How to improve your personal wealth
With the start of the new financial year we ask some of our esteemed experts for their advice on how to ensure you can maintain and boost your personal wealth
Danielle Friend, Founder of Create Balance Accountants
As we all strive to build our careers or businesses we want to make sure we have something for later life, as in retirement, and also to pass on to our children and grandchildren.
We have our immediate wealth and our long term wealth and on occasion we may choose to forfeit the immediate for the long term, or you might just want to ‘buy the car’ because you just don’t know what is around the corner!
First tip, is don’t listen to Tiktok influencers – there is a lot of chat about ‘passive income’, ‘property portfolios’, ‘bitcoin’ and ‘dealing apps’ – there is no silver bullet and you can lose. Also remember that Bitcoin is unregulated and not protected by FSCS.
I am a Chartered Accountant, but I am not an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA), so the second tip is to have a really good relationship with your IFA who will look at where you want to be in later life. Look at what you have at the moment, and then identify any gaps in funding.
As with all improvements to personal wealth – if you have debt and the interest rates are high, i.e. credit card debt, consolidate it at a lower rate. Make sure you know when your mortgage is up for renewal, if you’ve been on a 5 year fixed, your next one could be a shock! Improving your wealth can be as simple as watching what you spend, overpaying your debt when you can and paying a bit more into a pension! Utilise salary sacrifice schemes and if you have a business, you may be able to legitimately transfer some expenditure which comes out of your personal account into your business. account.
As always, speak to a professional.
Nathan Blackmore, CEO at Way Trustees and The Finance Hub’s
valued affiliate
Maintaining and growing private wealth goes hand in hand with thoughtful estate planning. A well-structured Will and Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) form the essential foundations, ensuring your wishes are respected both during your lifetime and after death.
Lifetime Trusts can provide additional protection – minimising tax, avoiding probate delays, and keeping control within the family while also helping to preserve access to capital should you need to fund long-term care.
At the same time, keeping your capital actively working through diversified, tax-efficient investments ensures there’s more to pass on. Just as important, is talk to your family! Open conversations that clarify your goals and expectations can help turn inheritance into long-term stewardship, preserving both family wealth and values across generations.
Managing your private wealth doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here are some straightforward tips to help you maintain and grow your assets.
Matthew Forbes, Director of Forbes Financial
Set Clear Goals: Identify what you want to achieve and more importantly why – whether it’s saving for retirement, a home, your children’s education or financial freedom. Clear goals guide your financial decisions, and your ‘why’ keeps you emotionally invested to keep on track.
Create a Budget: Track your income and expenses to see where your money goes. A solid budget helps you cut unnecessary costs and allocate funds toward your wealth-building goals.
Consider tax efficiency: often holding assets in your own name can lead to tax issues that can hinder overall investment returns, and income and capital outcomes. Seeking professional guidance on how you hold your assets can help you optimise your tax strategy and ensure you keep more money in your pocket.
Diversify Investments: Spread your investments across different assets and classes like stocks, bonds, and cash and also regions of the globe to reduce risk and enhance potential returns.
Review your plans with a professional: Regular reviews will enable you to make adjustments and help keep you up to date with changes to keep you on track.
Build an Emergency Fund: Set aside three to six months worth of living expenses in a savings account for unexpected costs.
Seek Professional Advice: Don’t hesitate to consult with a professional financial advisor. Our expertise can help you optimise your strategies and ultimately help create, grow and protect your wealth in your life time and for future generations.
Gary A Jefferies, Chartered Financial Planner and founder of Panoramic Wealth
To maintain and improve private wealth requires an overall approach including having diversified investments, maximising tax efficiency and time.
Investments
Ideally investing money with no risk with the desired return would be utopia but it’s not usually possible. To ensure a steady return requires having a suitably diversified portfolio, living up to the adage of ‘not having your eggs in one basket’. That way you potentially maximise your return and reduce volatility.
Property
Property (other than your own home) is an asset class of either Commercial or Private. Additional property is something that people either love or hate but it does come with extra admin and potentially hassle. As Mark Twain said “Buy Land, they’re not making it anymore.” This still holds true today…
Tax Efficiency
One of the musts to consider is maximising tax efficiency. This includes utilising pension contribution ideally at higher rate tax, ISA allowances and investments that shelter tax. For those with a higher risk appetite Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and Enterprise Investment Schemes (EIS) both offer tax incentives and potentially higher returns but can be volatile and illiquid. (Not for the faint hearted).
Time in the market
Finally, the proven method of increasing one’s wealth is to remain in assets that appreciate over time. This will often be a time frame of over seven years or more so for those with a shorter time frame need to be very conscious of the investments they make.
Inheritance Tax Implications
For those who have built up wealth, many wish to pass this onto this to the next generation. The first port of call is a suitably drafted Will to reflect your wishes. With careful planning, passing assets over can be achieved using a combination of trusts and gifting assets. However, the last budget has for many greatly reduced the amount that can be inherited.
