At our first meeting, we’ll demonstrate the cashflow modelling software we use to help our clients make great financial decisions. You’ll also get clarity on how we can help and what value will be provided by our assistance.
Our fee philosophy
The way we approach fees differentiates us from many other financial planning businesses, and it’s something we’re very proud of. Discover how we charge and the value we provide here.
Starting out strong
In our view, it’s important that before you part with any money, you have the chance to get to know us, understand how we can help you, and more importantly learn how we can add value to your life.
For this reason, after a short telephone conversation to get a sense of how we might be able to help you, we offer an in-depth first meeting at our expense. During this meeting, we’ll listen to what you want to achieve, find out about the problems you’re seeking help with, and get to know all about you. This includes understanding your family history, your hobbies, and your dreams for the future.
To get maximum value from our first meeting, we’ll set you some “homework” to complete before you arrive.
If we don’t feel we can add sufficient value to your circumstances, we’d always be honest enough to admit this. For many people, value is not necessarily expressed in pounds and pence. It’s more about having certainty, clarity, and peace of mind. Many of our clients happily pay fees to achieve that peace of mind above all else.
Your financial plan
Once we agree to work together, we’ll create your personal financial plan.
It’s also likely that you’ll have two further meetings to go through our analysis and work together on the cashflow modelling.
For putting together your financial plan, we’ll charge a fixed fee, which will be set out in black and white before you sign up to our services.
Thanks to this fixed fee approach, you can be assured of an unbiased review of your current circumstances with no hidden agenda.
The financial planning phase will also uncover whether you need our help with your finances moving forward.
It may be the case that the financial plan concludes:
- With a small list of actions that you can do yourself, meaning you no longer need us.
- That perhaps the time to engage isn’t right now, but could be in the future (for example, your plan may have highlighted that you’ll be ready to retire in three years’ time).
- That your existing financial arrangements are broadly okay, but require the peace of mind of a Chartered financial planner keeping you on track for the years to come.
- That your existing arrangements need tidying up into more modern contracts that will meet your future needs.
Wheels in motion
After we’ve completed work on your financial plan, it may be appropriate for us to recommend new investments and agree on an ongoing service.
To set up any new investments, we’ll charge an implementation fee which is typically deducted from any amounts invested.
The implementation fee is tiered, so the more you invest, the lower the percentage fee taken.
We also have a fee cap, as we think it’s important for any fee levied to be commensurate with the work undertaken.
Support that lasts
For providing ongoing services, we will levy a fee which is usually deducted from your investments and paid to Bluesky monthly.
This fee will pay for us to provide you with a comprehensive ongoing financial planning service. This will include an annual review, cashflow modelling, investment portfolio management, and personal taxation advice. It’s a service designed to offer complete peace of mind.
We know that picking up the phone to speak with an adviser in between meetings can be daunting. Please be assured that our advisers are a friendly bunch and will be very happy to speak with you about your situation, any time.
Is financial planning good value for money?
As a team, we hold particularly strong feelings on this question.
It goes without saying that we think the financial planning service we deliver provides excellent value to our clients. Our confidence comes from the fact that we see the positive results of our work every day. The highly personalised financial planning services we offer really do transform lives, deliver financial freedom, and enable our clients to live comfortable, fulfilled, and secure lives.
You may also be interested to know that recent studies back us up on this, showing that financial planning brings both financial and emotional gains for people who engage with it. A report by the International Longevity Centre found households that received advice ended up between 16% and 21% better off than those that didn’t. And research by Royal London showed clients who were engaged in ongoing financial planning overwhelmingly reported an improvement in their emotional wellbeing and sense of security about the future.
It’s hard to put a price on your future security, peace of mind, and the ability to avoid costly mistakes or spot beneficial opportunities. Yet gaining clarity and understanding over complex financial matters, and being able to make decisions with confidence, are just some of the priceless gains that come from our work.
Please note: Our charges/fees will be VAT exempt in most cases. We’ll always tell you if you have to pay VAT before we undertake any work for you.
What clients say
When you’re trying to choose which financial planning firm to work with, there’s no substitute for hearing from others pleased with their decision. Here’s what some of our valued clients have to say about us.
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