Medical professionals

The medical professionals we work with are typically, although not always, GPs, dentists or consultants at one of the West Midlands’ many hospitals.

Generally, in their 50s, thoughts of retirement are looming large. While worries about whether it will be possible to retire before the prescribed retirement age of their pension, which can be as late as 68, are common.

Recent changes to legislation have restricted pension contributions and the amount you can hold before you start to pay tax. This makes careful planning increasingly important if you are to create an income to deliver your chosen lifestyle when you retire.

We know that your profession means you lead a busy and unpredictable life. We don’t want you to neglect your financial planning though, so we do our best to see you at a time and place to suit you.

How can we help?

We are financial planners, that means we will start by understanding your future aspirations for the short, medium and long term, as well as any immediate financial challenges you have.

Once we’ve gotten to know you, and what you want from life, we’ll build a financial plan, taking you from where you are now, to where you want to get to.

In the context of a financial plan, we can provide specific assistance with:

Retiring early: If you want to finish work before the prescribed retirement age of your existing pensions we will build a plan to help you do just that. We spend much of our time helping clients answer two fundamental questions:

• When can I afford to retire?
• Do I have enough money to retire?

We use financial forecasting software to answer both, while building a plan to deliver your financial objectives.

Creating a flexible retirement: Of course, many of our clients phase into retirement, continuing to work on a part-time basis. If that is your chosen option, we can factor that into the financial plan we create for you.

Annual Allowance: Pension contributions are still one of the most tax-efficient ways of saving for retirement. However, the amount you can pay into a pension, and claim tax-relief on, has become more restricted over the past few years. This is especially true for people earning more than £110,000. Where appropriate, we will show you how you can maximise pension contributions, and consequently tax-relief, while explaining other options you may have to save for your retirement.

Lifetime Allowance: The amount you can hold in pensions, including Defined Benefit arrangements such as the NHS scheme, before you start to pay tax charges, has been reduced by successive governments. We advise all our clients on how they will be affected by the Lifetime Allowance and the options they have.

Existing pensions: In addition to your NHS pension (or similar), it’s likely that you will have built up benefits elsewhere, for example, private arrangements such as Personal Pensions or Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs). We will help you understand the income these are likely to produce in the future while ensuring they are arranged as efficiently as possible.

State Pension: While living solely on the State Pension probably isn’t something you would find attractive, its guaranteed and inflation-proofed nature, means it acts as a sound foundation on which to build your retirement plans. We’ll help you understand how much you will receive, when it will be paid and how it fits into your overall financial plan.

Savings & investments: We will review your existing savings and investments to ensure they are held as tax-efficiently as possible, in a way which reflects your attitude to risk and delivers your financial aims.

Helping your children: As the cost of university education rises, and it becomes harder for many younger people to buy their first home, many of our clients want to provide financial assistance to their children. However, we know that some, while eager to help, are nervous about how making a large gift or loan will affect their own financial future. Using sophisticated financial planning software, we can show you how helping your children will affect your personal finances. This will allow you to make an informed decision.

Estate planning: Hopefully you have many years ahead of you. Nevertheless, it’s still sensible to plan for the unexpected. We will advise you on the steps you need to take to ensure your assets are distributed in accordance with your wishes when you die. When appropriate, we will also provide advice on the options for minimising the amount of Inheritance Tax (IHT) paid by your beneficiaries when you die.

Mortgage finance: As a business owner finding the right mortgage isn’t always as straightforward as it seems. Whether you are a first-time buyer, moving home, remortgaging or looking to invest in a Buy to Let property our partners will recommend the right mortgage for your needs. They will process the application too, removing some of the hassle from what can be a stressful time.