Review all of your cash deposit accounts
Find out what interest rate you are receiving. You may be shocked to find interest rates of 0.10% in monies held in a saving account with the glorified name of “Gold” or “Silver” savings account. Look for a better rate. You should be able to achieve at least 2.0% or better.
Use your Capital Gains Tax Allowance
If you have investments that have gone up in value you can realise tax-free profits of up to £10,600. As with your ISA allowance, you cannot carry this forward. So you use it or lose it!
Be aware of your Tax Allowances
Personal Tax Allowance: 2011/12 = £7,475; 2012/13 = £8,105
For those aged 65/74: 2011/12 = £9,940; 2012/13 = £10,500
For those 75 and over: 2011/12 = £10,090; 2012/13 = £10,660
Note: The Age Related Allowances above are only available to those whose total income is less than £24,000 (2011/12) and £25,400 in the new Tax Year.
Review Your Life Assurance Arrangements
Pull out the documents and see how much you are covered for, and for how long. You may find a policy is coming to its end, and you can also ask us to check the cost to ensure you are not overpaying for your life assurance or critical illness insurance.
Review Your Pensions
You may have pension pots in various places from previous employments or pension saving arrangements. Find out what the fund values are and what funds you are invested in. You can then look squarely at what you are likely to have available in your later years and act accordingly. We will be happy to help you work out what these might add up to eventually. Make sure that all of these pension providers have your current address so they do not lose track of you.
Review Your Mortgage Arrangements
If you on your lender’s Standard Variable Rate and paying more than 4.5%, find out what else your lender can offer and contact us to find out your other options.
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