{"id":1418,"date":"2021-09-30T08:36:46","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T07:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arkenstonewealth.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1418"},"modified":"2023-06-19T15:11:39","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T14:11:39","slug":"the-best-way-to-enhance-your-financial-strategy-focus-on-the-tactics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arkenstonewealth.co.uk\/blog\/the-best-way-to-enhance-your-financial-strategy-focus-on-the-tactics\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Way to Enhance Your Financial Strategy? Focus on the Tactics"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Best Way to Enhance Your Financial Strategy? Focus on the Tactics.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As professional advisers, we might live and breathe all things finance but none of us are born financial experts.<\/p>\n

Take our mortgage adviser and aspiring financial planner, Rowan Howse. Today, he\u2019s an expert in all things mortgage. But in a previous life, he was a professional rugby player.<\/p>\n

And rugby, like finance, is a game of strategy. You need to have your eyes on your long term goal. The broad brushstrokes to take you there.<\/p>\n

But as Rowan\u2019s coaches used to preach to him – strategy might win you a trophy, but it\u2019s tactics that\u2019ll win you the games along the way.<\/p>\n

If you want to enhance your strategy – whether it\u2019s a title race or pursuing financial freedom – there\u2019s an easy way to do it. Pay attention to your tactics.<\/p>\n

Because it\u2019s these tactics that keep your overarching strategy on track. That help you adapt to what\u2019s in front of you – however unpredictable.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve read our blog before, you\u2019ll know we\u2019re big on strategy and long-term planning. But we\u2019re also keen on tactics – and there are a couple of short-term financial adjustments that we\u2019re focusing on right now.<\/p>\n

Social Care Tax<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been warning that the post-Covid tax environment could become more punitive for the past year. So the recent announcement about social care tax and the impact on National Insurance and income tax comes as no surprise.<\/p>\n

There\u2019ll be a lot to say about social care in future blogs, but for today what\u2019s important is making those tactical adjustments to protect your overall tax strategy.<\/p>\n

The 1.25% increase in National Insurance will affect all employers and working adults (even older workers) from April 2022. It will then convert to a separate line of income tax on earned income from 2023.<\/p>\n

And it won\u2019t just apply to earned income. The concurrent 1.25% increase in dividend taxation will affect anyone with money invested in shares or investment funds that produce dividends. It will also impact business owners who take their earnings in the form of dividends.<\/p>\n

That means that from April 2022, the basic rate of tax you\u2019ll pay on any dividends will increase by 16% (from 7.50% to 8.75%).<\/p>\n

And do you know what else? We\u2019re certain this is only the beginning. Capital gains tax and pension tax reliefs are also at risk, so it\u2019s time to deploy a few new tactics.<\/p>\n

The most obvious and effective tactic available is to maximise your pension and ISA allowances, shielding you from the proposed and any future income tax rises.<\/p>\n

Where it gets complicated is protecting shares and funds held in \u201cunwrapped\u201d investments – such as General Investment Accounts – which will attract the higher rates of dividend tax and put an even bigger dent in your returns.<\/p>\n

Luckily, there are a range of tactics we can employ to help you here (as you\u2019ll see in our previous tax blog<\/a>) – but it\u2019s important to speak to a financial adviser to help work out the best options for you.<\/p>\n

Interest Rates<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taxes are going up, but mortgage rates are going down. They\u2019re currently at their lowest ever point, with many lenders offering rates below 1%. Which gives us an absolute no-brainer of a tactic (but one that many surprisingly overlook).<\/p>\n

It might be time to review your mortgage options particularly if:<\/p>\n

-Your previous mortgage rate has expired<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Your current fixed\/tracker rate is due to expire in the next 12 months<\/strong><\/p>\n

-You\u2019re curious whether your current rate remains competitive<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finding a better mortgage rate is a simple tactical adjustment and helps make savings that could be invested in other parts of your financial plan.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s important to remember that your strategy won\u2019t change. Your strategy is what\u2019s going to carry you to that trophy – financial security, freedom and options.<\/p>\n

But day by day, you should always be on the lookout for those tactical refinements that\u2019ll help you avoid that unexpected tackle and set you flying down the wing towards the try line.<\/p>\n

Because as Rowan\u2019s coaches told him. Strategy wins you titles, but it\u2019s the tactics that help you win the games along the way.<\/p>\n

Might now be the time to revisit your financial strategy and tactics? If so, get in touch and we’ll see how we can help you on your way.<\/p>\n

Simon Ben-Nathan<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Best Way to Enhance Your Financial Strategy? Focus on the Tactics. As professional advisers, we might live and breathe all things finance but none of us are born financial experts. Take our mortgage adviser and aspiring financial planner, Rowan Howse. Today, he\u2019s an expert in all things mortgage. But in a previous life, he … Continue reading “The Best Way to Enhance Your Financial Strategy? Focus on the Tactics”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arkenstonewealth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arkenstonewealth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arkenstonewealth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arkenstonewealth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arkenstonewealth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1418"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.arkenstonewealth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1586,"href":"https:\/\/www.arkenstonewealth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418\/revisions\/1586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arkenstonewealth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arkenstonewealth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arkenstonewealth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}