How we charge
It’s important to us that we are open and transparent in terms of our fees and how we charge. Here we’ll give an overview of our fee structure and what you can expect to pay at each stage of the process.
Initial meeting
The initial meeting is undertaken at our expense. This is an opportunity for us to get to know each other, for you to understand our philosophy and exactly how we work and for us to ascertain whether we can help.
The initial meeting is undertaken on the clear understanding there is no obligation on your part to take matters further.
Cost: No charge
If you wish to proceed (and we hope you do), we have a three-stage process:
Life Planning stage
This will consist of a further two or three meetings, at the end of which you will have a tangible life plan with achievable goals.
You can stop at this stage or move on to the Review Stage.
Cost: £1,800
However, we do offer a Quality Guarantee. We are strong believers in providing value for money. If you do not feel you have received any benefit at the end of the life planning stage, we will not expect you to pay us. Simple.
Review stage
This stage enables us to review your existing financial arrangements to see whether they are fit for purpose, in our opinion, to help you deliver your life plan.
The cost of this stage is calculated on a menu basis:
| Core fee for review and preparation of recommendation report | £1,440 |
Plus an additional fee to review existing arrangements:
| Savings (bank and building society accounts, National Savings) | No charge |
| Pensions (personal pensions, company pensions, SIPPs or SSAS, excluding those with non-standard investments*) | £360 for the first plan, plus £270 for each subsequent plan |
| Standard Investments* (ISAs, investment accounts and investment bonds) | £300 for the first plan, plus £240 for each subsequent plan |
| Protection policies (life assurance, critical illness cover, income protection/permanent health insurance) | £180 for the first and each subsequent plan |
Other types of pension or investment such as Venture Capital Trusts (VCT) and Enterprise Investment Schemes (EIS) may be more complex and carry an additional cost.
Again, you can stop at this stage if you’d like.
Aspirational stage
Our goal is to work with a select number of clients on a long-term basis, regularly reviewing and updating their plans from both a life and financial perspective. This is where we believe clients will get the most value from our services. The benefit of financial planning is not necessarily in creating a financial plan but in the very act of planning itself.
In our view, an ongoing relationship (where we regularly review your plans and challenge you to achieve more) is desirable for you to get the optimum benefit.
Cost: £500 per month (£6,000 per annum)
We reserve the right to review this fee for clients with complex affairs. If we believe you fall into this category, we will discuss and agree on the revised fee with you before you engage our services.
There’s no tie in. We hope for a long-term relationship, but we accept you have to see value in that relationship. It is our job always to deliver that value. If we don’t, then you are free to cancel our agreement at any time.
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