Off Piste Wealth

16/06/2023

How to safeguard Athletes’ Income

For professional athletes, safeguarding their income is crucial, especially considering the potential risks associated with their careers.

09/05/2023

02/11/2021

Glasgow Climate Change Conference: COP 29.

World leaders have been gathering in Glasgow this weekend for the crucial climate summit - COP26, to discuss the commitment to reducing their countries carbon emissions.

Political promises though are nothing without the support from the companies who are watching from the side lines as to what’s going on.

With mounting political, investment and social pressure, it does look like there’s a massive shift towards what’s going on in the environment.

So, what are you doing yourself to ‘go green’? Is your company targeting to go ‘net zero’?

There was a report done by Nordea back in 2007 which said that if we invest our pension funds or ISAs in a sustainable way, that can have 27 times the impact of reducing our carbon footprint than if we were to fly less, eat less red meat or cycle more for example.

And so, this money can then be influenced to really make that a force for good and help reverse the production of co2.

Ultimately there is now far more pressures from investors within the world of sustainable investing or ESG (environmental, social and governance). There’s now huge pressure that various funds now have these ESG clauses in them, to force companies to do things that are better for the environment and for society as a whole.

So, if investors are putting more pressure into these larger companies, that’s where we’re going to see big change for a positive impact on climate change.

11/10/2021

Money Mindset Mondays.

Your relationship with money starts way before you were making your own.

As early as our childhood, our connection with money forms from watching how our parents, relatives, and surrounding community handles it.

If your family struggled a lot with your finances and were strict about spending when you were younger, chances are you’re going to mimic the same behaviour growing up. If it’s the opposite and you’ve not thought much about finances, you may have the same thinking in your adulthood.

Some of these belief systems will be unconscious, as most of our other behaviours are. It doesn't mean, though, that they are going to stay that way permanently. Understanding your relationship with money is vital for improving or changing your money mindset and the habits that come with it.

Being aware of our attitude towards money and the limiting beliefs around it is the first step in creating a positive money attitude. It’s no secret that awareness is a crucial step. After all, when you don’t know your status, how do you determine what to change?

If you’re struggling with any of this, here are some steps to get started:

· Pay attention to your thoughts and beliefs patterns. Are these positive or negative when you think about money? Perhaps consider journaling on this.

· Acknowledge any past money mistakes and move forward. Learn from these mistakes and choose to not repeat them again.

· Appreciate what you have. As we all know, just buying more will not make us more satisfied in the long run.

· Stop comparing yourself to others. Envy is the root of evil, not money.

If you would like to learn more about this topic, you can do so via our monthly money mindset sessions: https://lnkd.in/dbtJkhV

05/10/2021

As a starting point, we always suggest using a cashflow financial plan with our clients.

This brings together all your assets, income, and expenditure in one place and acts like a personal balance sheet, helping with your wealth. One of the uses of cashflow planning is to look at income sustainability in retirement and help inform a discussion about appropriate levels of investment risk. It is important to review cashflow financial plans regularly, particularly when you experience any changes in your personal circumstances such as getting married or buying a new home.



It's used to forecast your future in terms of your finances. It shows you in real time how much money you could have in the future and whether you are on track to achieve your goals – helping to answer questions such as 'do I have enough money’?



For example, we can create a growth set that averages 8 per cent per annum over a 10-year us to show sequencing and volatility but in a manner that is easy to understand.

You could also introduce stress tests to the modelling; for example, recreate the impact of the 2008/09 financial crisis by using the actual drops and recoveries in the markets within the modeller.

Having the ability to produce a lifetime cashflow allows the ability to control certain variables and assumptions with your investment view and objectives, including allowances for possible poor returns.

Fancy learning more about this? If so, you can book in a session here: [email protected]/bookings/" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/[email protected]/bookings/

04/10/2021

Money Mindset Mondays.

One theme which often comes up when thinking about money is anxiety.

Almost everybody has an idea of what the financial life of their dreams would look like but often, people find it difficult to put in a plan on how to get there, and stick to it!

We all know it’s easier said than done, like when your doctor tells you to take more vitamins or keeping to your 5 a day. It’s also not exactly thrilling, like watching an oak tree grow – these things take time!

So, what are some simple tips?

Step 1: Pay attention to your spending.

Call it budgeting if you want, but I'm essentially talking about paying close attention as you spend money. This could be as simple as writing down every transaction or purposefully reviewing your monthly credit card statement. Whatever your method, just start noticing how you’re spending your money.

Step 2: Find wasted money.

The hard part of saving isn't saving itself. The hard part is finding the money to save. One area that often helps is finding out what your true values are, and spending in line with these. You can then ask - did I receive fulfilment, satisfaction, and value in proportion to what I’ve just purchased? Is your expenditure in alignment with your values and life purpose?

Step 3: Automate savings.

Don’t get hung up on finding the best investment. Those reek of excitement, but we're not just into finding that perfect investment thats going to change your life forever. Just do something boring, like a Vanguard S&P 500 fund, or send that £40 into your child's junior ISA’s or junior pension. The effect of compound interest here can be astonishing.

However, the important part is automating that positive behaviour. Just have the money pulled regularly from your account and put into whatever boring saving or investment vehicle you decide.

Step 4: Repeat.

At the risk of making the plan sound fun, what if you decide to turn it into a game? Kind of like a treasure hunt. Every month, pull out your credit card statements and carefully take notice of every charge, look for wasted money, and add it to your automated savings. See how often you can move that number up.

28/09/2021

Four tips to think about regarding the up-and-coming tax hikes.

1. Make the most of your employer’s pension.

NI is charged as a percentage of your gross earnings (before tax) and pension contributions can be made by reducing your gross salary via salary sacrifice. So, if you’re paying more into your workplace pension using salary sacrifice, your gross income is lower and in turn you pay less NI.

While this won’t mean you have more money in your pocket each pay cheque, it does at least mean your money is going towards your future rather than to HMRC.

2. Shelter your investments.

With dividend tax rates also increasing by 1.25%, it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re holding your investments as tax efficiently as possible. Taxpayers are entitled to a tax-free dividend allowance of £2,000 each tax year.

3. Organise your assets tax efficiently with your partner.

Spouses and civil partners can transfer investments to each other without incurring capital gains tax at the point of transfer.

It’s important to check how much dividend income each spouse or partner earns each tax year outside of ISAs to make sure you’re making best use of your dividend allowances.

4. Make use or your Lifetime ISAs (LISAs).

As part of your £20,000 overall ISA allowance, you can put up to £4,000 per tax year into a LISA and the government will top up whatever you put in the LISA by 25%. You can invest the money in your LISA and give it a better chance to grow over the long term.

24/09/2021

Yesterday we had news that the Bank of England was keeping interest rate at 0.1%. There was however an inflation warning above 4% by the end of the year.

So, what does this mean for us?

Well, Inflation is a hot topic of conversation currently, which is especially true at the bank of England, who’s main job is to keep control of price levels. Up until now this has been assumed to be transitory and temporary factors, but is this really the case?

As a result of this, the money markets which determines when the next rate hike will come and hence interest rates start to rise, have pulled forward their expectations by 6 months.

Therefore, how worried should we be about this inflation prospect on our hard-earned savings? Especially if we have significant amounts sat in cash.

It’s hard to fathom that rate rises will happen any time soon, even by 0.25% as compared to historical standards. So, instead we’re down to this derisory savings rate on the amount we’re earning on our savings.

Obviously with the inflation prospect of 3-4% this year, this means that the pricing power of your wealth if you have money just sitting in the bank is going down by nearly 4%. A hard pill to swallow!

Therefore, investing in the right way, to keep the purchasing power of our money above inflation is becoming ever more important.

22/09/2021

Investment funds. Active, passive, or a mix or both?

Having a well-diversified portfolio of both shares and bonds offers a strong foundation for investors to weather the storm of an often turbulent stock market. Knowing which stocks to pick can be tremendously tricky and ultimately, very time consuming.

Of course, those who don’t have the time, nor the inclination to pick their own stocks often revert to a professional fund manager who will be there to research the individual elements of the companies and try and achieve those all-important returns.

The question remains, which is preferable to you – active or passive? After all, we all have different approaches, attitudes, and beliefs when it comes to investing our hard-earned money. There Is certainly no ‘one size fits all’ approach.

Active funds aim to outperform an index (provide alpha) for the client. The manager of the fund conducts detailed analysis of each company, or asset they invest in and will try to determine the best time to buy and sell each investment. The trick here is to try and capitalise on cheaper stock prices, whilst trying to limit any downside risk when markets are falling by strategically rebasing the fund to protect your money.

On the other hand, passive funds simply aim to track its performance – say that of the FTSE 100 or the S&P 500. Passive fund managers usually buy assets in the index, and in the same proportions, while trying to keep the difference between the fund and index as close as possible over time.

Both strategies have their advantages and disadvantages, with the former generally being a more expensive strategy than the latter due to the work involved.

So, which is more suited for you? Instead of considering the ‘active vs passive debate’, perhaps consider harnessing the advantages of both. Passive funds could form a low-cost portion for broader, more efficient markets. Whereas an active approach could be used in parts of the market where there’s perhaps more scope to outperform.

14/09/2021

Money mindset Tuesdays. How can you shift your money mindset?



Shifting this starts with awareness. Your thoughts will influence your feelings, and your feelings affect your behaviour, which in turns leads to your positive or negative actions around money.



So, for example, if you think that money is a scarce commodity, you'll feel stressed and anxious about it.

Conversely, if you think that there is more than enough money to go around, you'll feel calm, positive and optimistic.

We like to envision money mindset as a scale with Scarcity and Lack at one end of the scale and Wealth/Abundance at the other end.

Most of us are somewhere in between these two extremes.

As you start to become more aware of this, you will start to realise what you own self-limiting beliefs are. It’s these beliefs that prevent you from feeling and therefore acting more abundant.

So what might these limiting beliefs be?

Question: do you ever tell yourself that you’re no good with money? That money doesn’t grow on trees? That you don’t deserve to earn money? Not good with numbers? Rich people are snobby and shallow? This list goes on and on.

To think of this another way, you could also look to your childhood for answers. For example, think back as to what you parents did when saving or spending money. Was money talked about calmy or was there tension? How were you taught to save and budget? How might these ‘money messages’ be impacting you today?



Finally, create more awareness by noticing how you behave today. When you go out to dinner or coffee with friends – do you always pick up the bill or do you never pick up the bill? What does that say about you and the way you interact with money?

When you get paid – does money burn a hole in your pocket? Do you feel like you need to get rid of it or give it away? Do you believe that it’s not safe for you to hold on to money?

To learn more about this fascinating area, you can sign up to any one of our month long money mindset workshops here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/money-mindset-workshops-tickets-126715350023

13/09/2021

Top tip Mondays. What’s happening with National insurance and dividend tax rises & how you can shelter yourself?

From April 2022, National Insurance contributions will rise by 1.25 percentage points. From April 2023, this increase will then be replaced by a separate health and social care levy.

So, what does this dividend tax rise mean for investors?

We all benefit from a £2,000 dividend allowance each year and so only once this is exceeded will you start paying tax on dividends taken from your investments.

Basic-rate taxpayers currently pay 7.5% on any dividends they get over the dividend allowance. From April 2022, this will rise to 8.75%.

For higher-rate and additional -rate taxpayers, this will rise to 33.75% and 39.35% respectively.

So, what can be done about this, or indeed further tax hikes?

The best way to shelter yourself from tax hikes is to make sure you’re making the use out of your Stocks and shares ISA and personal pensions - £20,000 and £40,000 respectively. This is because you do not pay tax within the fund, and with ISA’s, any income can be taken tax free.

07/09/2021

Money Mindset Tuesdays – the importance of setting clear goals with our finances.

One of the big problems with setting goals, especially financial ones, is that we’re rather bad at imagining what our future selves really want. Just remember what you imagined you’d be as an adult when you were a kid. My guess is that there may be some gaps between that dream and your current reality?

When we talk about financial goals, we’re often talking about long timeframes. Retirement for example could be 20, 30 or even 40 years away. You can’t even imagine yourself at that age, let alone plan for it!

A great starting point therefore is getting really clear on what our goals are, both for the short term and longer term. And I’m talking broadly. You don’t have to know exactly what your dream house or trip of a lifetime is going to cost or that. Just don’t pretend that a 10-year time frame is a long way off. It’s not and will come sooner than you think. So, you better start saving now.

You may feel like you’re still 30, but if you just celebrated (or mourned) turning 40, it’s time to get real. Our future selves will be here faster than we think. Remember all the stupid stuff you did as a teenager? Don’t be the 60-year-old that wants to hit your 30-something self over the head for doing stupid adult stuff, like not getting clear on your financial goals.