At Gresham, we believe that an annual review is one of the key pillars of the financial advice process. Whilst clients do not always want to know the finer details of their investments, we always like to arm them with the information they need in order to make informed choices about their wealth.
There are also often a number of things that go on within the course of a twelve month period – either within or outside of your personal circumstances – that have the potential to impact your investments and the decisions you make about them. Here are five reasons why an annual review with your financial adviser is so important.
Your personal situation may have changed
A lot can happen within 12 months and informing us of any changes may not always be top of the list. Whether a particular life event, such as birth, death or marriage has occurred, or there has been another change within your family and/or personal circumstances, it may be that there are things that need updating or reassigning in your investment portfolio.
Your lifestyle and financial goals may have changed
As things change within your family set up, you may also experience a change in mindset towards your finances. Whether one leads to the other, or else something else entirely triggers you wanting to use your savings in a different way, you can discuss your current way of thinking with us, therefore allowing us to make changes as necessary.
You could be affected by changes in legislation
Sometimes circumstances that are entirely beyond your control, such as changes in legislation or other national or global events, have the potential to impact your investments. An annual review gives us the opportunity to discuss how your portfolio might be impacted by such external forces with you, allowing any changes to thereafter be implemented.
You could be paying more tax than necessary
Tax allowances and associated levels change on at least an annual basis. Although this is something we regularly monitor in any event, an annual review provides the platform to discuss these changes with you and agree a way forward to ensure you avoid paying more tax than necessary.
Your estate plan may have fallen out of date
Marriage, divorce, birth, and death are the four big events that affect estate plans, but you may also want to consider other factors, such as longevity and health, that could affect your planning. Also, having a plan in place is all well and good, but do the people you care about know about it? Where is it and what role should your loved ones play if something happens to you? All of these questions can be discussed during your annual review to give you peace of mind.
A face to face meeting on at least an annual basis helps to ensure you are getting the best advice and making the most out of the options available to you. For an initial conversation with Gresham Wealth Management to discuss your financial planning needs, please get in touch and ask to speak to one of our Independent Financial Advisers.