on Christmas morning with a tree house in the back garden. Wealth Manager Assistant Emilie reminisces about her ‘Broadway’ days as she and her cousins would put on a Christmas play for their family every year.

Growing up in China, Wealth Manager, Difang did not celebrate Christmas, however, she still holds fond memories of the holiday season as they celebrate Chinese New Year in January or February depending on the lunar calendar. She recalls one of her fondest childhood memories as receiving Ya Sui Qian (pocket money wrapped in a red envelope) from all her relatives and having a big family dinner on Chinese New Year’s eve, before watching the Spring Festival Gala on television.

No matter how you decide to celebrate the holiday season, there is no denying that it is a special time of the year

So from our family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Ascot Wealth Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority reference 551744. Our registered office: Scotch Corner, London Road, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 0ER. Registered in England No. 7428363. www.old.ascotwm.com Unless otherwise stated, the information in this document was valid on 3rd February 2017. Not all the services and investments described are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Tax, trust and company administration services are not authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The services described may not be suitable for all and you should seek appropriate advice. This document is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purpose or sale of any financial instrument by Ascot Wealth Management Limited. The information and opinions expressed herein are considered valid at publication, but are subject to change without notice and their accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. No part of this document may be reproduced in any manner without prior permission. © 2017 Ascot Wealth Management Ltd. Please note: This website uses cookies. To continue to use this website, you are giving consent to cookies being used.

December 10, 2018December 10, 2018

What a great Christmas gift…

Sometimes it can seem like your children or grandchildren have every new toy and book on the market, so when it’s time to buy them a present you have no idea where to start. Why not get them a Junior ISA? While it may not be the most exciting present for a child to receive, it will most certainly be the most valuable.

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With house prices and university fees on the rise, it’s never been more important to start putting money aside for a child’s future. Junior ISAs are locked away until the child reaches the age of 18. After that, they can convert it to a cash ISA if they don’t use it for university fees. Anyone can contribute to the Junior ISA – a great option for friends and relatives looking to gift money to a child, as a child is only allowed to have one cash JISA.

This example assumes a growth rate of 5%.

Also for you to gift the money it also acts as a great start to any inheritance tax plan. Everyone is able to gift up to £3,000 per year without facing any inheritance tax charges. Another allowance you could use is small cash gifts where you can gift up to £250 to as many people as you like during the tax year, as long as that person hasn’t been the recipient of your £3,000 gift. Both of these are exempt gifts and you don’t need to declare anything to HMRC if you remain within these allowances.

With Christmas right around the corner, this may just be the perfect gift!

December 6, 2018January 31, 2022

AWM a finalist for “Adviser Firm of the Year” award

We are delighted to announce that Ascot Wealth Management is in the running for the prestigious Professional Adviser Awards 2019 in the Adviser Firm of the Year category.

The Professional Adviser Awards, now in its 14^th year, seek to reward excellence both within the financial advice profession and broader financial services sector. This nomination as one of the finalists is a real testament to all the hard work that AWM put in both collectively and individually every day.

The regional winners will be announced at a black-tie ceremony in February, next year. Later that evening the overall national winner will be picked from among the eight regional winners.

For the full details on the 2019 Professional Adviser Awards click below…

Professional Adviser Awards

Share our good news

November 27, 2018January 31, 2022

Whatever your age…the importance of making an Annual Financial Plan

Whatever your age…the importance of making an
Annual Financial Plan

Even if you feel fairly confident about the way you’ve been handling your finances so far, understanding how you can use an annual financial plan to your advantage can help you make smarter decisions with your money going forward.

Your starting point may differ depending on your age, income, debts and assets – however the most important components of an annual financial plan are the same. This is what you need consider when making your annual financial plan:

Life Events

Reaching certain milestones, such as getting married or having a baby, are obvious reasons to reshape your financial plan. For example, a twenty-something my want to focus on saving for a deposit on a first home, while a young family may want to look into the future to save up for their children’s schooling or university.

Retirement and Investing

Actually, saving for retirement should be a top priority at any age; however, this gets pushed to the back burner far too often. By saving for your retirement in an ISA or a pension plan you can enjoy real tax advantages. If you’re not able to save in an employer-sponsored retirement account, a stocks and shares ISA is an option you can consider.

A general rule of thumb is a percentage of salary equal to half your current age if you want to have half your salary paid as a pension by your mid-60s.
A 20-year-old needs to save 10% a year, whereas someone starting to save at 50 would need to put aside 25% of earnings on a regular basis.

Read those two lines again… A bit daunting given other demands on income.

Saving for emergencies

Again the general rule of thumb for an emergency plan is 3-6 months worth of expenses in that ‘rainy-day-fund’. If you don’t have an emergency savings buffer yet – or yours isn’t as big as you’d like it to be – then starting one or beefing it up are items you should add your financial to-do list moving forward.

Work on building Alternative Income Streams

Developing an additional income stream for retirement beyond tax-advantaged and taxable investment accounts is a must. Investing in a rental property and becoming a landlord can provide regular income if you’re concerned about not saving enough for your later years. Looking for ways now to maximize your income later is a must.

Saving Goals

Your annual plan should include your outlook on the future – What do you want to accomplish in the next 12 months? With regards to what you want to save and where you should be putting that money. By starting with the total amount and then breaking it down in a monthly or weekly basis can make achieving your goal easier.

In Conclusion

Creating an annual financial plan may be time-consuming and may require you to face up to some financial realities that you’ve been avoiding, but it is well worth it in the end. Once your plan is completed, you can begin taking specific steps to ensure that your financial house is in order and running smoothly.

August 15, 2018January 31, 2022

Two thirds of UK adults don’t have a will in place

Studies have shown that nearly two thirds of UK adults have not prepared a Will. Meaning possessions, money, property and even dependent children could be left with someone you have not chosen

Macmillan Cancer support, who conducted the study, has found that a shocking 42% of people over 55 don’t have a Will in place.

Furthermore, a poll suggested that 1.5 million British citizens may have unwittingly made their Will null and void by getting married as marriage automatically revokes a Will made prior to the nuptials.

One in ten people with Wills have acknowledged that they are planning to update their Wills to include children and grandchildren, but are yet to get round to it.

Several other possible errors were found to be common:

The Will still includes an ex-partner.
A new partner is not added to the Will.
Leaving in someone you “planned to remove”

Official guidance recommends that people review their Will every five years and after any major life changes, but a quarter of Wills have not been updated for at least five years.

Previous research from Macmillan found that people’s top reasons for not having a Will included them having “just never got round to it”, as well as the belief that they don’t have anything valuable to leave and that they don’t need to write one until they’re older.

This can be particularly important where:

you share a property with someone who is not your husband, wife or civil partner;
you wish to make provision for a dependant who is unable to care for themselves;
there are several family members who may make a claim on the Will, for example, a second wife or children from a first marriage;
your permanent home is not in the United Kingdom;
you are concerned about the possible impact of care fees;
Inheritance Tax could potentially be an issue for your estate;
you are a resident in the UK but there is overseas property involved; and
there is a business involved.

Make sure your Will is legally valid. Likewise check your parent’s or partner’s Wills are 100% up to date.
Ascot Estate Planning offers a FREE Will review to ensure your Will achieves everything you hope it does.

August 15, 2018April 18, 2021

Company News – AWM Is Going Digital

AWM is Going Digital

You may have noticed that our Social Media pages have been more active in recent weeks.

More and more people are joining Social Media sites every day, and no, it’s not just for teenagers anymore.

Studies have shown that 78% of adults between the ages of 30 and 49 have at least one social media account and 64% of people between the ages of 50 and 64. There are more than 3 billion active users on social media. Are you one of them?

We see this as an opportunity to connect with our clients and facilitate a swift exchange of information.This means that you can now contact us through any of our social media pages, that’s right, you don’t even have to interrupt your scrolling! We share relevant and up to date information about the company and other newsworthy events. The clients who are following us on social media have received information such as

‘What’s the right emergency fund amount’,

‘5 Ways to teach your child about saving money’ and ‘The UK’s four Brexit options’ to mention but a few.

It’s exciting to get to know our clients on a more personal level and have them get to know us. We get to share behind-the-scene pictures and give you a sneak peek of what goes on at AWM.

If you haven’t followed us already, be sure to hit any of the social media links below as you may be missing out on important updates and content.If you are having trouble setting up your Social Media account, ask one of our advisers next time you see them, they’ll be happy to help.

With loads of content opportunities in the near future, be sure watch this space!

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Linkedin

CONTACT US

August 13, 2018December 8, 2020

Pension Advice Vouchers

Did you know you could claim salary sacrifice on up to £500 per annum spent on pension advice?

Launched in November 2017, the pension advice voucher scheme is a government initiative to encourage employees to seek good quality pension advice. The scheme is backed by HMRC and is similar to that of the child care voucher or cycle to work scheme. It would be deemed a non-taxable benefit in kind.

To make use of the tax saving you would need to sacrifice up to £500 of your pay in return for the pension advice voucher. The voucher can then be used on the purchase of pension advice; this can be used on your personal pension planning or related to your workplace scheme.

Your tax bracket will determine how much the pension advice voucher actually costs you, by saving on income tax and national insurance.

A £500 pension advice voucher could cost the following:

Basic rate tax payer: £340

Higher rate tax payer: £290

Higher earners caught in the tax trap between
£100,000 – £123,000 = £190

Additional rate tax payers: £265

The only provider of the voucher so far is VouchedFor. There has been a slow take up in the scheme. We believe this could be due to a lack of communication, the off putting administrative burden and lastly the potential concern for employer’s that their employee may seek bad advice.

However you are free to choose your financial adviser, this is not selected by the employer. Therefore you can use Ascot Wealth Management and we are here to help.

Below we have broken down the actions required:

1)Employee agrees to sacrifice up to £500 of salary (which would have been taxed).

2)Pension advice vouchers confirm with the adviser that the employee has paid for pension advice, or is committed to.

3)Employer approves request and transfers funds via Pension Advice Vouchers (which is not taxable).

Employers can register here:

https://pensionadvicevouchers.co.uk/employers

Employees can register here:

https://pensionadvicevouchers.co.uk/employees

Result:

Employees pay less for pension advice via the tax saving.

Note: Ascot Wealth Management is happy to use this voucher towards future adviser fees. Please get in touch with us if in receipt of a pension advice voucher.

July 26, 2018January 31, 2022

When Trump Tweets, the world trades!

When trump tweets, the world trades!

The social-networking platform Twitter has revolutionised the way in which individuals interact with one another. Through the distribution of content via a 280-character micro-blog (known as a “tweet”), users can report news items, advertise their wares or simply poke fun at the controversial issue of the day. In the United States, Twitter has exploded in popularity among political figures. It has become a necessary part of public life, with the sitting president and nearly every member of Congress actively participating. Many attribute its ascent within the political arena to be a product of former President Barack Obama’s groundbreaking use during his administration.

Every time current US president, Donald Trump, tweets, it has an impact on the international market. An untimely tweet or offhand comment may have a large impact upon intraday volatilities facing futures, equities or Forex markets. As a general rule, financial markets are not receptive to surprises and uncertainty – however, Twitter has the ability to supply both, periodically spiking short-term volatilities facing a wide variety of openly traded financial instruments.

Trump’s impact on the market was on full display earlier this year when even powerhouse, Amazon’s shares went down by 5.1% at one point in time. It is because of the jaw-dropping speed at which certain stock moves in response to Trump’s tweets that some sophisticated traders are using an algorithm that instantly captures Trump’s Twitter remarks and then immediately buy or sell the affected stocks. Others have opted to ride it out as the trend seems to be that the market value amost always recovers – often within the trading day.

So the moral of this story is…Beware presidents bearing tweets

July 16, 2018January 31, 2022

Pension Planning – What are your options?

Pension planning is one of the most important, but forgotten, areas of estate planning.

When someone thinks about planning for the future to ensure their assets pass to their loved ones, the first thing they consider is ensuring they have a Will in place which is up-to-date and meets their wishes.

However, pensions fall outside of your estate and therefore do not pass via your Will meaning this planning doesn’t provide any structure of your intent for who should receive your pension.

Often, people’s pensions make up a large part of their total estate, but they are left with no nomination form or trust planning, so the pension provider makes the decision at the time of death as to how it is paid out.

Do you really want them to make those important decisions for you? They may not know about your close relationship with your godchild, or the sibling that you don’t get on with and wouldn’t want to receive it.

Even if you do have a nomination form in place, from the moment your spouse, child or other loved one takes a lump sum, that full value sits inside their name at risk of the following threats

If your spouse takes a lump sum

Marriage After Death (MAD):

This risk can affect the family in many ways. For example, say you passed away your spouse was to re-marry soon after when grieving and then realise it wasn’t what they wanted. On divorce, half of the funds could be lost. Alternatively, it may be a situation where the survivor meets someone else some time later and remarries. There would still be the risk that upon second death, their estate would pass to the partner (as the funds are now in their estate, and marriage revokes previous Wills). On the new partner’s own death, it’s likely they would leave it to their own children and it may never reach your children.

Care Home Fees:

If your spouse took funds into their name, and then needed to go into care, the funds would be taken into consideration and assessed for care fees.

Inheritance Tax:

Although the funds are Inheritance Tax free on your own death, if your spouse took funds into their name, they could end up paying Inheritance Tax on the funds when they die.

If your children take a lump sum

Divorce:

If either of your children were to get a divorce further down the line, half or more of the funds you left them could be lost to the ex-partner.

Future:

We all hope our chosen beneficiaries will do the right things and are ready to receive funds but when there are large sums involved however, you may wish to stagger the age at which funds become available, rather than the full amount being available to them at 18.

Bankruptcy or Creditors:

Again, assets taken could be lost if your beneficiaries ever got into financial difficulties. Again not always a common thing but in a world where beneficiaries may run their own business etc. it’s a risk that can simply be protected by the use of the Trusts we will recommend.

Inheritance Tax:

Although the funds are Inheritance Tax free on your own death, again if your children took funds into their name, they could end up paying Inheritance Tax on the funds when they die.

Pension Planning is a very complicated area but certainly something that you need to ensure you have thought about.

Please contact us on 01344 851 250 or enquiries@ascotep.com if you would like to discuss this further, or click the button below.

July 11, 2018July 11, 2018

England In the Semi Finals

4 Things Football Coaches and
Financial Advisers have in common

With the 2018 FIFA World Cup semi-finals underway, the coaches of the world’s greatest teams are on tenterhooks, eager to see whether the many hours of intense preparation will propel their teams to victory. And there’s a lot in common between a football coach and a financial adviser.

1. Strengths and weaknesses:

The value of a good football coach is similar to that of a good financial adviser. It’s about their understanding of strengths and weaknesses, and their ability to put a strategic plan in place that will deliver winning goals.

2. Insight:

The right sports coach gives you insight into both your growth potential and your limitations, and will also help you identify and take advantage of all the opportunities ahead. Similarly, the right financial adviser looks at the reality of your finances, including the risks and barriers to reaching your goals, and helps you gear your money toward wealth creation and peace of mind.

3. Valuable Advice:

The same way that a coach would not send you into a game unprepared, a good financial adviser would not encourage an expensive holiday when you are struggling to manage debt repayments.

4. Honesty:

Honesty is key in these relationships. When a coach asks players to disclose injuries, it is to prevent further harm. It’s also why financial advisers need to have the full picture of your financial status and goals – expenses, debt, income and financial aspirations.

Good coaches also understand that ‘practice makes perfect’. In life, the better you know your own money habits and the more committed you are to achieving your financial goals, the more prepared you will be for any financial season – come World Cup tournament or friendly match.

At Ascot Wealth Management our coaches/advisers are in for the long haul and we are wanting to form long term relationships with our clients rather than just for one season.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

What a great Christmas gift…

AWM a finalist for “Adviser Firm of the Year” award

Whatever your age…the importance of making an Annual Financial Plan

Life Events

Retirement and Investing

Saving for emergencies

Work on building Alternative Income Streams

Saving Goals

In Conclusion

Two thirds of UK adults don’t have a will in place

Make sure your Will is legally valid. Likewise check your parent’s or partner’s Wills are 100% up to date. Ascot Estate Planning offers a FREE Will review to ensure your Will achieves everything you hope it does.

AWM is Going Digital

Pension Advice Vouchers

Basic rate tax payer: £340

Higher rate tax payer: £290

Higher earners caught in the tax trap between £100,000 – £123,000 = £190

Additional rate tax payers: £265

When trump tweets, the world trades!

So the moral of this story is…Beware presidents bearing tweets

Pension Planning – What are your options?

If your spouse takes a lump sum

Marriage After Death (MAD):

Care Home Fees:

Inheritance Tax:

If your children take a lump sum

Divorce:

Future:

Bankruptcy or Creditors:

Inheritance Tax:

4 Things Football Coaches and Financial Advisers have in common

1. Strengths and weaknesses:

2. Insight:

3. Valuable Advice:

4. Honesty:

SO PUT YOUR BOOTS ON AND COME PLAY BALL WITH US…

Whatever your age…the importance of making an
Annual Financial Plan

Make sure your Will is legally valid. Likewise check your parent’s or partner’s Wills are 100% up to date.
Ascot Estate Planning offers a FREE Will review to ensure your Will achieves everything you hope it does.

Higher earners caught in the tax trap between
£100,000 – £123,000 = £190

4 Things Football Coaches and
Financial Advisers have in common