We offer a professional service to help you manage your financial affairs, so that you may more readily seek to achieve your financial and lifetime goals.

You may just want to be sure that your financial affairs are in order and are all pulling their weight for you in the right direction. Alternatively, you may need planning or advice in inheritance, family or retirement matters.

Financial planning requires careful exploration of your attitudes, particularly your attitude to investment risk, and a detailed understanding of your needs and objectives. We believe it means keeping in close touch as these may change, and against a background of almost constantly changing tax, regulation, and financial markets.

Please note we provide restricted advice; we will advise and make recommendations after we have assessed your circumstances, your needs and your objectives, and only in the following areas:

  • Savings and investments
  • Financial planning and advice
  • Pensions and retirement planning

We do not, therefore, offer advice across the whole of the market, but we will review the market within these areas to seek to recommend the most suitable products and services for you.

Inheritance

You may receive a lump sum from an inheritance or from the sale of an asset such as a business or a property: this might enable you to restructure your own and your family’s prospects; to broaden your horizons and achieve long held ambitions; to ensure your long term security; or any combination of these.

Retirement

You may be thinking about retirement: careful review of financial assets can provide in advance an indication of the resources that might be available at and through retirement; this in turn may help you determine your retirement objectives.

Family Matters

Families may be wondering whether there is a more tax effective way of managing their financial assets so as to meet a combination of needs. This might for example include funding care for grandparents; enabling parents to provide for their retirement; and funding their children through education, weddings, and getting them onto the property ladder.

You may be facing the trauma of divorce: divorcees need to review their objectives in their new situation, and seek the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their personal finances are organised and under management.

Widows seek similar reassurance and may also find themselves confronted with a range of financial matters that are fundamental to their future well being but on which they may have little knowledge or experience.

Our Proposition

Financial planning needs will vary between individuals and families, but in general terms it is our experience that:

We offer a bespoke professional service with close and regular contact according to your wishes and to the needs of your particular situation. We will establish what your money means to you and aim to help you use it to achieve the things in life that are important to you.

How can we help

We will help you understand the implications and find the answers to such questions as:

  • How much cash should I keep in reserve and how?
  • How should I balance the fact that I want to enjoy my life to the full now, and yet still save enough for my retirement and longer term needs?
  • How much income do I need now and in retirement? How much is enough?
  • When can I afford to get off the employment treadmill and start doing what I want to do?
  • How much can I/should I help my family?
  • What happens when I die? Have I made suitable provisions?

We will give you the benefit of our experience and expertise, which is kept up to date through extensive professional development work.

We will develop a financial plan with you, which is tailored to your specific requirements, and will be regularly reviewed to ensure that it stays on course. We will work with you to manage your plan forward in line with the mandate you give us, and would like you to engage with us on the journey.

How you benefit

Financial planning needs will vary between individuals and families, but in general terms it is our experience that:

  • You will have a good understanding of the options available to you in terms of lifetime goals and objectives, and how you may seek to achieve them.
  • Your financial situation will be under supervision, and you will have the reassurance that your financial assets are pulling their weight for you in the right direction.
  • Your affairs will be regularly monitored to seek to ensure that everything stays on track in line with the shifting sands of tax and regulation.
  • Any short, medium, and long term needs can be identified and appropriate provisions made.
  • We will work as required with your solicitor, accountant, or investment manager so that your professional needs are co-ordinated and kept up to speed; we naturally work particularly closely with 4 Shires Asset Management’s investment director

Case Studies

Our financial planning team is experienced at managing all types of scenarios, including long term care planning.

Below are a few case studies, which may not be too dissimilar from your own circumstances.

Case Study 1: Mr A

A 75 year old married gentleman, who was retired with children, and had £400,000 in personal pensions. The funds were split between 8 different pensions, and he wanted to take the benefits from them and ensure his wife was properly looked after. He particularly wanted to make sure his financial affairs were in order “on the run in”.

We arranged a consolidated annuity for him with a widow’s pension, and advised him to use the extra income to make tax exempt gifts to his children.

Case Study 2: Miss B

A 58 year old lady; barely managing on earnings from her business, had accrued many debts and also had a mortgage. She received a £725,000 inheritance and told our financial planner, “I do not want to have to struggle ever again”. So he developed a 3 stage financial plan for her as the inheritance funds came in.

Firstly, the mortgage and debts were repaid, and her house was refurbished. Then the long-term investment portfolio and contingency cash reserves were set up. Finally our financial planner consolidated her personal pensions and obtained a sharp uplift on her annuities, since she was a heavy smoker.

Case Study 3: Mrs C

A 72 year old widow, who inherited a £525,000 portfolio and £125,000 cash, but had more than enough income for her needs. She had little to no experience of financial affairs, and her portfolio was on too high a risk profile.

Our financial planner arranged for £60,000 to be put into National Savings Certificates, and engaged the stockbrokers to reduce the risk profile. She then started to make IHT exempt gifts to her children out of income. Regular reviews with our financial planner provided reassurance to her and her family.