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?
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!
An Extra £700 Income Per Year? Yes Please!
/0 Comments/in Retirement Savings /by AdminOur client had several older style pension plans with guaranteed annuity rates and asked us to look at these, to obtain the best income available for him.
We obtained quotations from the provider, and these showed an annuity rate of only 7.07%. This was less than we expected from our knowledge of this type of scheme.
We therefore queried this with the provider, who confirmed there has been an error, and we finally managed to secure him a rate of 12.75%, which the original should have been.
Our client would not have been aware that the initial rate was incorrect, and if he had not come to us for advice he may have accepted the original quotations.
This error is unlikely to have been picked up by the provider, as data provided by them was incorrect on two occasions when we queried it, and only after a number of telephone conversations and persistence by us that they had made a mistake did we manage to obtain the correct rates.
Finally our client has ended up £700 per year better off, as a result of taking advice.
Our client was very happy and said “Thank you very much for your detailed letter and for all that you have done to secure the best possible rates for me. It was certainly worth my while consulting you!”
If you have any pension plans which you do not know a lot about (or even some that you do!) that you would like us to take a look at, give us a call on 01543 440 300 or email us at enquiries@acuityfinancial.co.uk.