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Keeping your savings in a bank is one of the worst things you could do with your wealth!

4/6/2021

Some people think that is prudent to keep your money in savings in a bank, but actually that is one of the worst things you could do with your wealth over an extended time period. Cash is a terrible storage medium in the long term because of inflation - if you compound inflation at just 2.5% for 10 years your money would actually be worth 28% less than it was at the beginning of that decade! That devaluation shows the erosion in the real purchasing power and assumes you are receiving no interest payments on the account.

“What about property?” a lot of people say. Well bricks and mortar is generally regarded as a relatively safe haven but the market is cyclical and is well known to crash periodically. The stock markets tend to outperform property over the long term and most investors’ portfolios are heavy in property anyway in the form of the family house.

I recently saw a relatively wealthy lady who was worried that she was going to have to keep working for years to come and maybe even have to die with her boots on (metaphorically speaking). Using special software tools, we looked at how much income she would actually need in retirement where her mortgage had been paid off. I was able to demonstrate to her that even if she took a larger income than she needed, and lived well past her average life expectancy age, she would have more than enough money to retire now and still be able to pass a generous legacy down to her children.

Money is the best device for storing energy that human beings have devised to date.
This means your wealth is literally a reserve of all the energy that you have amassed at this point in your life. I help you ensure that you aren’t taking any more risk than you need to in order to achieve your objectives.

I kind of have three different roles within my work with you:
First, as a Financial Planner, I look at your bigger picture scenario and answers to three big questions:

How did you arrive at your current perspectives on money?
Are you managing your money in a way that is improving your life?
Are you financially ready for life’s big transitions?

Secondly, as an IFA, I am Independent, not limited to a restricted panel of providers. Our proposition offers genuine whole of market access and I am fully accountable and liable for my advice. As a client, you are entitled to make a complaint through our Customer Disputes Resolution Process which is ultimately enforced by the Financial Conduct Authority and protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

And finally, as a Wealth manager - this is the analytical bit where I look at charts, graphs and performance statistics for the funds that you are invested in. I make sure that your numerous tax allowances are being utilised and that your overall portfolio is fully optimised, properly balanced, competitively charged and that you are in the best performing funds.

We add significant value to your portfolio in many ways - way more than we charge in our fees which are just a relatively small percentage. This is always broken down explicitly in our reports and demonstrated so that our advice should more than pay for itself in the long run. In a nutshell, I think that probably the main thing that I provide for you is reassurance and peace of mind that you can do what you want to without having to worry about money because we’ve made a thorough financial plan together to take care of things.

So why put your money in a bank when you can have a Financial Planner, an IFA and a Wealth Manager taking care of you and your savings?

Start adding value to your future now. Let’s schedule a call and I’ll show you how.

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6 Main Reasons Why You Should Hire a Financial Adviser

14/4/2021

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BUILDING TRUST AND CONFIDENCE IN YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE
There are many areas in which I, as your financial adviser, can add value to you. Not all our clients will benefit from each area all the time. But over time the value we add will grow and develop as you do. From protecting your young family, through to growing your wealth, drawing an income, and enjoying your later life, there are many areas that we can support and help you. And if circumstances change along your financial journey, for better or for worse, we are there for you. We have identified over 20 areas where we believe we can add value to our clients, but we have picked out just a few below to give a flavour.

Please ask me for more details or to help with any questions that you have.

THE SIX MAIN AREAS WHERE WE CAN ADD VALUE:

Goals and planning
Behavioural coaching
Investment oversight
Risk assessment and management
Tax planning
Confidence building

Goals and planning

When Alice (in Alice in Wonderland) asks the Cheshire Cat, “Would you tell me, please which way I ought to go from here?” the Cat replies, “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to”. It is the same for all of us – the first stage in achieving your long-term financial goals is to have clarity of what they are. This is a key area of our expertise, and we can help discuss, plan, and agree a detailed and realistic plan for your financial future. We ask you questions in a relaxed but structured way; we help you understand risks and opportunities and we build a clear plan for your future. Without a long-term plan your finances are unlikely to head in the right direction. Our job is to give you confidence in the future.

Most people find it hard (or impossible) to project returns, costs, inflation, and their income needs into the future. We use powerful but simple tools that will illustrate this for you. Seeing a picture of your future “money in and out” can really put into perspective how your plan is progressing.

Behavioural coaching

Humans have evolved to survive over many thousands of years. Unfortunately, we have also learned some bad habits and biases in the process. Many of them we are not even aware of. We buy high and sell low, we value the near term more than the long-term, we hold onto investments that have fallen, we believe in information that reinforces our own views. Part of our role is to act as a coach – helping you avoid these mistakes and guide you to a better future. Research shows that investors may be losing up to 2% per year by falling into common traps – we assist in avoiding these.

Holding your hand through difficult times - divorce, death, redundancy, business sales, and making wills are all stressful times. We have the experience, expertise and understanding to assist and guide you through them. We are there when you need us most.

Investment oversight

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. A well- diversified portfolio can deliver the returns that you seek with a lower amount of risk. We use sophisticated tools to help you achieve the returns you need; within the risk tolerance you have.

Reducing costs and boosting efficiency can compound up to big differences over the years. We have access to portfolios that cost well below 0.5% per year versus the average managed fund of 1.37% per year (source: Money Management). Wrap platforms can add real value and make portfolio management easier – we make sure we select one that meets your needs. We make sure the platform is cost effective and reliable – making your life easier.

Risk assessment and management

There is a pernicious risk that few investors are aware of called sequence of return risk. It can have a massive impact on how long your pension fund will last – in the worst case it could reduce your income by nine years or more. We can help you plan and take the simple but effective steps to mitigate that risk – and give you a “longer lasting retirement income”.

Risk is a complex subject with many dimensions – we will help you navigate and understand risk to ensure the solutions we recommend meet your needs. We use our expertise, structured questions, and a conversation to guide you to a solution that meets your needs and objectives in a way you understand.

Tax planning

We make sure that we use all applicable tax reliefs and allowances each year – thus helping your money grow faster. Estimates suggest that this could boost returns by 1% per year – so on a £100,000 investment that would be £1,000 per year.

Student debt and rising house prices have put huge pressures on the next generation. It is little surprise that parents and grandparents want to help. But what are the most effective and secure routes? How do you gift but retain family control? What are the tax implications of gifts or house purchases? We can help with all these questions to provide the confidence and value you seek.
Using simple trusts, wills, and other strategies we can make sure your money ends up in the hands of the people you want when you want. Poor planning can see up to 40% of your hard-earned savings or life assurance paid to the tax man. We give you confidence that your wishes are met, your loved ones protected, and / or your business secured.

Confidence building

We can spot opportunities. Understanding your objectives allows us to be alert to opportunities – new products, new tax freedoms, and better strategies. We are your eyes and ears in the ever-changing tax, legal and product markets. We will keep you on track - once we have established your risk profile we will manage and review your investments to make sure you stay on track over the months and years. We assess your risk profile regularly and the risks in your portfolio to make sure they are in tune.

The freedom to withdraw your pension benefits, however you wish, was introduced in 2015. Initially they were trumpeted as offering great choices for consumers. But over time it has become clear that planning and managing income from a pension pot that may have to last 35 years or more is far more complex than initially thought. Understanding sequence risk and asset class returns vs inflation; establishing a sustainable withdrawal rate; managing life and health longevity; and planning cashflow over four decades is well beyond most investors – especially as they move into later life. We will simplify the process for you and be with you in the long run.
We have built our expertise over many years. We are fully qualified financial advisers. We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) via our network In-Partnership. We have a Statement of Professional Standing (SPS) issued by an independent professional standards body. We are required to maintain minimum standards and conduct regular Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Keeping up to date with all financial matters allows us to give you the best possible advice.

So, is it worth the money to hire a Financial Adviser?
That relationship may be one of the best investments you'll ever make.

But don’t just take our word for it - here are two independent sources of evidence of the Value of Advice:

A report by the International Longevity Centre (ILC) think-tank has found that those who have sought professional financial advice can end up almost 40% better off in terms of liquid assets compared to those who receive no advice.
Research carried out by Unbiased highlights the boost to pension pots that professional advice can bring. They state that the benefit the benefit of advice on pension contributions outweighed the cost by almost 6,000%

For more information about services, to arrange for a free no obligation conversation or to talk about a specific area of financial planning please contact us.
With thanks to TCF Investment!

Links to sources:
https://ilcuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ILC-UK-The-Value-of-Financial-Advice.pdf
https://www.unbiased.co.uk/pro/press-releases/new-data-shows-the-benefits-of-financial-advice-can-outweigh-the-cost-by-nearly-6-000--7-9-2015

Crystal Wealth Management
0117 456 5150

We offer independent financial advice to individuals, families, business owners and directors, aimed at UK Residents only.
Tax Planning, Will Writing and Inheritance Tax Planning advice is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
A Pension is a long term investment. The fund value may fluctuate and can go down. Your eventual income may depend upon the size of the fund at retirement, future interest rates and tax legislation.
Investments: The value of units can fall as well as rise, and you may not get back all of your original investment.
Life Cover (Non-Investment) and Income Protection: The plan will have no cash in value at any time and will cease at the end of the term. If premiums are not maintained, then cover will lapse.
Critical Illness Plans: The policy may not cover all definitions of a critical illness. For definitions of illnesses covered please refer to the Key Features and Policy Documents.
PMI: The insurance may not cover all definitions of pre-existing conditions, or some long term illnesses and treatments. For definitions of the conditions covered please refer to the Insurance Product Information Document.

Crystal Wealth Management Ltd is an Appointed Representative of The On-Line Partnership Limited
which is authorised and regulated by The Financial Conduct Authority.

Crystal Wealth Management Limited is committed to the security of your personal data
and takes the protection of your privacy very seriously. We will only use your personal information to deliver the services you have requested from us and to meet our legal responsibilities.

© 2020 All Rights Reserved, Crystal Wealth Management Limited | Registered Office: 19 Portland Square, Bristol, BS2 8SJ
FCA registration number: 717673 Registered in England and Wales Company number: 04931573

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How to increase your retirement income without exposing your life savings to unnecessary risk!

14/2/2021

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Have you ever wondered - is there a way for you to preserve ENOUGH income throughout your retirement? As a Financial Planner, I speak to people all the time who are worried about running out of money in retirement or not having enough money to sustain the type of lifestyle that they are hoping for. I will show you some key TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES FOR A PROSPEROUS RETIREMENT.

First, ask yourself - What does your ideal retirement look like to you? It could be Travelling, Grand Children, Walking, Cycling, Part Time Work or some other Hobby or a Purpose or a Cause you feel passionate about. As you approach retirement do you ever stop and think -

“Are we going to be okay?”

As we get older, the years seem to fly by faster and faster. I’m guessing you’ve noticed this by now though, right? Months, Years even Decades will whoosh by and you didn’t do anything to sort out your pension!!! Seriously though, what do you want to do with the time you have left on this planet? When can you stop doing what you no longer enjoy?
When can you can start doing what you love doing?
What do you need to do to ensure you never run out of money?
What do you need to do to ensure your family are totally secure whatever happens?

If you are over 40 then you are probably in the second half of your life. Don’t you want Part Two to be as good or even better than Part One? When will YOUR retirement start? At age 55, 65, 75..? When is the earliest that you CAN retire? Do you worry about whether you will have enough money to fund your later years?

What will the state provide? The full New State Pension weekly payout = £168.60 Not a lot is it?!

Let me ask you - What do you think the HAPPIEST retirees all have in common? Well, actually they all share some common traits:
A lifestyle of at least the same quality that they were accustomed to when they were working.
Their Mortgage is Paid Off!
And ideally, they have Multiple Sources of Retirement Income.

Would you like to be a lady or gentleman of worth in your retirement? Your expenses may reduce quite significantly when you retire but you are still going to have bills to pay, food to buy, holidays to fund, etc. A good question to ask yourself is - will you need a guaranteed income? This is called an annuity or, to be able to draw money down from your pension like a bank account?

Have you noticed that people are living longer these days? On average, people aged 55 today will live to their mid-to-late 80s. Around 1 in 10 men and 1 in 5 women this age will live to 100 and receive their telegram from The Queen. What if YOU live to 100 - will your money run out? Whether you’ve got £5M or £50K, people’s biggest fear is running out of money.

Do you have old pension pots that have been neglected for years? You worked very hard for it. Could your money have been working harder for you? How much income are YOU going to need in retirement? How much is ENOUGH money for the rest of your life? According to research conducted by Insurer Royal London in May 2018 you’d need a pension pot of just over £260,000 to provide an income of just over £9,000.
(This assumes that you use your pot to purchase an annuity).

Isn’t it about time you took a proper look at how you are going to fund your retirement?

Are you putting away enough money each month?
Are you invested appropriately to your Capacity for Loss?
Are you invested appropriately to your Attitude to Risk?
Are you exposed to any Unnecessary Volatility in the markets?
Are you still in the Best Performing Fund?
Is there a more affordable product that gives much better value?

So, how then do you ensure that you do preserve enough income in retirement? You may have heard of THE 4% RULE. Taking a maximum of just 4% has been accepted as a safe withdrawal amount that won’t erode your savings. But you may well need to draw more than 4% of your fund every year to be able to afford YOUR best retirement.

So, what else can you do to preserve your wealth? Well, Compound Interest is your friend - the power of compound interest over time is the most powerful way of growing your savings but this does require time. Well, what other options have you got? Never retire - not ideal is it?! Or you could be frugal… Downsize… Equity release? How what about Saving More? Well you certainly should increase your monthly and annual contributions as much as you can afford to.

What about having your pension work harder for you? The key thing you should be doing is to invest it in the best performing funds on the market subject to your attitude to risk and capacity for loss. You can’t afford to take big risks as you get close to retirement so you need to make smart, educated decisions. So, what is the best thing you could do right now? Well, firstly you could continue to do nothing. Not Good - your future self will thank you if you TAKE POSITIVE ACTION without further delay. Sadly, the majority of people don’t do enough to help themselves. The good news is that it is never too late to make a difference.

Secondly, you could do it yourself? Many people self-manage their pensions or use Robofunds or an off the shelf product. From my experience most of these just get mediocre results though as they haven’t got the specialist computer software to source or the professional expertise and knowledge to make the best decisions. This is way too important to get it wrong!

You also need to be careful. I have seen companies out there who have fees as high as 4% or would try to

convince you to put your life savings into risky investments that will benefit them but could leave you with a massively reduced pension or even nothing at all!

I am an Independent Financial Planner who specialises in Pensions. I work at Crystal Wealth Management in Portland Square, Bristol. We have thousands of happy clients and over £150M under our management. We were established in 2003 and are an appointed representative of The On-Line Partnership Limited who are authorised and heavily regulated by The Financial Conduct Authority.

How can we help you optimise your retirement? We can professionally actively manage your pension - helping you to make better decisions to get you an optimal rate of return.
We use high street name companies that you will be familiar with - Blue Chip companies that have very strong credit ratings.
We can use cash flow modelling to project accurately what income you can afford to take in retirement and how sustainable it actually is.
We look to get you a superior return without exposing you to any unnecessary risk in the markets so that your pension can grow healthily to get you more money.
Ideally, we want you to be able to live the lifestyle you want without fear of ever running out of money, whatever happens.
We can also help you ensure that in the event of your death, your pension will be passed on to your chosen beneficiaries.

We work best with clients who have accumulated a reasonable pension pot and are now looking to maximise it as they approach their retirement. We work with people who are committed to building their wealth and looking to build a real life, ongoing relationship based on trust. We want you to have peace of mind, financial security and be able to improve your life - especially in your later years.

What are the next steps if you’d like to learn more? Failing to Plan = Planning to Fail.

Not doing anything could be devastating to what should be your Golden Years. We can help you to use proven strategies and tactics to finance your BEST retirement.

Take action NOW. Your future self will thank you massively! We want you to sleep soundly at night not worrying about your pension. Get in touch to schedule a FREE Discovery Call. It will be the BEST THING you will do for yourself today!

What will the call involve? The purpose of the call is to find out a bit about your situation so that we can decide if we think we can help you if we both want to work together and take things further. I look forward to speaking to you very soon. Thank you very much for your time.

New State Pension - What you'll get
(As of May 2019 for those who retire after 06/04/2016. The Basic State Pension for those who retired before this date = £129.20/week increasing with inflation)
What are Your Chances of Living to 100
What is a good Pension Pot

A pension is a long term investment. The fund value may fluctuate and can go down. Your eventual income may depend upon the size of the fund at retirement, future interest rates and tax legislation. Crystal Wealth Management Ltd is an appointed representative of The On-Line Partnership Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

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Fiscal Thought

3/2/2021

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The best decisions I have ever made were emotional ones, not logical. That’s not to say they didn’t have other hidden costs, mind you. As a ﬁnancial planner, I can’t deny that I work with money for money. It motivates me. Excites me. Why else would I do this? The capitalist, selﬁsh part of me unashamedly wants to make more money, yet the altruistic part of me simultaneously wants to make my clients wealthier for their own personal reasons. But why – and more importantly, what – is your why?

Where is your ‘here’? How did you get here and where, realistically, can I help you propel your future self to? Roughly how much money are you going to require for that intrepid journey? Equally important, what are your values, your goals and ambitions, and what sort of legacy do you want to leave behind for your beneficiaries?

Funnily enough, what drives your motivation is the same old emotions that drive the markets: greed and fear, carrot and stick. They either repel you away from bitter suffering or attract you towards some kind of sweet prize. Risk is a dangerous blade that carves your appetite's boundaries, defining the very limits of your comfort zones. Get it wrong and she is a cruel, sadistic teacher.

I have no right to tell you what to do with your money if I don’t understand you and your journey. I grew up in a generally comfortable middle class family in the 80s and 90s and was blessed to dine at a Beefeater restaurant a couple of times a year for special occasions. I was handed down my mother’s Ford Fiesta as my first car, circa 1994. Mum was a primary school teacher, and dad was a structural engineer who built superstores.

One of the few times I have ever seen him weep was during the early 90s recession, when I came down to breakfast one school morning and he announced that he had been made redundant and that this would affect our lifestyle for the foreseeable future. Desire and an innate ambition gave me a hunger for freedom and tasting the finer experiences in life, forging my own attitude to money.

How did you make your wealth? Are you ‘old money or self-made? What was your first meaningful encounter with money? What does money really mean to you? What if your family home was repossessed when you were a teenager because your father’s business failed? How could that person’s relationship with money ever be a normal one? Financial damage can inflict deep emotional wounds.

That type of pain and humiliation can create a subsequent need to impress, that is the best example of the drive inside the most motivated and some of the wealthiest self-made individuals I have ever worked with. It is, however, an itch that it seems can never properly be scratched.

what drives your motivation is the same old emotions that drive the markets: greed and fear, carrot and stick."

On one level, money is a megaphone; an amplifier of one's ego. The higher you climb and the wealthier you become, the greater the obstacles that you will manifest. Mo' money, mo’ problems… life will always test you like that. You make plans, God laughs. If you were a rotter before you were rich then a leopard doesn’t change its’ spots now that you have made a few quid. Maybe you will have to lose it all and rebuild yourself from scratch to humble and purify yourself. I won’t pretend I know how the universe works, but curveballs are guaranteed.

Money is both a tool and an energy - it will increase your options beyond just shiny materialistic stuff. It opens doors and will get you recognition, upgrades, nicer shoes, a slicker motor, a bigger house, a different social group, private education, free gifts (ironically), even a more attractive partner if that’s what you feel you need. But however wealthy you are, there will always be someone richer than you: fact. You won’t even have heard of the richest families because they don’t want you to know about them. True wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants. Who is the rich man? He who is content.

So, what’s the takeaway? Our strapline is ‘Create, grow and preserve your wealth'. Save for the future, but also live in the now because, more than ever, we never know what the future holds. Discipline: ensure that you are insured, protected and invested appropriately for your preferred future self for your own personal reasons. Tax sucks, but it's not always an expensive problem to resolve. I do a lot of tax planning by accident almost. Work smart, but rather than working yourself to exhaustion, make your money do the hard work for you.

financial charts, pen, keyboard and glasses

The only people that understand what money can’t do are people who have it. People who don’t have it believe that it can do things that it cannot. The most rewarding thing I do is show you how to best use the money you have accumulated to live the life you want. I explain how you can make the logical decisions so that you can make those important emotional ones yourself.

Crystal Wealth Management Limited is an appointed representative of The On-Line Partnership Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The value of units can fall as well as rise, and you may not get back all of your original investment. Tax Planning Advice is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

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Keeping your savings in a bank is one of the worst things you could do with your wealth!

6 Main Reasons Why You Should Hire a Financial Adviser

How to increase your retirement income without exposing your life savings to unnecessary risk!

Fiscal Thought

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