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Plan Ahead and Save Over Christmas

Written on November 22, 2011 at 2:41 am, by admin

With Christmas approaching, money is tight for many people.

For many there is the expectation of extra expense at Christmas. Particularly for those with children or dependants. Gift-giving may be good for the soul, but it can empty the wallet very quickly.

Here we could suggest a simple method of maintaining a list of essentials, and more importantly sticking to it.

Guilt and other factors play a part in overspending at this time of year. Think back to previous years and consider the amount of food and other waste you end up throwing away early in January. Shops are open every day, some even on Christmas Day. There really is no need to stock up on too many expensive items as if you were going to live in the jungle for a week. By what you need, and then refill if you have to. That way you will probably spend a lot less over the Christmas period.

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Search for an Independent Financial Advisor

Written on October 16, 2011 at 2:42 am, by admin

Financial AdvisorI think the word to dwell on here, when you’re talking about financial advice is “independent”.

It’s hard to put a value on truly independent advice, but perhaps harder still is the ability to judge whether what you’re being told is truly being given to you with the best intentions or whether there is some alternate motive.

Independent financial advisers in Birmingham who are truly skilled and keep up-to-date with modern economic trends are increasingly hard to find.

To quickly run through my story, a relative of mine died and I was left quite a sizeable sum of money which I wish to invest. At the moment bank interest rates are incredibly low soul-searching around Birmingham for a truly independent financial adviser who would give me a non-product or non-commissioned based appraisal of the current situation so I could invest my money wisely.

I ran around various institutions, and came across the same problem, namely commission.

Every bank I went to was only interested in selling me their own products, and they started to get a little bit tiresome. I’m sadly enough about finance to realise that I need to see the whole picture before I make an investment for what to me is a very sizeable sum of money.

Eventually, I decided to try a certified IFA. Something I wish I’d done right from the very beginning.

I made an appointment to see an independent financial adviser in Birmingham, and they sat me down and ran through a number of scenarios. If I asked a question and quite often the answer could be given to me in terms of hard pounds and pence, which at the end of the day is what it’s all about. So a question like;

“What if I am just left it in a high interest deposit account”?

Was answered by the amount of money I could expect to make if I did that and how accessible that money would be to me.

I ended up investing my money into distinctly different ways, one based on the growth of the lump sum and another to provide me with a small monthly income to supplement my salary.

The amount I am earning far exceeds anything I would have expected before entering down this consultation route, I thoroughly advise anybody to seek out a fully professional independent financial advice in Birmingham.

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Birmingham’s Financial District

Written on August 16, 2011 at 2:45 am, by admin

Birminghams Financial District

If you’re in the market for financial advice or to purchase a financial product in Birmingham,Then I advise you head to the heart of town just north of new Street station there is an area which contains just about every banking and financial institute that you would find in any major city.

Based around Temple Row and Colmore Row, most of the domestic and a big commercial banking enterprises have a presence.

It is a lovely area to visit, with Birmingham Cathedral and the Cathedral Gardens in the centre of the banking district. I’m not suggesting for one minute that you simply wander around looking for the best deal, but if you do a little bit of research online take the advice of a financial adviser in Birmingham you will then at least nowhere to go and find the institutions who are planning to invest with.

Birmingham Now a Centre of Excellence in Finance.

A recent survey in the Times looks at the financial advice given to people across the United Kingdom and compared both the accuracy and the value of the information given.

Surprisingly, London did not come out particularly well in the survey, and Birmingham was rated second overall in the United Kingdom after Edinburgh.

The article went into some detail as to the methods used to establish whether the information and financial advice given was accurate and up-to-date. Most of the demerits given to some of the poor performers were not due to deliberate misdirection, but more due to the anachronistic nature of the financial advice.

An undercover reporter found that some of the advice given by some major financial institutions was not only many years out of date, but following it would also leave a client open to legal difficulties as regards tax and income.

It is to the credit of the independent financial advisers in Birmingham that there were no anachronistic demerits given whatsoever to England’s second city, the survey only pointed out that some of the financial institutions required a great deal of stair climbing and map reading to actually find. In my opinion this is not a financial shortcoming and shouldn’t really have reflected badly against the Birmingham independent financial advisers concerned.

So, something to be proud of in the West Midlands. Birmingham is officially a centre of excellence for financial advice.

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Birmingham Calls in the Independent Advisers.

Written on July 16, 2011 at 2:46 am, by admin

Independant BirminghamIt’s broadly noticeable to anybody walking around the centre of Birmingham at the moment that there are many units now vacant in the Pallisades. The strange misspelling of the word palisades notwithstanding, this should be a concern to those responsible for Birmingham’s economic growth as the shopping centre represents the very heart of the city.

While the newer pavilions are relevant is doing relatively well, there seems to have been an exodus from the older more central Palisades shopping area. This despite the fact that the main transport hubs are all situated directly under the old shopping precinct making it far more convenient for out-of-town travellers.

The most striking aspect of this is when big brand shops close in the old shopping centre and reopen a few hundred yards down the road in the new one. Surprisingly having spoken to many of the retail managers none of them have actually been asked why this decision to move had been made.

This decline in the area has not gone unnoticed by the local council who have more than once called in independent financial advisers to look at the situation and recommend ways to remedy it. Although the details of these consultations have never been made public, we can guess that the obstacle every time will be the cost of renewing the old shopping centre.

At some point in the near future a major investment needs to be made in the Pallisades ( no matter how many times I write it, typing that second “l” will always annoying me).

It would not be such a poor situation this area was not slap bang in the centre of Birmingham’s central business district, as any independent financial adviser will tell you, or anybody with any common sense for that matter, if the core is rotten than the rest doesn’t stand a chance.

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Looking For Financial Advice?

Written on May 16, 2011 at 2:47 am, by admin

FinanceIt is always a surprise to me how likely many people take the job of investing large sums of money. I have a friend who recently was bequeathed almost one quarter of a million pounds in a will. I remember sitting in our local public house discussing it. He was keen to take a holiday with his family and then look at ways to invest it.

Several of us around the table recommended that you go to an independent financial adviser in Birmingham, and he seemed to take this on board. We didn’t like to ask regularly how he was getting on with his money, so it was probably another year before we mentioned it again in any depth.

He shrugged his shoulders and told us that he had not been to see an independent financial adviser at the most within the bank, he had been on his holiday and bought a new car. His kids have had a few things and his wife had asked for an extension to their home which was in the process of being built.

We got round to asking him how much was left, he said £25,000.

So 90% of the money was gone and he had a new car worth £30,000 and an extension worth £40,000 in the process of being built. The other £150,000 had been spent had just basically vanished into thin air in barely a year.

I felt really sorry for him, but he had not taken independent financial advice and had frittered away such a huge sum of money so quickly.

It turns out he had not even put the money in a high interest deposit account, it had all displayed in its current account had been used on a daily basis. He had quit his job to live on the money thinking it would last several years as it amounted to almost 8 years salary for him. Yet here he was, barely a year later knowing he needed to start looking for work again.

I don’t know whether a financial adviser in Birmingham would have helped, but I’m pretty certain he would be in a much better position if he had taken proper advice.

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Financial Growth or Short Term Income?

Written on April 16, 2011 at 2:49 am, by admin

Birmingham FinanceIt’s a common situation for people who come into a sum of money that they are looking to both preserve that sum of money and make it inflation proof by investing it wisely, but also looking to draw an income if not an initial lump sum followed by an income from the money.

From the point of view of an independent financial adviser in Birmingham, it is all a matter of managing the expectations from this point. A lump sum taken from the money will produce the potential of the rest to burn as fast as it could. Also a regular withdrawal will amount to the same thing over time.

There is a balancing point where a certain amount of money can be put in a high yield fund, and the rest kept close to hand and more easily accessible. A percentage of the yield each year is transferred to the more accessible accounts to be used by the client.

The economic climate of the time these investments are made and the on-going climate as they progress makes the biggest difference to how these work overtime. High interest rates and low inflation will suit the client and ensure that their periodical withdrawals keep up with inflation as well as growing the lump sum substantially.

Of course the opposite is also true, and high inflation and low interest rates, a situation we are close to in 2011, will mean limited growth on your investment and yet higher living costs. This conundrum is something that needs to be addressed by an independent financial adviser. Quite often moving your money around periodically as the economic climate changes is necessary. This might take certain clients out of their comfort zone, but to the best possible return on your lump sum then taking professional independent financial advice in Birmingham is the best way to go.

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IFA – My Independent Financial Advisor in Birmingham

Written on February 11, 2011 at 1:35 am, by admin

Independent Financial Advice BirminghamAbout 18 months ago my father died leaving me quite a substantial sum in his will. I am not at the stage of my life where I have paid off my mortgage and my kids have either left school or are about to leave school in the next year or so.

I was concerned about where I could invest this lump sum to give me the best return over time. I also wanted it to grow to keep up with inflation. I’m quite aware that inflation is higher than the interest rates which was an issue. I looked online and asked various friends and eventually took the advice that seemed the most common. I contacted an independent financial adviser.

Financial advice is not a field I am used to. It was difficult to decide initially which independent financial adviser would be right to me, I had no real criteria to judge them. Eventually I went on a friend’s recommendation and contacted the IFA on this site. With hindsight I’m very glad I did.

The investments that are made 18 months ago have proved very sound even in this harsh economic climate. The ideas that were implemented at the time by this independent financial adviser with things I would never have thought of if left to my own devices. They have enabled me to make a greater return on my money than I thought possible, and legally avoid paying various taxes and surcharges that the incautious might end up being lumbered with.

I suppose it is a cliché, but independent financial advice is worth its weight in gold, I have saved a substantial amount of money and more importantly it has given me a sense of security that I would not have had and I invested the money myself as I had originally planned.

If you’re reading this, I obviously don’t know your financial circumstances, I can’t save a certain whether an independent financial adviser or IFA would be the right move to you. All I can say is that me it was a godsend.

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