Rotherwood Insurance Consultants

Planning for a pension is a daunting task, and involves numerous important decisions such as: What do I do with my existing pension arrangements? What are my pensions options? How much do I need to save for retirement?

It is estimated that an individual needs to have saved at least £260, 000 by state pension age in order to live comfortably in retirement. With only 39% of all working people managing to save this amount, the need for a good independent financial advisor is more apparent than ever.

One of the main roles of an independent financial advisor is to help their clients achieve financial independence in retirement by helping them understand the requirements and goals of saving, to tailor the client’s investment strategies to individual need, to maximise their client’s gains and tax reliefs, and most importantly, to always provide transparent and honest advice.

Making sound investments is not easy, and it requires those investing to be informed and adequately researched in order to return a profit. At Rotherwood Insurance Consultants, we pride ourselves in developing personalized investment strategies for our clients on a case-by-case basis that take into consideration their specific circumstances and objectives.

When developing an investment strategy, we generally focus on four key types of investment:

1. Equities
2. Fixed Interest Securities
3. Property
4. Cash Deposits

By utilising a variety of asset classes, we can provide our clients with exposure to equity markets, whilst at the same time reduce the risk of using fixed interest securities.

In order to reduce our client’s tax burden, we implement a wide variety of investment strategies that utilise all possible options available to our clients. Examples could include making investments that utilise the personal savings allowance, annual dividends, or the capital gains allowance.

Other more complex areas of investments enabling a client to plan their tax bill are

1. Pension Contributions
2. VCT's and EIS's
3. ISA's
4. Offshore Policies

By carefully constructing an investment strategy using these differing asset types, we can help our clients reduce their tax bill, and ensure they retain more of their own wealth.

Selecting the correct type of insurance can be a difficult task, even choosing what type of life insurance to have can be intimidating with all the options available. By simply buying insurance through a comparison web sites can lead people not to be fully protected or paying for additional insurance they don't want or need.

When deciding on what type of protection to take out there are a couple of factors to consider

1. Level Cover | A fixed amount is insured through the term
2. Increasing | Sum insured increases each year, usually at a fixed % or inline with the selected index
3. Decreasing | Ammount insured decreases each year y a pre-determined amount

At Rotherwood, we specialise in getting the most appropriate cover at the best price.

Helping one generation pass on their wealth to their successors is the most important role a financial advisor can play. There are many different ways to protect a family’s assets, but having a clear and robust strategy is integral to all of them.

Presently, every individual is entitled to a £325, 000 nil rate band that is tax-free on an estate up to that value and 40% beyond. In the instances of home-ownership, an additional £150, 000 is awarded due to the main residence allowance. A married couple can combine their allowances to potentially form a total value of £950, 000, which is protected from inheritance tax up until 40%.

Developing a strategy that takes into consideration these varied allowances, as well as pensions and trusts is crucial in order to ensure as much wealth is passed on from one generation, to the next