Experiences

Based on a true story....

"I wanted a second opinion on my investments and asked FTA FWM to look as they offered a free, no obligation initial consultation. And I’m so glad I did!  I’d worked with my current IFA for the past eight years and when, year on year, my investments just didn’t perform, they always gave me the same excuse and blamed it on poor market performance. I had no idea how my investments were doing against other investors and my IFA hadn’t suggested that it was time to change approach/strategy at all for a number of years, so I decided it was time to get some further advice. Thanks to FTA FWM I saw my investments in a whole different light. They provided me with an in-depth assessment of performance as well as a risk and asset allocation against the market averages. I had always thought I was investing cautiously but after the FTA FWM assessment, it turns out that my investment risk level was currently 6/10.  My investments were underperforming against market averages and the charges I was currently paying were too high, resulting in a negative impact on the amount of money I was seeing in my pocket. FTA FWM suggested a new approach - a more diversified investment portfolio which the spread risk (something I was happier with), all of which had far superior historic performance results and lower charges.  I am now happily working with the FTA FWM team and they regularly review my investments and send me an update every six months so I can keep track on what’s happening. My advice to others…. regularly review your investments and if you feel any are not performing as well as they should, or you are not receiving sufficient information to keep you informed, then perhaps your current adviser is not providing the service you require.  It’s worth getting a second opinion."

Based on a true story....

"It’s never too late to review your pension and make sure you are in the best position for retirement.  I hadn’t reviewed mine or even considered my plans for at least 20+ years – it just wasn’t something that I had time to sort out as I was so busy running my practice.  It was only when I was thinking of selling and retiring that my pension fund became a priority and moved to the top of my to-do list. Seeking expert advice was a must as I had a complicated NHS pension, so I approached FTA Financial & Wealth Management.  The team were great and jumped into action straightway.  They analysed my NHS pension benefits so I knew exactly what I had and what my best options were. Given my age (over 60 years old) it worked out best for me to commence my 1995 pension element immediately.  This brought in £40,000 per annum and a £120,000 tax-free lump-sum which was a real bonus as I used this to pay off my mortgage and save myself £5,000 in interest payments! FTA FWM also reviewed my pension allowances and advised that I could use sizeable profits built up in my Ltd Co to fund personal pensions for myself and my wife.  This resulted in £30,000 in corporation tax relief and a further £18,000 saving in capital gains tax on the future sale of my practice.  The FTA FWM team also helped my accountant to maximise the tax-relief on the sale of my practice, saving me even more in capital gains tax.Thanks to FTA FWM I’m now far better off than I ever was. My advice is to definitely review your planning early – it would certainly be less stressful if I had done it earlier and not while my practice sale was imminent. However, it is never too late to take stock and make use of opportunities (even last minute) as you just don’t know what your options are until you ask for expert help."

Tax-Planning

‘Mr and Mrs D had income tax bills of £32,000 and £47,000 and we were able to reduce these to less than £5,000 each whilst also giving a good spread of investments for growth towards retirement planning’

Tax-Planning

‘Mr and Mrs W had an inheritance tax liability of £765,000 and we were able to reduce this to just £240,000 by re-organising their investment portfolio to include business property relief and trusts. The remaining liability was covered by an insurance policy to mean no inheritance tax liability needing to be settled by their children and the family home could be passed down to the next generation’

Tax-Planning

‘Mr and Mrs M had a Capital Gain of £300,000 following the sale of a property. We were able to defer £200,000 of that gain to future years through tax-planning investments, where they had a preferential tax position and saved £14,000 in tax.

Investments

"My wife and myself were introduced to Sue and her team some years ago. During that time, she has managed our financial affairs in a highly professional manner. At no time have we been given any reason to doubt advice that she has given us, which has been reflected in the returns on our investments made on that advice. We particularly like the personal approach that Sue has made, enabling her to accurately assess our needs.

We have no hesitation in recommending FTA Finacial & Wealth Management, led by Sue Delahunty as a highly proficient Financial Advisor"

Ray and Moira Cantwell

Investments

‘Mr and Mrs B had a large investment portfolio which had achieved an average of 3% growth per annum, which they were content with. However we were able to reduce their product charges, diversify their portfolios, add active management and increase their net annual yield to 5% per annum whilst retaining the same level of risk’

Pensions

'Mr P had pensions approaching the lifetime allowance and was moving towards a liability for a tax charge (up to 55% on excess). With active planning we ensured he did not exceed the lifetime allowance whilst not surrendering any investment growth or tax-efficiency.’

Pensions

‘Mr and Mrs G has saved into pension their whole lives but were approaching retirement and didn’t know their full range of options. We assessed their objectives and were able to construct a plan to provide them with access to lump-sums, flexible withdrawals and guaranteed income so as to ensure their savings benefitted them as much as possible throughout retirement.’