Ask the Adviser with #savvysam

Savvy Sam talks about how to manage the family finances to get the best deal for everyone.  Sharing allowances and ownership of things to be tax efficient and fair, whether that's between adult partners or even putting stuff in the children’s name.

We will leave you with our top 3 tips to make sure you are a financially fit family and 3 mistakes that you can avoid.

Further resources:

Women’s Wealth Website

Book a free 15 minute chat with one of our Money Mentors.

Women’s Wealth Network

Access online learning, blogs, downloadable resources, newsletters, community and podcasts. LIVE sessions where you can ask your burning questions to qualified female advisers.

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

Fernanda's Situation 

In her 30’s, Brazilian and living and working in London for over 9 years, Fernanda is navigating career, relationships, home ownership and managing a lifestyle in an expensive city .

She felt it was time to consider how best to organise things with a view to creating resources for later out of “spare” income available now.  She and her long-term partner have 2 cockapoos so the natural progression might lead to children, so any planning needs to be nimble and adaptable.

Challenges:

• Getting the best return possible given the different or uncertain timescales involved for different pots. How to choose? What to expect? Overpay mortgage? Cash in share options? So many choices. 
• Wise use of tax allowances and tax efficient investment wrappers ensures best return, but it’s complicated and changes every year. How do you know you have got it right? 
• Continued earnings is what makes her financial plan manageable, but what if …………. ?

Further resources:

Women’s Wealth Website

Book a free 15 minute chat with one of our Money Mentors.

Women’s Wealth Network

Access online learning, blogs, downloadable resources, newsletters, community and podcasts.  LIVE sessions where you can ask your burning questions to qualified female advisers.

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

Madeleine’s Situation
Madeleine is navigating divorce, freelance career, health challenges and a master’s degree, all whilst raising her children. We met this real-life superwoman at the point she was trying to work out if buying a replacement family home was the right use of her divorce settlement or whether there were other options that deserved her attention.
Challenges
· Now she is dependent on her own earnings alone. How does she build resilience for her family especially as her freelance earnings have been disrupted in the past by health issues?
· Is buying a house the best use of her resources? If she doesn’t buy will she end up squeezed out of the property market? If not property, then what?
· Pensions divorce – complicated, long winded, and very valuable in the long run!

Further resources:

Women’s Wealth Website

Book a free 15 minute chat with one of our Money Mentors.

Women’s Wealth Network (FREE to join)

Join us on for the ‘weekly lives’ where you can listen to other women asking their burning questions.  Access online learning, blogs, downloadable resources, newsletters, community and podcasts.

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

Jess’s Situation Currently working for one of the big tech corporates Jess has a great income, bonus with share incentives, pension and benefits and wanted to be sure she was making the most of her opportunities and being financially responsible.

She also has the substantial costs of living and working in London and had to navigate the ‘should I rent or buy a home’ dilemma.  This is further complicated by a desire to travel and eye on career options that move away from the good corporate earnings she currently enjoys.

Financial planning was key to Jess levelling up her knowledge and gaining confidence as financial decisions became weightier.  She sought autonomy over relying on input from friends and family, but also realised this is a specialist area and having an expert on her side is a great way of being sure all options have been considered.  Women’s Wealth loves taking on the role of BFF (Best Financial Friend) and we have enjoyed watching Jess lean into her financial responsibilities. 

Challenges 

• Lifestyle creep means high earners can become trapped unless they manage spending to a level that leaves them with choices. 
• Benefit packages that include share incentive schemes turn you into an investor whether you are ready or not and learning to manage your stock assets is part of growing into financial maturity.
• Getting familiar with your pension fund, how to choose the right investment, contribution level and when and how best to use the fund in the future because it is likely to become one of the biggest assets you will ever own.  
• Buy or rent – it is a big decision with lots of ramifications.

Further resources:

Women’s Wealth Website

Book a free 15 minute chat with one of our Money Mentors.

Women’s Wealth Network (FREE to join for 6 months)

Join us on for the ‘weekly lives’ where you can listen to other women asking their burning questions.  Access online learning, blogs, downloadable resources, newsletters, community and podcasts.

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

Janette's Situation.  Having throttled back from full-on work to do only a bit of what she enjoys, Janette is transitioning from earning and accumulating wealth to utilising what she has created to support her lifestyle.

She wants to make the most of what she has got rather than creating a legacy and she has a gap to navigate until her pensions pay out in full. 

Challenges 

• Outliving our resources is a frightening prospect but making sure we get the most out of them is also a lifetime responsibility – how to tackle the balancing act.
• How to use different pensions at different stages of retirement to gap fill and smooth out your income. 
• She has recently come out of a long term marriage and lost her last parent – she felt quite alone and with decisions to make about an inheritance.

Further resources:

Women’s Wealth Website

Book a free 15 minute chat with one of our Money Mentors.

Women’s Wealth Network (FREE to join for 6 months)

Join us on for the ‘weekly lives’ where you can listen to what others are saying

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

Melly’s Situation. Freelance worker who has divorced and received a settlement.  She is not used to having investable assets.  She lives with her new partner in his house which they adore, and he is financially independent with a secure pension of his own and an investment portfolio, but there is still an interest only mortgage outstanding on their home. 

Melly has grown up children, her income fluctuates, and she loves her work so passionately that she doesn’t really think about retirement, but having reached 59 she has started to wonder how she will live if her earnings opportunities dwindle. The divorce settlement is likely to be the only windfall she has, and she needs to make it count.

Challenges 

• Self-employment (no pension or other employee benefits)
• New to investing and in receipt of a divorce settlement 
• Blended family with legacy implications

Further resources:

Women’s Wealth Website

Book a free 15 minute chat with one of our Money Mentors.

Women’s Wealth Network (FREE to join for 6 months) - join us on for the ‘weekly lives’ where you can listen to what others are saying

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

Eva knew she should be investing and had been researching her options, but she never felt confident enough to press the button and commit. She explains how Women's Wealth helped her move forward.

The Women’s Wealth Empower Membership is a 5 meeting process that gave Eva the unexpected additional benefit of revealing a more positive financial forecast than she had imagined.  She explains how this has empowered change in her outlook, thinking and behaviour. 

“A baptism of fire” is how Eva described her initial experience as an investor and she explains how she navigated incredibly uncomfortable feelings and the benefits of having an expert on hand during this scary time.

We discussed the value of choice and freedom and how financial planning can help promote these. Eva shared her opinion on why a friendly and affordable service, focussing on the needs of women, is a powerful option.

We also explore what questions women have around money and finance and how a female focussed service made it easier for her to take the plunge and hire the expert she needed.  She has been informed, supported, encouraged, and reassured during her journey which she confirms has changed her outlook on life in a good way. 

Further resources:

Women's Wealth Website

Book a free 15 minute chat with one of our Money Mentors

Women’s Wealth Network (FREE to join for 6 months)

Join in our WEEKLY 'live' sessions, hear what others are saying.

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

In this episode #SavvySam talks to two mortgage experts to get the low down on the market, the rates, the options open to borrowers given Bank of England base rates are rising and it looks set to continue going up.  Join us as Funmi Olufunwa - Hoops Financial and Dawn Patrick - Burlington Financial tackle the following questions:

• Should you escape your current fixed rate deal to fix a new one before the rates go up even more?
• What are your options?
• How does using a mortgage broker help – why not just go direct to your current lender or usual bank? 
• How high should you expect rates to go?
• What can you do to prepare for higher future costs?

For a one to one chat with either Dawn or Funmi -

Funmi Olufunwa - Hoops Finance f.olufunwa@hotmail.co.uk

Dawn Patrick DipFA Cert CII (MP) - Burlington Financial Dawn.Patrick@burlington-financial.uk

Further resources:

Women’s Wealth Network (FREE to join for 6 months)

Visit the ‘weekly lives’ where you can listen to past broadcasts, 8/8/22 discussion on mortgage rates .

Women’s Wealth Website

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn