Young Professionals
and Young Families
Why might financial advice be applicable to you?
Many of our team members are parents with young children. We’ve recently joined the all elusive property ladder, we’re earning fairly decent salaries, but we certainly don’t have ample money to spare. Our mortgages have more money outstanding than we can possibly imagine repaying at this stage in our lives, we’re still under the shadow of student debt, the prospective cost of private schooling is a little terrifying, and that balance transfer we made to pay for our furniture back in the day? Still going strong…
If this resonates with you, then stay with us for a moment. It’s easy – and justifiable upon quick reflection - to think that there are simply no adjustments that could feasibly be made to bring your next milestones within reaching distance. However – and trust us on this, as we’ve been there – you may be very pleasantly surprised.
If you’re considering a career change or starting your own business, you’ll inevitably need to know whether a pay cut has to mean a lifestyle change. Well, with the right financial advice and tax-planning, there are ways in which you could earn almost half as much as you currently do without noticing much of a lifestyle change at all. Especially if you subsequently operate through a limited company.
You may also be wondering which debts to repay first, whether to make prepayments (student loan anyone?) or whether taking on further debt makes sense in the long run. We have dealt with these considerations on countless occasions, both personally and professionally, and can share our wealth of advice and insights on any related questions you may have.
If you’ve received a pay rise or a bonus, we can conduct a full budget analysis to help you work out what you should put aside towards your long-term goals. We can also explain how future salary uplifts – and the additional tax you’ll have to pay as a result - will shift these parameters.
Pensions
Now, onto that sexy topic of pensions. We appreciate how easy it is to put this off. Short-term gain over long-term pain and all that. But when you really break it down, it’s undeniable that contributing properly to your pension from the very start of your career – or even a few years in – can make a massive difference. If you start paying into a pension aged 35 rather than 25, you may have to put in twice the amount of money to accumulate an identical pension pot by the time you retire. Twice!
That aside, we can help you estimate your post-retirement income based on your current – and projected future - pension contributions. We can then build a financial model to demonstrate the extent to which minor adjustments today might result in exponentially greater returns by the time you retire.
If you tell us that you need a specific amount per month when you retire, then we’ll help you work out what that translates to in terms of current contributions. If you can’t currently afford those contributions, then we’ll happily assess your fixed and variable costs. We’ll really lay bare your expenditure and provide practical, tailored solutions to help you reach that number. Rest assured, our approach is far more about behavioural coaching and efficiency solutions than us trying to restrict your lifestyle.
Mortgages
If you’re looking to get on the property ladder, we can help you work out how long it will realistically take to save that all-important deposit, and identify any adjustments or estate planning methods that could bring that date forward. We can also help you to understand how your income will affect your ability to borrow (and explain the other costs likely to arise during a property purchase), then once you’re ready, we’ll be on hand to help you secure a mortgage.
Planning for your family
Another key concern for many of our younger clients is the ability to cover the cost of childcare, school fees and university tuition in the longer-term. You might simply need to know the answer to the question: “Can I feasibly afford to send two children to private school?”. These costs can amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds over the better part of a decade, so planning for them should really be prioritised from day 1.
In addition, we can help you to set up powers of attorney and to draft your will, to give you and your family that added peace of mind. Remember, under the “survivorship” rules, the default position is that your estate goes to your family members, so if you’re unmarried but with a partner, you may want to consider making provision for them in case the worst were to happen.
Ongoing guidance
We’ll also be there to answer all the questions that will inevitably arise as your circumstances evolve, including explaining the relevance of all the jargon, monetary concepts and financial products that will likely be thrown your way from time to time (not by us, of course). The effect of interest rates, whether it’s best to hold savings or invest, when to use ISAs, the importance of compounding, the difference between pre and post-tax expenditure, and so on. It’s our expertise, and we love to talk about it.