Welcome to BlueSKY Chartered Financial Planners

With over two decades of experience, our Chartered financial planners will help you to make sense of your financial future.

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Who we work with

Our objective is simple: to enable our clients to achieve peace of mind and fulfil their aspirations through effective financial planning.
With this in mind, we typically work with people who are:

Many people spend years accumulating savings, but are unsure about what to do next. Financial planning can make things clear.

Pensions offer generous tax breaks and come with greater flexibility. We’ll help you to make the most of these features.

We have 20 years’ experience helping divorcing couples make sound financial decisions to secure a stable future for their families.

It’s important to choose an adviser who’s right for you. If you want someone new to meet your needs from here on, we can help.

Investing money can appear daunting but over the long term it can be very rewarding. We’ll help you to invest wisely.

We help solicitors understand how pensions and other assets should be shared in divorce cases, then help clients with their financial planning afterwards.

Deborah Jones

"My financial future feels significantly more secure now I'm working with Jeremy."

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Linden Baxter

"It was hugely reassuring to have Mark in my corner when I was going through my divorce."

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Peter & Suzanne Coleman

"BlueSKY provide a bespoke plan for whatever your individual needs are."

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John & Lesley Summers

"Over time we've gained more and more confidence in Mark and his advice. He has our best interests at heart."

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Jane Challener

"Mark makes the time to listen and understand you as a person and what you want out of your financial future."

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Our knowledgeable, experienced and personable team is committed to providing a friendly service and expert advice.
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Latest Navigating the comings and goings of day-to-day life can mean that certain administrative tasks fall by the wayside. Estate planning is often one of them. Despite this, research from Octopus Investments shows that UK adults believe estate planning should ideally occur before age 44. Yet, financial advisers report that the average client doesn’t actually take action until age 61. In the 45 – 49 age bracket, 86% of people have done no estate planning at all, and even among those in their 50s, 70% remain completely unprepared. Yet the earlier you start, the better it could be for your family. Keep reading to find out why. 4 crucial reasons why earlier is better when it comes to estate planning Octopus Investments notes that UK families in the top 10% of wealth pass on an average £397,000 more to their loved ones when estate planning begins at age 50, rather than 70. Indeed, timely estate planning comes with a direct, measurable financial benefit. There are several reasons for this. 1. The 7-year clock needs time to run Financial gifting and support can play an important role in your estate plan, but it’s important to remember that any gifts that fall outside of your allowances and thresholds may be liable for Inheritance Tax (IHT). HMRC classifies these as Potentially Exempt Transfers (PETs). They only become exempt from IHT if you survive for seven years after making them. The standard allowances you can use are: • The annual exemption: You can give away up to £3,000 each tax year. • Small gift allowances: You can make gifts of up to £250 per person each tax year to as many people as you like (as long as you have not used another allowance on the same person). • Wedding and civil partnership gifts: You can gift up to £5,000 to a child, £2,500 to a grandchild, or £1,000 to anyone else for their union. Any amounts outside of your standard allowances will likely count as a PET, meaning your loved ones could receive an unexpected IHT bill if you die within seven years. So, the later you start with your estate planning, the less time you have available to make large gifts and have them remain tax-free. 2. You need to protect your assets while you have full mental capacity Setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) for health and financial decisions requires full mental capacity. The same applies to establishing discretionary or family trusts. Waiting until health issues arise could leave your assets locked away from your family or force your loved ones to navigate costly court proceedings just to manage your day-to-day care. If something should happen beyond your control, an LPA can help ensure that your family is able to take care of you and make decisions on your behalf. 3. You can leverage surplus income to mitigate your tax liability You don’t only need to provide lump sums in your estate plan. You can also provide regular gifts from your surplus income. Under HMRC rules, you can make unlimited tax-free gifts out of your regular, surplus income, provided these gifts do not affect your normal standard of living. The earlier you set this up, the more tax-free capital you could gift to loved ones. Keep in mind that gifting from surplus income requires strict record-keeping to ensure you don’t generate a surprise tax bill on your estate. 4. Stay ahead of legislative changes Tax laws can, and likely will, change over the course of several decades. So, families who start early can build adaptable financial plans that can easily pivot when governments tweak allowances or rules. A key example of this is the planned 2027 reform to IHT and unused pensions. For years, pensions were considered one of the most tax-efficient ways to pass wealth on to the next generation. That’s no longer the case, so adaptation is vital. Having a flexible plan laid out well in advance can help mitigate the impact of new legislation. An estate plan is a living document, not a one-off decision Many people delay planning because they feel they need to have every detail mapped out. The reality is that an estate plan is not set in stone. It’s a dynamic document that is designed to evolve alongside major milestones. Be it births in the family, career changes, marriages, and even changing health needs, your estate plan can, and should, change as you do. Overall, it’s likely better for your family and your peace of mind to have a flexible plan in place at 50 that you can refine over 30 years, than to put an emergency plan in place at 70. A financial planner can help guide you through the process Navigating tax allowances, legalities, and family dynamics can feel overwhelming alone. This is something we can help with. We can ensure your estate plan works for you and is ready for the future. Get in touch with us by emailing info@blueskyifas.co.uk or calling us on 0118-987 6655. Please note This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at individuals only. All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future. Please do not act based on anything you might read in this article. All contents are based on our understanding of HMRC legislation, which is subject to change. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate estate planning, tax planning, or Lasting Powers of Attorney. Remember that taper relief only applies to gifts in excess of the nil-rate band. It follows that, if no tax is payable on the transfer because it does not exceed the nil-rate band (after cumulation), there can be no relief. Taper relief does not reduce the value transferred; it reduces the tax payable as a consequence of that transfer.

Latest Why sooner is better than later when it comes to estate planning

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