Liverpool Independent Financial Adviser
Working with you to achieve financial freedom.
- Liverpool Services
- Liverpool Pensions and Retirement
- Fee Free mortgage advice in Liverpool
- Savings and Investments
How we can help
Are you planning for retirement and worried about if you have enough? Perhaps you have a lump sum to invest or you are buying your first home.
If this is you and you need Independent Financial Advice in Liverpool, get in touch with Alex for a free, no obligation meeting.
Our services at a glance
Pensions
Investing
Fee free mortgage advice
About Heritage
Heritage is a combination of two businesses. We are proud that many of our clients have been with us for generations.
Our independence is crucial to us – this means we are free to work in your best interests without any conflicts of interest. We also have no sales targets or quotas to hit, which means your interests are always at the heart of what we do.
About Alex
Originally from Ormskirk, Alex now lives on the Wirral and predominantly works out of Liverpool.
Alex is passionate about providing trusted advice, without the high fees that can be so prevalent amongst other advice firms. This is underpinned by an Evidence Based Investing approach, which is based on data and evidence.
Alex is one of the highest qualified Independent Financial Advisers in Liverpool. He is a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute for the Securities and Investments Institute (CISI).
He also has a degree in Law and Business from the University of Liverpool and has worked in financial services since graduating in 2014.
Our Process
Your current circumstances
We will have an initial meeting to understand your situation.
Your goals and objectives
We will then agree what it is you are looking to achieve.
Work to make yours goals a reality
We will then formulate a plan and only then will we invest your money and work towards achieving your objective.
Liverpool Fee Free Independent Mortgage Advice
Trusted Independent Mortgage Advisers
Fee free Independent Mortgage Broker in Liverpool
What we do
Our Process
1 ) First meeting
We will carry out a ‘Fact Find’, building up a picture of your personal and financial circumstances. We will also ask you about the type of property and value you have in mind.
This can be over the phone, on Zoom, at our offices or at your home.
Once we have all the information we need, one of our independent mortgage brokers in Liverpool will research all of the mortgage products available to you.
We will then check that you meet the eligibility criteria of the potential lender.
2) Agreement in Principle
Once we have identified a lender and if you wish to proceed, we will complete an Agreement in Principle.
It will give us a good idea of the amount you can borrow. The estate agent may ask to see this as and when you view or make an offer on a property.
3) Mortgage Offer
Once the vendor has accepted your offer, we will then make a formal offer on your behalf.
If your mortgage application is successful, the time will vary from lender to lender. Typically, this will take 3-6 weeks.
Remortgaging
People will typically remortgage when they come to the end of the mortgage term.
This is because you will move to the lenders Standard Variable Rate (SVR), which can be very high and expensive.
If you are 3-6 months in advance of the end of the your current mortgage, get in touch.
We can put in place your remortgage to commence immediately after your existing mortgage.
Other reasons to remortgage in Liverpool include:
- Raising Capital. With the equity in your home, particularly after the dramatic rise in house prices, this could be for reasons such as home improvements.
- Debt Consolidations. This is the process of releasing the equity in your home to repay your other debts. This is often done by those with high interest debt, such as credit cards.
Buy to Let Mortgages
Liverpool is one of the most popular regions for investors because of it’s relatively low house prices and high yields.
https://www.buyassociation.co.uk/2022/04/26/strong-rental-yields-liverpool-manchester/
If you need a mortgage for your first Buy to Let property, or you have a portfolio which you are looking to increase, then the help of one of our brokers can help you with your purchase.
Buy to Let can be a complicated area however, one of our brokers can walk you through the things you need to be aware of such as the anticipated rental cover and the deposit you need.
How do you get paid if you do not charge a fee?
Lenders will pay your broker commission for placing the mortgage with them. This is known as a ‘procuration fee’.
We feel we are able to waive a mortgage fee and rely on the procuration fee as we do not have the fixed costs that many other firms do.
In some instances, we may have to charge you a fee for arranging a mortgage. This will only be if it is a complex case which requires more work. We will always agree this with you before either commencing the work or charging you a fee.
Pensions and Retirement Advice in Liverpool
Working with you to achieve financial freedom
How we can help
Understanding the options available with different pensions and how the income will be paid to you is important.
If you have worked for several companies during your lifetime, you may have accumulated several pension pots during this time.
Some of these pensions may have different retirement options which can be confusing, before even mentioning the state pension!
Using cashflow modelling software, one of our advisers in Liverpool can help you answer the following questions:
- Have you saved enough?
- Do you need to save more?
- Are you on track for the retirement of your dreams?
- Will you run out of money?
What we can do?
We will collate all the information on your pensions and request a projection of your state pension.
We will discuss your goals and objectives and understand what you want to do with your money.
Once we have the information on your pensions, using cashflow modelling we will help you answer the questions about your retirement.
We will formulate a plan on how you can achieve your goals and if you are happy to proceed, we will invest your money to work towards your goals.
Reviewing your plan at least annually, we will ensure your plan remains on track and make any changes if they are needed.
About Alex
Originally from Ormskirk, Alex now lives on the Wirral and predominantly works out of Liverpool.
Alex is passionate about providing trusted advice, without the high fees that can be so prevalent amongst other advice firms. This is underpinned by an Evidence Based Investing approach, which is based on data and evidence.
Alex is one of the highest qualified Independent Financial Advisers in Liverpool. He is a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute for the Securities and Investments Institute (CISI).
He also has a degree in Law and Business from the University of Liverpool and has worked in financial services since graduating in 2014.
What is an annuity?
An annuity is where you use all or some of your pension pot to purchase an income that is typically for life but can be for a set number of years. This is usually purchased from an insurance company.
The annuity that you can buy with your pension fund depends on various factors such as your health, age, previous occupation and
Although the level income may increase with inflation, the amount is rigid in that you cannot increase or decrease it in future years.
Once you purchase an annuity, the decision is irreversible and should you die prematurely, you may get back less than you bought it for.
Annuities can be suitable for those who are risk averse and do not like to see their investments/pensions fluctuate in value.
What is drawdown?
Unlike an annuity where the whole fund value is used to purchase an annuity, Flexi Access Drawdown allows you to leave the funds invested whilst you only take a certain amount as income.
With this option you can take as much or as little income as you like from your pension.
Although this gives savers much more flexibility in how you can take your pension benefits, the risk is that you take too much income which can reduce your pension fund. If the investment performance is poor, this can also affect the sustainability of the withdrawals from the pension fund.
In most cases, 25% of your pension fund is tax free, with the remaining 75% classed as taxable income which is taxed at your marginal rate of income tax. The 25% tax free cash does not have to be taken in one lump sum, it can be taken in several lump sums or even as an income.
Which is better, drawdown or an annuity?
There is no right answer. This depends on how comfortable you are taking investment risk, do you value flexibility or certainty, your other income streams and your health.
Annuity sales plummeted after the introduction of Flexi Access Drawdown and ultra low interest rates. However, annuity rates have increased since 2022 which is making them more attractive.
If you are wondering about your retirement options, please get in touch with one of our pension advisers in Liverpool.
How much can I put into my pension
Although there is technically no limit on the amount you can put into your pension, there is a limit on how much of the contribution will receive tax relief.
This is the lower of £40,000 or your salary. If you earnt £30,000 per year, then the maximum gross amount to benefit from the tax relief would be £30,000.
If you have the funds to make a large one off contribution, you may be able use your unused allowance from the three previous tax years to contribute more than the £40,000.
If you have no ‘relevant earnings’, then the most you can put into your pension to attract tax relief is £3,600 per year.
How much is the state pension and when can I get it
Those qualifying for the full state pension will receive £185.15 per week. This amount increases each year by what is known as the triple lock. This is the higher of:
- 5%
- Average earnings growth
- Inflation
To qualify for the state pension, this is dependent on your National Insurance contributions. You will usually need 10 years to get some form of a state pension.
For a full state pension, you will need 35 qualifying years.
Liverpool Savings and Investments Advice
Working towards your financial freedom
Who we help
At Heritage, we help individuals at all stages of life. We have clients who have built up a substantial portfolio over many years and either can’t or don’t have the inclination to do so anymore and wish to hire a professional.
We have clients who have come into significant wealth suddenly, to clients who wish to make their first investment with one eye on the future.
How we will invest your money
We will firstly get to know you and understand what you are looking to achieve with your money.
Before even investing your money, one of our investment advisers will take the time to understand how much risk you are prepared to take with your investments.
From there we will agree a financial plan and subsequently invest your money in a portfolio that is aligned to your objectives and risk tolerance.
About Alex
Alex is one of the highest qualified investment advisers in Liverpool. He is a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute for the Securities and Investments Institute (CISI) and holds the CFA’s Investment Management Certificate.
He also has a degree in Law and Business from the University of Liverpool and has worked in financial services since graduating in 2014.
Our investment philosophy
Evidence Based
Our investment philosophy is backed up by rigorous, academic research.
We believe financial markets are largely efficient. The evidence shows that trying to pick the next winning stock or fund manager is incredibly difficult over the medium to longer term.
Keep costs low
Because we do not believe active management works over the longer term, we invest predominantly in index funds which means the investment charges for our clients are lower than active funds.
This means our clients save money over time and ultimately increases their portfolios.
Diversification
The idea of diversification is to spread your investments into various investments and asset classes to reduce your exposure or risk to one type of asset.
This avoids investing all your ‘eggs in one basket’ and helps to reduce the volatility of your portfolio.
What do you invest in
We invest asset classes such as cash, fixed income (government and corporate bonds) property and equities.
Rather than invest in individual companies which can be incredibly risky, we invest in funds as you will often be invested in many companies which can add diversification benefits to your portfolio.
Depending on your attitude to risk, one of our investment advisers will then invest your money into a portfolio that is split between these various asset classes. This is known as ‘asset allocation’.
Isn’t investing gambling?
If you just invest your money in a handful of individual companies without doing any due diligence, then this would be incredible risky and we foolish.
As Warren Buffet says, owning equities is like owning stakes in businesses.
We will invest you in a portfolio that is invested in thousands of companies and we would never recommend investing if your time horizon is less than 5 years.
This is because the longer your time horizon and your money is invested, the greater the chance your funds have to achieve a positive return and recover after periods of market stress such as the banking crisis in 2008 and the onset of COVID in early 2020.
Since 1972, the S&P 500 stock market index (and its earlier format) has grown by 10.38% each year despite so many recessions and uncertainty such as the banking crisis in 2008.
An investment of £10,000 in 1972 would have grown to over £1.5million today!
