Wealth Management – Just For The Millionaires?
CEO Alex Barnes
Often, people assume that wealth management is something exclusively for millionaires. However, Alex Barnes, Managing Director at AJ Barnes Financial Planning Ltd explains this is definitely not the case.
Alex said at the heart of Wealth Management actually lies three things for him. Firstly, it is “Wealth Creation” – the art of taking monthly budgets and working to utilise the fuel or income coming into a household more effectively to build money for the future. “Wealth Protection” or the skill of looking at potential bumps in the road to plan against and make sure the plans and goals have the opportunity to keep delivering. Then finally it moves to “Wealth Management” or more simply put the art of taking care of the pots of money built up for you, your family and descendants. In essence Alex said it all comes back to working to a plan. Getting a high-level road map in place of where we want to be in a year, 5 years, 10 years, 15 years etc. and then moving towards it.
Take this example of David, at his first meeting with a financial adviser, David was openly unsure if he needed financial advice and didn’t want to take up somebody’s time unnecessarily. David had worked at 4 different companies in the last 20 years and he had always paid into his work-based pension, but he was now 10 years away from retirement and unsure of what to do and whether he was on track for his retirement goals. David also had a mortgage and the kids had recently flown the nest. The first task was finding out what pensions David had, what his mortgage balance was, what his monthly disposable income looked like and exactly what he and his wife Sheila planned to do in retirement. “After some digging” they found a valuable old-style pension, which they were recommended to keep. However, the remaining 3 pots were charging David money, with no advice available from them and taking risk not in line with his risk appetite with his money. It was suggested he may want to consolidate these into a fund more appropriate for his retirement objectives and one that was regularly monitored to ensure they were on track towards David and Sheila’s overall “escape plan” from work towards and their biggest ever holiday of retirement.
Furthermore, as they were outside of their mortgage fixed term period and would benefit from getting their mortgage on a better rate, this would also free up some money each month, which they can start adding to their “escape pot”. David said working with a financial adviser opened his eyes to what financial planning can do – he and Sheila now understand their pots better and are working towards their retirement in partnership with a trusted adviser that they can get updates from, ask questions of and adjust plans as they go. This just goes to show that wealth management worked for David and Sheila and is not something exclusive for millionaires.
Wealth Management clients come in a variety of guises and with a plethora of financial planning needs they don’t all feel they meet the requirements for ‘Wealth Management’ but all, generally have an end goal of a comfortable secure financial future and the appetite to reach that goal.
To receive a complimentary guide covering wealth management, retirement planning or Inheritance Tax planning, contact AJ Barnes Financial Planning Ltd. On 0151 2248 700 or email alex.barnes@sjpp.co.uk
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested. Appointed Representative of and representing only St. James’s Place Wealth Management plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority) for the purpose of advising solely on the Groups wealth management products and services, more details of which are set out on the Groups website at www.sjp.co.uk/products.
A J Barnes Financial