Let us check whether this is best for you, and if it is we can normally arrange it for you, without charging you anything.
That’s right. There has been a seed change in the mortgage market, with lenders trying to keep their borrowers more actively, rather than borrowers having to change lender every time their mortgage product ends.
Some are better than others. Some lenders will offer all their mortgage products to existing borrowers, some will have a limited range with the best rates only being given to new borrowers, though they are now becoming the minority.
A further change is that many lenders have changed their systems so that we can access your mortgage account (with permission of course!), and if it is in your best interests we can arrange a product transfer for you.
We will always check whether you would be best served by changing lender, as we can look at thousands of mortgages, but if the current lender does offer good rates this is much easier to arrange than a remortgage.
It should be quick, normally doesn’t need underwriting again, and there is no need to use a solicitor to change lender.
And, again a recent change, most lenders will pay us a fee for arranging this. If so, and the case is straightforward as it should be, then we won’t need to charge you anything directly for arranging this for you.
So, if your product is ending in the next 4 months why not give us a call. We can advise you, arrange everything for you, you will get advice on your options which most lenders won’t offer, and it won’t cost you anything.
What do you have to lose?
How much should I save in my pension?
/0 Comments/in Retirement Savings /by AdminThis is a question that our clients always ask us when we are discussing their private pension arrangements. Putting money away every month or year to benefit us at some point in the future is a major decision to make, and can feel very unreal, when you are more concerned about covering your day to day costs. Of course as advisers, we don’t actually tell you the answer! It is very much your decision. But we can tell you the things we discuss with clients when we are looking at their pension options.
How long until you retire?
The conversation about how much you should invest will very much depend on how long you have until you retire. Put simply, if you are in your thirties or forties your pension pot has longer to grow than if you have reached your mid fifties. You may also have a view about what age you want to be when you retire. Don’t forget you can currently claim the state pension on reaching 66, but this is set to increase, meaning many of us won’t be able to claim that until you are 68.
What other pension arrangements do you have in place?
Very often when we speak to clients they have had a number of previous jobs. This is likely to mean that they have a number of other pension pots in place, some of which they may have forgotten about. If you can find the details of those other pensions before you come and talk to us, this will help us advise you as to the best course of action. You may be able to transfer some of those pots into a new personal product which you then pay into regularly.
How much risk are you comfortable with?
This is a very personal decision and one we can support you with. Some of our clients want a very secure investment and others are happy to take a little more risk. Some pensions will include a combination of funds, so you can benefit from both approaches.
What are your retirement plans?
This can be the most enjoyable part of pension planning! Some people’s retirement plans include travelling the world and supporting their grandchildren. Others have ambitions simply to remain active and enjoy their garden. Whatever your plans are it is worth remembering that the basic state pension is just £129.20 a week in 2019/20. However modest your plans, we suspect you are going to want a little more than that to live on.
What pension contributions can you afford?
This is an essential question, and it would be worth considering before you come to talk to us. Ideally you would be able to put aside a sum every month to invest, so do think about a sum that is affordable for you.
Don’t forget that whatever you put into your pension, you automatically get 20% tax back from the Government as an additional deposit. So for example £200 a month from your bank account means £250 a month goes into your pension.
What if things change?
Don’t forget, we offer all of our pension clients an annual review, so if your circumstances change, you can adjust the amount you put into your pension.
If you would like to review your existing pension arrangements, contact us on 01543 410512 and make an appointment to see one of our advisers.
Old Pensions and Coffee
/0 Comments/in Retirement Savings /by AdminOur client asked us to review a number of pension schemes from old employers, with one of the schemes run by a well-known Scottish insurer dating back to the 1980’s.
As part of our review of any pension scheme we write for detailed information on the scheme, and we look at the charges on the contract. In this case alarm bells immediately began to ring, as the fund only had a small value which was surprising given it had been invested for over 30 years. On checking the charges we discovered that there were a number of ‘set’ fees, rather than percentage charges. There were a number of these, such as a set monthly plan charge and also a fee as contributions were no longer being paid. Fortunately such charges are extremely rare nowadays.
When the charges over the year were added up they came to over 10% of the plan value a year, so it is not surprising the value was not great, as it will have been falling year upon year for many years. The projected final values at retirement were nil for every projection, excepting if the higher rate of return were achieved in which case the whole fund could be used to buy about 4 cups of coffee – not a great outcome.
Fortunately having identified this we were able to move the plan to a new contract with a much more attractive charging structure, and whilst the final value of this plan is still not projected to be massive, at least you wouldn’t be able to spend it with 3 friends in one afternoon trip for a coffee.
This shows the benefit of checking pensions, as you don’t know what might be in the background if you don’t know what to look for, or the questions to ask. If you would like us to check out your pension for you please contact us on 01543 410 512 or email enquiries@acuityfinancial.co.uk and we will get back to you, we will even let you have a coffee for free!
Acuity Financial and The Alrewas Show
/0 Comments/in Uncategorised /by AdminWe are pleased to announce that we are supporting the Alrewas Show this Saturday, 20th July. Get yourself down there and show your support. There are a wide variety of activities and shows on offer, and it is sure to be a great day for all.
We are now members of the Equity Release Council!
/0 Comments/in Mortgages /by AdminEquity Release is a subject that has become prominent in the news recently, as more and more people are looking to raise funds through their property. Equity Release is one way of doing this, and we are now proud to say that we are members of the Equity Release council!
To become a member of the Equity Release Council, we must adhere to their high standards and principles. Therefore, we will always:
If you would like to know more about Equity Release, and how this could be of use to you, please contact us on 01543 410512, or email enquiries@acuityfinancial.co.uk.
You can also visit the Equity Release Council website at https://www.equityreleasecouncil.com, where you can find more information about the council and what it does.
If it seems too good to be true it probably is!
/0 Comments/in Uncategorised /by AdminA company which offered ISAs and bonds online, has gone bust owing £237 million to over 11,000 people. These bonds and ISAs were advertised online on a comparison site and tempted investors by indicating a return of 8% per year. The serious Fraud Office are now investigating.
An 8% return on a low risk investment seemed too good to be true, and one of our clients called us to ask if he should invest some of his funds into this product. We advised him that the investment he was considering was extremely high risk and he could potentially lose his entire fund, he hadn’t considered this and decided against the investment.
By contacting us our client saved a large amount of his capital as he could have lost all of his investment and would have been one of the 11,000 plus people now out of pocket.
If you are considering investing funds then please have a chat with an adviser as they could save you from a costly mistake!
Call us now on 01543 410512 or drop an email with your query to enquiries@acuityfinancial.co.uk.
Mortgage product ending soon? Thinking maybe of just changing product?
/0 Comments/in Mortgages /by AdminLet us check whether this is best for you, and if it is we can normally arrange it for you, without charging you anything.
That’s right. There has been a seed change in the mortgage market, with lenders trying to keep their borrowers more actively, rather than borrowers having to change lender every time their mortgage product ends.
Some are better than others. Some lenders will offer all their mortgage products to existing borrowers, some will have a limited range with the best rates only being given to new borrowers, though they are now becoming the minority.
A further change is that many lenders have changed their systems so that we can access your mortgage account (with permission of course!), and if it is in your best interests we can arrange a product transfer for you.
We will always check whether you would be best served by changing lender, as we can look at thousands of mortgages, but if the current lender does offer good rates this is much easier to arrange than a remortgage.
It should be quick, normally doesn’t need underwriting again, and there is no need to use a solicitor to change lender.
And, again a recent change, most lenders will pay us a fee for arranging this. If so, and the case is straightforward as it should be, then we won’t need to charge you anything directly for arranging this for you.
So, if your product is ending in the next 4 months why not give us a call. We can advise you, arrange everything for you, you will get advice on your options which most lenders won’t offer, and it won’t cost you anything.
What do you have to lose?
Office Move
/0 Comments/in General, Uncategorised /by AdminWe have now moved offices! Our new office address and telephone number is:
Lombard House, Cross Keys,
Lichfield, WS13 6DN
01543 410512
Please note, if you are visiting our offices, there is a small car park at the office for you to park in if there is space. If there are no spaces available, please use the Lombard Street short stay car park and we will cover the cost of this for the duration of your meeting.
Should we expect a Bank of England rate hike?
/0 Comments/in Uncategorised /by AdminThe Bank of England’s inflation report is due on 2nd August. The current level of CPI inflation is running at 2.3% which is higher than the Bank of England’s target of 2%. This means there is a strong possibility that the Money Policy Committee could decide to increase the Bank of England base rate at their next meeting on 2nd August.
There are still some fixed rate mortgages on the market with rates currently below 2%. This is likely to change if the Bank of England rate is increased.
If you are currently on a variable rate mortgage now may be the ideal time to look at re-mortgaging to secure a fixed rate to protect against any possible rate rises. If you would like us to take a look at this for you, please get in touch on 01543 440300, or email us at enquiries@acuityfinancial.co.uk.
Paying the price of the “University Experience”
/0 Comments/in General, Retirement Savings, Uncategorised /by AdminIt’s no secret that the cost of the “University Experience” is now higher than it has ever been. According to The Guardian, the average cost of a degree per child is now around the £85,000 mark, and it is Parents and Grandparents who are playing an increasingly significant role in funding this. The estimated cost of studying in England is £22,189 over a 39-week year, and typical students (whose parents have an average household income) only receive £14,370 in loans and grants, meaning they (or you) need to make up a surplus of £7,819 on average, or £651 a month!
A lot of the older generation have money available to help, but it is locked away in pensions which cannot be accessed. Pension regulations now allow for income to be taken flexibly, on an as and when basis if needed, and this gives Parents and Grandparents the ability to help out the younger generation in paying for their university life, as well as have flexibility on how they take their own income. Let’s not forget that it is not only tuition fees that need to be paid, but books need buying, bills need paying and of course, social lives need funding.
If, on the other hand, you are a younger parent and are now worrying about how you will fund your child’s future education, that is also something we can help you with. Savings Plans and Investment ISA’s are now more important than ever, and they are something which we can look at setting up for you. With the limit on how much you can pay into an ISA now £20,000 per tax year, we can help you to maximise your saving potential for your children’s futures.
If you are in a position where you think that you can help out your Grandchildren or Children, and want to talk to someone about how you can do this, get in touch with us on 01543 440 300, or drop us an email at enquiries@acuityfinancial.co.uk.
Proudly Supporting The Lichfield Festival!
/0 Comments/in Uncategorised /by AdminWe are proud to be supporting the ongoing Lichfield Festival, which is running at the moment until this coming Sunday, 14th July. With a number of events still to come in the following few days, it is sure to continue to be one of the highlights of the summer for this wonderful city.
While your at it, why not give us a visit. We can take a look at your Pensions, Investments or even help you secure a better rate on your mortgage! Give us a call on 01543 440300 or drop us an email at enquiries@acuityfinancial.co.uk to book an appointment whilst you are here at the Festival!