Some of the most effective financial planning strategies are the easiest to implement. In this article we look at five simple ways to improve your finances.

As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch and there is certainly no such thing as free financial advice. The vast majority of investment advisers work on a commission rather than fee basis and whilst you do not physically write out a cheque for the advice, you are paying for it out of the investment plans/policies you buy. You may be paying too much.

Markets will always have their volatile periods and no one can predict which weeks or months will generate good or bad returns and how long those periods will last. However, being out of the market for even short periods can markedly affect long-term portfolio performance.

All clients of Evolve will be well aware that our investment strategy is based on using low cost index tracking funds.  We are passionate about keeping the cost of investment as low as possible and very much hope the entrance of Vanguard into the UK market will force other fund managers to reduce their charges.

Many employers offer their staff a range of benefits as well as salary and bonus but these are often not communicated as well as they could be. We have a number of clients who had been missing out on excellent opportunities until we helped them to clarify what was available to them. With some benefits you may have to make an active decision to join whereas with others, enrolment could be automatic.

The efficient market hypothesis, which was developed in the 1960’s, states that an efficient market for equities, or indeed any other market is one where, given the available information, actual prices represent a very good estimate of intrinsic values.  Prices are always changing as new information is coming to the market.  This information may relate to specific shares or the economy more generally.  But when news does become available, prices react rapidly.

This might sound counter-intuitive but it can be a valuable financial planning tactic in certain circumstances.

"Inheritance Tax is a voluntary tax, paid by those who distrust their heirs more than they dislike the Inland Revenue!" Lord Jenkins.

Annuity purchase is possibly the most difficult financial decision that you will make in your life. It is a one-off choice and if you get it wrong, there is no turning back. If you are approaching retirement, it is vital that you take professional advice to ensure that you fully understand the implications of your actions. 

Many of us do not like to think about serious illness or death but spend a minute or two imagining the financial impact of this and the results can be quite sobering. Could you support your family, whether financially or by running the family home? Would your spouse or partner be able to run the family home without you? In fact, would he or she be forced to move house? Would your children still be able to get the education you want for them?
If you are single, how quickly would you run out of money if you couldn’t work?

In the current economic climate it is inevitable that many firms are looking to tighten their purse strings and the economic data is by no means encouraging. There is an abundance of information on the internet about the redundancy process, what constitutes unfair dismissal and so on, so we don’t propose to cover all of that here.

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