Archive for April, 2013

Chilvester grows again

Posted by Sam Binstead

Chilvester are pleased to announce that following 18 months hard work on his part, Sam Binstead achieved the CII Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning at the end of last year and becomes Chilvester’s newest adviser.

With the addition of Andy Tottman in November, this sees a doubling of Chilvester’s advisers in the last six months.

As many of you know, Sam has been with us since June 2011 in a technical support role and alongside his new position he will continue to provide support to Tony and the team. Sam is able to advise on all areas of personal finance and will add strength to our team.

Child Trust Funds and Junior ISAs

Posted by Sam Binstead

Hidden away in the detail of the 2013 budget was an announcement that the Government plan to undertake a consultation on the options for transferring a Child Trust Fund (CTF) into a Junior ISA.

CTFs were scrapped in late 2010 when the Government introduced Junior ISAs. Since then, many providers have abandoned their CTF offerings.

If you have a child born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011 and you invested the £250 Government voucher into a CTF, you may have seen poor returns from your child’s savings over the last few years; in particular the interest rates on cash CTFs have been low in comparison to their Junior ISA counterparts. In addition, many CTF providers have introduced annual charges on their accounts which makes them increasingly more expensive to hold.

With only a small choice of CTF providers remaining, savers have been stuck with poor rates and very limited options to transfer.

The consultation is therefore good news for millions of families. The ability to switch a CTF into a Junior ISA will vastly increase the range of investment options available and savers would be able to benefit from the lower charges that come with a more competitive market.

We will, of course, keep you up to date on the results of the consultation. If you have any questions or would like to discuss your personal circumstances in more detail, please do contact us.

New tax year, new tax rates

Posted by Sam Binstead

With the new tax year we see changes in Income Tax thresholds. For those under 65, the Personal Allowance (the money you can earn before paying tax) has increased to £9,440 but for those aged 65 and over it has not increased over last year.

When income exceeds £100,000 your personal allowance will reduce by £1 for every £2 of earnings, therefore income of £118,880 will erode the entire personal allowance! The Additional Rate of tax has been reduced from 50% to 45% for the 2013/14 tax year.

As you can see there are winners and losers in all these changes. Please do contact us if you would like a free copy of our tax tables, which lists all the new year’s tax rates.

With the recent introduction of the ‘High Income Child Benefit Charge’, if one individual in the household earns more than £50,000 then you will have a reduction in the amount of child benefit you receive. When one individual earns more than £60,000 the entitlement will be lost altogether. You can find out how you are affected on the HMRC website.

If you are affected by any of these, Financial Planning is vital to assess your circumstances and see if there are ways of making your taxable income more efficient. Gift aid and pension contributions are just two ways that may help to keep you below the limits and thus securing your personal allowances or child benefit. At Chilvester, we have strategies in place to help our clients plan their finances with tax efficiency in mind.

If you would like to understand more about any of the above or how we can help you further, I would welcome a conversation with you.

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