We will assist you to set up your first account whether this is to start a new monthly contribution into a GIA or ISA, or a transfer of your existing or frozen pension across at an inexpensive cost.
Any UK resident, who is an income tax payer and has some money to save or invest, should know about Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs). ISAs offer an attractive tax-free shelter to anyone aged 18 or over (16 or over for cash ISAs). ISAs serve as a ‘wrapper’ to protect savings from tax, allowing individuals to invest monies up to £20,000 (20/21) each tax year in a range of savings and investments.
The main ISA Benefits are:
A Junior ISA is a long term savings account set up by a parent or guardian for their child. There are two types of Junior ISA, a cash JISA or Stocks and shares JISA. Each child will be able to hold one of each account, with different providers should they wish, but the total combined investment allowance between the two accounts remains at £4,368 per tax year. Only at age 18 can the child access and withdraw these funds. Alternatively, these can be rolled into an adult ISA.
The main JISA benefits are:
A General Investment Account, also known as a personal portfolio has no tax benefits however we use these once the relevant tax wrappers such as an ISA are fully subscribed. These are suitable vehicles to invest spare cash into one of our allocated CBAM portfolios.
These vehicles incur dividend, income and capital gains tax if not managed correctly so our expertise on this can be for your benefit. When the holding is surrendered and if there is a gain, this is subject to capital gains tax. However, each individual has the benefit of an annual allowance of £12,300 (20/21) therefore as long as the gain together with any other gains you may have in the same tax year is less than the allowance, there is no tax to pay.
Any gain in excess of the annual allowance will be taxed at a rate of 10% and 20% for basic rate tax payers and higher/additional rate tax payers respectively. Any tax due would have to be declared by completing a Self-Assessment return to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
At Impulse we can look at creating your own Self Invested Personal Pension or a SIPP. A SIPP is a much more informative pension nowadays as you will be provided with online access to your pension at all times and can invest in a range of different funds. At Impulse, the online access would come via our platform and the investment strategy would be in the discretionary portfolios which have access to a multi-universe of funds. A SIPP is the ideal strategy for consolidating and merging a number of old pension pots together as this allows them to grow together at a larger value. This also helps for ease of access as all of your pensions would now be placed in one basket.
If you do not have an existing private pension or would like to start contributing to one, we certainly can set this up for you. This would involve a quick meeting with an adviser who would obtain an idea of your goals and affordability. The next step would be to run through a risk tolerance questionnaire so we can determine the correct portfolio for this to be invested. The final step is setting up a direct debit via our platform to begin the monthly contribution.
Investment bonds remain a popular investment tool and they may enable investors to defer tax. Both onshore and allow clients to make regular withdrawals of 5% of the amount per policy year without triggering any tax liability. Any unused allowance can be carried forward. There are 2 types of bonds, onshore and offshore which have differing rules. At Impulse, any existing bond would need to be encashed but we certainly can provide the analysis as well as advise on investing the proceeds.
Onshore Bonds
These bonds are suitable for investors who want to invest on UK soil and who do not plan on retiring abroad. These are also suitable for those who will be basic rate taxpayers on encashment. In terms of an onshore bond, basic rate tax of 20% is already paid on surrender. If the client is a higher or additional rate tax payer, there will be an additional 20 or 25% respectively. A non taxpayer cannot reclaim the original 20% unfortunately. There is the ability to top slice any gain which can be used to reduce the amount of tax especially if a client is pushed into a higher tax bracket.
Offshore Bonds
There is no taxation on the underlying investments except for withholding tax. For a client, tax is paid on the chargeable gain at his or hers marginal rate of tax. The personal savings allowance or PSA and top slicing can also be used for an offshore bond. These bonds are suitable for those who live aboard currently or who plan on retiring abroad at a later stage. These also may be suitable for those who will be non UK taxpayers on encashment.
We can offer you a whole of market mortgage service in order to show you the best rates and lowest costs available to you whether this is for a new purchase or remortgage. We have in house analysis and reporting tools which enable us to definitively highlight which mortgage is the best given your needs.
You do not pay us directly for this service as we receive a fee from the lender under our introducer agreement. We intermediate the application process for you in turn massively reducing your administrative burden. One to one service with a specified member of our team will guide you through the mortgage application process from research to completion.
Similar to mortgages, we can also off a whole of market service for protection products tailored to your situation. Protection products are essential with large, long-term financial undertakings like a mortgage. We cover products such as: income protection, life assurance, and critical illness cover amongst others. As we are whole of market, we can offer products which are inexpensive and that provide comprehensive cover.
Added services to the brokering include writing these policies into trust at no extra charge. Writing policies into trust is particularly useful for products such as level term assurance and whole of life. This is done to ensure the protection payout will sit outside of your estate and will not be charged inheritance tax.
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This website and the information contained herein is not intended to be a source of advice or analysis with respect to the material presented, and the information and/or documents contained in this website do not constitute investment advice. ImpulsePlan is a trading name of Impulse Invest Limited which is an authorised representative of Ascot Wealth Management Limited. Ascot Wealth Management Ltd – Scotch Corner, London Road, Sunningdale, SL5 0ER – is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 551744).