Get your finances fit for the upcoming

It’s always a good time to get your financial house in order, ensuring your wealth is in the best possible place to help you achieve what you want from life.

But with a lot of speculation around the government’s upcoming Autumn Budget – expected by many to be the most significant in years – some sound financial planning could be particularly important currently.

In our video, Coutts’ Head of Specialists Greg Kyle-Langley and Financial Planning Specialist Stuart Pryor cover the importance of getting the basics in place, and what you might focus on first.

If you’re a Coutts client and would like to talk about your financial planning in more detail, speak to your private banker who will be happy to help. 

Consider the various ways you could save and grow your wealth

This is about getting a good mix of savings and investments. Savings accounts give you a fixed, secure return over a set period and can be great for your shorter-term needs.

But it’s also worth considering investing for the longer term, if you haven’t already. General guidance is to invest for at least five years.

Consider putting some of your money into a well-managed fund or portfolio and you could see it grow in a meaningful way over time.

There are a range of options to choose from depending on the approach you want to take – whether you’d prefer to be cautious or adventurous. You can even invest for your child’s future with a Junior ISA.

The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you might not get back what you put in. You should continue to hold cash for your short-term needs.

Put plans in place to pass on your wealth

Making sure future generations can benefit from your wealth is often a priority. It could be worth putting a suitable succession plan in place to ensure your money is passed on in the right way for you and your family.

If you haven’t already done it, think about writing a will. Even if you have already done it, make sure it’s up to date. That’s crucial to helping ensure your money is passed on in line with your wishes.

It could be beneficial to do some inheritance tax planning too. For example, if you want to give some of your money to your family before you pass away, you might consider doing so through tax-efficient gifts. It could also be worth checking you have a suitable level of life insurance in place.

Ensure you’re making the most of any current tax allowances available to you

This mainly concerns your ISA allowance and any pension allowances. In the current tax year, you can put up to £20,000 into an ISA and any returns come free of UK income tax or capital gains tax.

Pensions also come with a host of potential tax advantages, depending on your circumstances. They can be one of the most efficient ways to grow your money for later life, so it could be worth seeing what’s available to you there as well. And if you’re married, you could also check that you and your spouse are making the most of any couple’s allowances available.

Tax reliefs referred to are those applying under current legislation which may change. The availability and value of any tax reliefs will depend on your individual circumstances.