When you become a partner in a firm or business, you become a senior decision-maker, strategist and often a co-owner.

It’s an exciting moment, and the financial rewards can be significant. So it’s a good time to talk through the opportunities and any tax implications of your new position with us.

We can help guide and advise on planning for your short- and long-term goals – everything from investing additional income to arranging new mortgages or significant purchases. The changes to your professional circumstances may also mean that you want to take a look at your current level of income protection and life insurance to make sure you, your lifestyle and your family are properly protected, if life were to take an unexpected turn.

As a new partner, you may be reassessing your own personal goals and revisiting your plans for the future. If you are new to taking financial advice on wealth management wewould be happy to take you through the three initial stages of financial planning:

Stage One: Setting your goals

Working out your life goals, and talking them through with a qualified adviser, is the backbone of all financial advice. You can’t plan the best route to your future if you’re not sure where you’re going – or where you want to get to.

Stage Two: Making a detailed financial plan

Working together, we create a detailed financial plan that puts you on the path to achieving those personal goals. We like to meet on a regular basis to review your plans, especially if your personal or professional circumstances change, so we can react and adapt, to keep your finances on track.

Stage Three: Taking regular financial advice

With your goals set and a personal plan in place, wewill help you choose the products and investment strategies that will help you achieve your ambitions. We will continue to meet up with you face-to-face and one-to-one, as often as you like. We are always happy to answer questions at any time.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.

Getting close to retirement can feel a little like standing in the wings, waiting for your cue. Deciding what age you want to retire at, and how you want to spend your later life, is both exciting – and daunting. Have you been saving enough? How much retirement income will you actually need – and the million dollar question – how long might you need that income to last?

While we can’t answer that last question, we can certainly help with the others. And we do understand the mixed emotions that you may be feeling at this point in your life.

By the time we reach our fifties, many of us have a ‘mixed economy’ of savings and pensions; including Defined Benefit (DB) or final salary pensions, ISAs, cash holdings and Defined Contribution pensions (DC) which you can now access from age 55 (raising to 57 in 2028). And of course, many of us choose to continue to work flexibly or part-time, or even start brand new business ventures, well into our so-called retirements. So you may still have earned income to consider, too.

How you choose to fund your retirement is now much more flexible. But with flexibility comes complexity. You may want to move some of your Direct Contribution pension fund into lower risk investments to protect them against market volatility. You may also be thinking about whether you’d like to take a tax-free cash lump sum and, if so, how best to use it. Or perhaps an annuity would suit you and your attitude to risk better.

But before you make any decisions, the most important first step is to create a personal retirement plan; a road map as you start this exciting journey. Don’t be over-anxious if you’re not sure exactly what you do want from your retirement, or what happens if you change your mind. Many of us don’t have clear objectives at this point. We have guided many clients through this stage of their lives, and are here to provide reassurance as well as expert advice

We want to help you feel well-informed, and confident in all the financial decisions you make as you approach retirement.

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select, and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.

Whether you’re fully or partially retired, it’s important to review your investments regularly and make sure they’re still doing what you want them to do.

Retirement and income choices in later life are a large part of our business. We will work tirelessly to make sure we have your retirement covered, working closely with you, meeting regularly, to identify what’s important to you and help you make the right decisions.

Using a carefully selected panel of providers we will make sure everything is moving smoothly in the right direction.

We offer access to the following products:

• Self-Invested Pension Plans (SIPPs)
• Trustee schemes
• Retirement plans
• Drawdown plans
• Annuities

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.