Bonus Planning

At Germain Financial Associates, we offer tailored bonus planning advice to make sure that your bonus can either be taken tax efficiently or the proceeds are invested into the most tax efficient vehicles.

Some of the solutions we have are:

• VCT schemes which offer 30% tax relief up to £200,000 of investments per annum.*
• EIS schemes which offer 20% tax relief up to £500,000 of Investments per annum.*
• ISA Investments.
• Bonus and Pension Salary sacrifice schemes.
• Family Trusts. (Trusts are not regulated by the Financial Services Authority)

*The underlying investments are usually held in very small UK companies. As such, there is a risk that any of these investments may not preform as hoped an in some circumstances may fail completely.

Please note that the favourable tax treatment of these products may not be maintained and may be subject to future changes in legislation.

Tax Planning advice

Since April 2010, those with income exceeding £150,000 are subject to an increase in the prevailing rate of income tax. This will see these higher earners paying half of their salaries to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs.

There is, however, a sting in the tail for people with “adjusted net” income of more than £100,000 - broadly income less certain allowable deductions - who will suffer an effective rate of 60% on income between £100,000 and £112,950 because of the erosion of their personal allowance.

As a higher income earner, how will these changes in pension tax relief affect you and your plans for retirement?

Retirement Planning

Regardless of the life stage you have arrived at, it is important to receive expert and professional advice on your pension requirements. Whether you need to review post 'A' Day implications, assess pension requirements for your employees or set up your own personal pension, St. James's Place Wealth Management has created ways to help you make the most of your retirement opportunities

Please click here for more information about how we can help.

Our Investment Approach

The St. James's Place Wealth Management Group has an award winning distinctive approach to Investment Management. We recognise that no single investment house has a monopoly on investment expertise and therefore adopts an effective solution to this problem. We do not employ any in-house investment managers, instead we carefully select a number of external managers of outstanding ability to manage our range of funds.

The cornerstone of the St. James's Place approach is its Investment Committee who 'manage the fund managers' on behalf of our clients. We retain an independent investment consulting firm, Stamford Associates, who play an important role in the selection and management. Stamford's only business is in advising large pensions funds - and us - on the selection of investment managers. For more information, click here.

University and School Fees planning

With the increasing cost of education and university fees, there is only one sensible piece of advice to give any parent contemplating this most important investment – plan ahead.

At Germain Financial Associates we will work with you to create a bespoke school fees plan tailored to your individual situation.

Family Protection

Providing protection cover in the various forms of life, critical illness and disability solutions is important to Germain Financial Associates. We can advise you in the following areas:

Death Assurance
Serious Illness planning
Income Protection
Family Income protection
Whole of life Assurance