Or a Chartered Tax Adviser. The CIOT has a low profile as it is relatively small and young, but it is the specialist tax qualification. (Quite a few CIOT members qualify first as accountants.)
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8 years ago
Wills and CGT
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8 years ago
In article , Charles Hope scribeth thus
Yes, had some experience of the legal firm's accountant and it hasn't been good;(...
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8 years ago
Can I suggest an independent financial adviser who is qualified in tax.
Generally Solicitors/Accountants and banks are not qualified to advise on these matters let alone understand them.
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8 years ago
Humm... Independent I often wonder just how independent they really are based on some past experiences not mine but a few people I know;!..
Agree with solicitors and wanks, but accountants a lot of their time is spent on tax or the avoidance thereof;)..
Is your independent fiscal advisor qualified at all even?..
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8 years ago
I agree accountants have experience regarding business, but it is a totally different ball game when they have to take in to account a total estates value with regard to inheritance/CG tax. So they may give good advice on a particular transaction but the OP needs advice if he is adding a lump sum to his own estate.
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8 years ago
Umm, it IS a legal requirement for an IFA to be truly independent.
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8 years ago
Yes, much too complicated for a chartered accountant :-)
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8 years ago
My advice when dealing with 'Professionals' is to ask what it will cost at the outset then pay them on the nail. Go in, have your discussion, if he gi ves you your answer straight away then pay him on the spot.
I know from bitter experience that what can happen is 6 months down the lin e he is running a bit tight for money so has a root around his debtors list and charges what he feels he can get away with. Nail him immediately, pref erably face to face , and he won't have the nerve to dig into you.
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8 years ago
An IFA ought to have been used decades ago to plan/setup/adise on how best to organise one finances/investments/property.
They all get kick backs from the companies that they recomend and you sign up with, but get told how much kick back they are getting. It's this kick back that may mean you don't have to write a cheque for the IFAs fee.
"Independant" means they are free to recomend products from a range of providers and aren't tied to just the products of a company (or group of companies).
If they are trading legally oh yes, there are a number of qualifications that an IFA must have to trade and be registered with which ever financial authority(s) oversees the area(s) they are working in. (s)'s 'cause I think different authorities cover different areas, eg. pension advice is under Authority A, but financial planning under Authority B, insurance (life/permenant health, etc) under C etc etc...
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8 years ago
"Truly independant" should mean no kick backs to either the IFA or you for signing up for a given product. A decent IFA should recomend the best products for your situation, that is what you are paying them for (directly or indirectly) and what is expected by the regulators.
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8 years ago
Yes they do more business if they are specialising in that side i.e. company work, but a good accountant will also do a lot of personal taxation for the self employed and contractors and the like..
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8 years ago
Yes but don't you feel that they are sometimes thinking too much on their commission/s and what they might be able to sell?...
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8 years ago
In article , fred scribeth thus
There speaks the voice of bitter experience;!...
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8 years ago
Any IFA has to give you a choice of funding their time through commission
- and they have to tell you how much that is - or an hourly rate.
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8 years ago
Ummm... I thought that IFAs could not use that model for investment advice since the implementation of the RDR. More important, so do the FCA:
"From 1 January 2013, product providers will no longer be able to offer commission on their products, and advisers will no longer be able to receive commission set by product providers for advice provided post-RDR."
People *can* choose to pay for advice by deduction from investments - as a lump sum or spread over regular payment. But neither independent nor restricted advisers can be given incentivee to recommend one product over another.
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8 years ago
I think that pre-dates the RDR: pl see my reply to Adrian a minute ago.
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8 years ago
Quite possibly, all I know is that I don't directly pay my IFA and I see "£xxx paid to IFA" on statements from the wrapper co, which may side step some regulations as the IFA isn't dealing directly with the pension/investments.
The rules keep changing and I'd rather pay some one who has more of an intrest in keeping up with them than I have.
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8 years ago
Sadly, unless you have serious amount of money, many advisors would be hard pressed to save you more than they charge.
Chris
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8 years ago
My accountant saves me money by reducing my tax bill.
My IFA makes me money by making sound financial plans for the future by suggesting a portfolio of investments that fit with my aversion, or not, to risk and also taking into account my circumstances and where along the plan we are. For instance you move market based investments out of the market and into guaranteed bonds/gilts/cash when you are a few years from say retirement. So of the market crashes or even drops just a bit you don't lose the value that you have built up from taking a risk on the market for the previous years. Investing in the market is medium to long term, at least five years, and you have to sit tight through when the market slumps.
Open question for the group, how much is a "serious amount of money"? That is cash that can be realised by withdrawing from, cashing in or selling, an investment product or account of some form (ie not property)
more?
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8 years ago
My IFA is worth every single penny I pay him.
Precisely.
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Complicated question. Because of nervousness about what's going on in the markets at the moment, I have a lot of cash right now, so could probably lay my hands on ~£0.5M. Under normal circumstances, that would be closer to £0.2M.