42 • Financial planning, legal services & donations Get the lowdown
You may think a financial adviser is an unnecessary expense, but Barnaby Dracup finds research has shown it could save a lot of time and money — making it a worthwhile investment
At Home & In Te Garden • Sunday 24 May 2020
THE MONEY ADVICE SERVICE HAS COME UP WITH SOME ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS FOR IFAS
What services do you offer? An adviser can specialise in more than one area, and so it’s a good idea to get to know all the services they offer, to ensure you’re getting advice to suit your circumstances.
Are you independent? To be termed ‘independent’, a financial adviser must offer a broad range of retail investment products and provide consumers with unbiased and unrestricted advice based on a comprehensive and fair market analysis.
GETTY B
ack in 2006, AXA undertook a year-long study to discover whether a group of Brighton
residents, who were given regular access to independent financial advice, would fare better than others left to their own devices. Te report concluded that
consulting an independent financial adviser (IFA) can be costly, but it could also be money well spent: regular meetings with an IFA could leave a typical household up to £5,000 better off over the course of a year.
But it’s clear the typical UK
household often eschews financial advice, believing it will be too costly, or too intimidating and confusing. Cost aside, sound, professional
financial advice is ideal for those wishing to secure better returns on their investments, gain confidence from pension advice and ensure they have security in retirement. If you’re one of the UK households
that’s hired the services of an IFA or advice firm, what should you do to make the most of your money?
Te Money Advice Service suggests
that before taking on an IFA, it’s important to find out how much they charge — disclosure is mandatory, by law, and they should be able to give you an indication and perhaps even an upper limit. Some financial advisers will only
deal with people who have a pension pot of a certain size, or a certain amount of money to invest (e.g. £50,000 minimum). Others will be happy to advise customers regardless of the size of the fund.
DON’T FORGET TO DONATE
UK charities are facing a loss of donations due to cancelled fundraising events, but an increase in demand for support and services. From healthcare and hospices to domestic violence and housing, here are a few to consider: Women’s Aid, ManKind Initiative, Crisis, Shelter, The Trussell Trust, Stroke Association, and Marie Curie.
If you’re not independent, can you look at products from across the market? A restricted financial adviser (i.e. one who only deals with a specific product) might still be a good option. Just be aware you might not get the choice you need.
What additional qualifications do you have? Since 2013, financial advisers must have a qualification called QCF Level Four. However, many advisers have taken additional exams, so it’s worth asking if this is the case.
Will you give me ongoing advice and what will this cost? It’s good to keep a connection with someone who knows your history, so it’s worth finding out the likely costs.
moneyadviceservice.org.uk
Good news: you may have paid too much tax on your home
Yes, you. Right there, looking at this page
According to Cornerstone’s research, there’s as much as a 75% chance that you paid the incorrect amount of Stamp Duty Land Tax when you bought your property.
‘But why is that good news?’, you might ask Simple — because SDLT Refunds from Cornerstone is here to help you find out if you overpaid your Stamp Duty Land Tax, and to help you recover that money if you did. Over the past two years, SDLT
Refunds has recovered more than £2m for people who had unknow- ingly paid too much Stamp Duty. Te average repayment is £10,000 — and who wouldn’t want that in their bank account at this difficult time? TrustPilot rates it as ‘excellent’ for
service. What’s more, with a six-week HMRC target response time, the money could be in your bank account by the end of May. With the complex web of defini-
tions, rates and reliefs in the legisla- tion, plus reliance on HMRC’s calcu- lator,
it’s little wonder that so many
people seem to be paying the wrong amounts of tax on their property purchases. Te topic has been covered extensively in the media in recent
“the money could be in your bank account by the end of May”
years. For instance, in an article for the Mail Online on 31 March 2018, Tim Stickings wrote: “HMRC claimed their tool served as a ‘guide only’ and that ‘all reliefs are clearly signposted on stamp duty land tax returns’.” Te same article estimated that “home- buyers may be owed £2billion in over- paid stamp duty”. In an article entitled ‘Tax rules now
impossible to fathom’ for Te Times on 11 August 2018, property lawyer Sara Dwight wrote: “Accountants would probably say it’s a property matter, and should be dealt with by a solicitor, but we would say it’s a tax matter, so are we qualified to advise?” With over 15 years dedicated expe-
rience advising purchasers, investors and solicitors on all aspects of Stamp Duty Land Tax, your matters couldn’t be in safer hands. In fact, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use SDLT Refunds to look specifically at your Stamp Duty for every purchase you make or,
indeed, have made in the past four years. To find out more, and get a free check
to see whether you may have overpaid on your purchase, contact SDLT Refunds via its website. Alternatively, email
sdltrefunds@ctatax.uk.com or call 03333 059054
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