You may be on the brink of retirement or already well into the next chapter of your life. Whatever your circumstances, knowing how to make the best financial plans for your future or preparing the ground for the next generation is hugely important. But financial planning is a minefield and difficult to manage on your own.

Clearly many of the external factors, such as inflation and taxation are out of your control but there is a surprising amount that can be done to make improvements to your personal arrangements and ultimately meet your financial objectives. This can be achieved particularly by maximising the tax planning opportunities available to you and your potential heirs.

Here are some of the most commonly asked questions by our clients, which may in turn relate to your own circumstances:

Q. How can I increase the amount of income from my capital when interest rates may remain low for some time?

Q. I remember when inflation was far higher and fear that one of these days the increase in the cost of living will escalate again. What can I do to safeguard against this?

Q. My level of income is no longer reliable or indeed consistent. What can be done to provide a consistent and tax efficient income?

Q. Knowing who to invest with and when, seems a lottery. How can you reduce the risk of poor investment performance?

Q. I have several different pensions but don’t know if I should buy an annuity or take income drawdown?

The value of your investments will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. Equities do not have the security of capital which is characteristic of a deposit with a bank or building society. You may get back less than you invested. The levels and bases of taxation and reliefs from taxation can change at any time. The value of any tax relief depends on individual circumstances.