End of Year Resolution!

5 Top Tips for the end of the year

1. Take a financial inventory.

You might use a spreadsheet, or if you're a client of mine you will have a Client Site to update, but it's important to take stock of your assets and liabilities. Should you look into restructuring debt with a consolidation loan, or remortgage? Have you used ISA allowances? Made the most of your pension contributions? Are you on track to meet your goals? All very important questions and easier to answer if you know what your overall position is.

2. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

Go and fish out your life and critical illness policy details. Is it what you expected? Are the numbers realistic? Should they be written in trust, are they? It also important to make sure that you have a Will in place and that it's regularly reviewed to make sure that what you want to happen, will actually happen. Death and taxes - it's gonna happen, make sure that when the former happens that you have made the necessary plans to look after your loved ones and manage the latter.

3. Update beneficiaries forms

Updating your beneficiary - the person or people who receive your money or benefits on death should be periodically checked. This relates to your pension, but also beneficiaries of any trusts that you have set up and is separate to your will. A pension provider will allow you to complete a "Nomination of Beneficiaries" or "Expression of Wish" form, which means that the people that you want to benefit, will actually benefit from your pension fund. This is important for various reasons, tax being one of them.

4. The "Taxman" is here to help

There are a great number of ways to save for the future that benefit from certain tax advantages. Successive Governments have often tried to encourage people to save and tax savings are one way of doing it. Get to know what these are and make the most of them when you can. Start small and build.

5. Review your path to retirement

Retirement planning is valuable at every stage in life and you should be proactive. There are two very simple general rules: The more money you pay in + the longer you pay in = the bigger the pot of money at the end. The bigger pot gives you flexibility and freedom. A Cash Flow Model can give you an idea as to how much you can and should be saving for retirement as well as giving you an idea as to what kind of retirement you can look forward to (Or not. It's good to face up to the truth!).