Town & Country Financial Planning Ltd, 3 New Street, Painswick (2026)

31/01/2025

Town & Country Financial Planning has again received an ‘Achievement of Excellence’ award for providing effective estate planning to its clients.

Martin Falshaw, co-founder of T&CFP says “The award demonstrates our continued commitment to providing effective inheritance tax and estate planning for our clients. We are rightly proud of the recognition as the award was made by industry experts who are well placed to understand the quality and value of our work”.

Martin goes on to say “We saw a definite up-tick in inheritance tax planning enquiries prior to last year's General Election as people became increasingly concerned about how much of their family’s wealth the state was going to pocket. The Autumn Budget has only fuelled these fears”.

“Although it’s been the farmers who have been attracting all the headlines, proposed changes to how pensions, AIM shares and Business Property Relief are treated for inheritance tax purposes is compelling families to revisit their planning”.

“With the basic ‘Nil Rate Band’ allowance not having increased since 2009, and the Chancellor’s announcement that it will remain frozen until 2030, families who do not consider themselves wealthy can be caught out by this wealth tax. And we’re not talking ‘small beer’ here. Even though most of our clients would describe themselves as having ‘modest means’, projected six figure Inheritance Tax bills are not uncommon if no action is taken”.

24/01/2023

The CGT race is on
The Capital Gains Tax (CGT) allowance is due to reduce from the current level of £12,300 to £6,000 from April 2023. So, if you want to make use of the higher existing CGT allowance you will need to take action pretty soon!

If you have a General Investment Account (typically held on a platform), directly held shares or other holdings that would be subject to CGT when sold, it may be beneficial to sell these assets and place them in more tax efficient investments such as ISAs or pensions.

Being able to do this will be subject to whether you have any ISA or pension allowances available so you would need to get in touch with us or your existing accountant to discuss your individual circumstances. You can then get personal advice and a recommendation on what is the best action for you.

If you are a client this may have already been discussed with you by one of our advisers but if you think you could benefit from this allowance before the April reduction then check with us to make sure you don’t miss out.

15/10/2022

T&CFP are proud to support the Birdlip Primary School PTA Pumpkin Trail this weekend (15th & 16th October 2022). Here is our pumpkin with its creator. 🎃 🎃 🎃

29/07/2022

HMRC IHT Haul
Whilst only a proportion of people in the UK pay Inheritance Tax (IHT) when they die, HMRC continue to see year-on-year rises in IHT receipts, the latest being a rise of £0.1 billion from April to May 2022, when compared to this time last year. Over the course of the last decade, IHT income has doubled from around £3 billion per year to approximately £6 billion per year.

The increases in IHT are likely to do with the continuous rise in property prices over the years, as people’s homes usually make up the largest portion of their estate. However, it can also be attributed to the fact that the Nil Rate Band (NRB) has not been increased from £325,000 per person since 2009! If it had risen generally in line with property prices, then it would be at least £100,000 higher.

IHT bills will likely continue to rise, even with the introduction of the Residence Nil Rate Band (RNRB) as both allowances have now been frozen until 2026.

There are a lot of legitimate ways that you can reduce or eliminate your IHT bill, and this is something we help our clients with every day.

29/06/2022

TRUST REGISTRATION DEADLINE APPROACHES
New rules on trusts are due to come in force from September this year. They centre around trust registration and could risk putting amateur, unadvised trustees, at risk should they not act.

HMRC’s online Trust Registration Service has been active since 2017 but has now had its remit extended to require even those without a tax liability to also register unless explicitly exempt. Affected trustees will need to register by September, or within 90 days of the trust’s formation.

The obligation, created as an attempt to tackle money laundering, creates a liability for all trustees to ensure their trust remains up to date. The change will impact hundreds of thousands of trusts and yet HMRC have received criticism for failure to clearly communicate the change and its impact. Stacey Love, a tax expert at Canada Life commented:

“The Revenue is not great at communication … A lot of these trusts are not going to be run by professional trustees. It’s mums and dads and grandparents. They are often just Mr and Mrs Normal, they’re not expecting to be aware of what are quite technical changes.”

The wide use of trusts and the complex exclusion rules on registration make the changes particularly of risk to amateur, unadvised trustees. Although HMRC have said they will not punish those who do not register in time, they will penalise deliberate or ongoing failure to do so. As yet, HMRC have not provided specific details on potential penalties.

17/02/2021

The role will suit an ambitious individual who is looking to progress their career in financial services.

The successful applicant will join a small, but expanding, IFA firm located in Painswick. Encouraged to use their initiative, whilst at the same time able to follow procedure, the jobholder will carry out a broad range of tasks across regulated financial products as well as non-regulated activities.

As the firm expands, it is reasonable to assume there will be the opportunity to take on an increasing amount of responsibility.

Attributes

Experience in financial services is essential, particularly life, pensions and investments.
Progress towards CII qualifications.
Strong numeracy skills
Strong communication skills
Strong interpersonal skills
Keen eye for detail
Logical train of thought
Problem solving skills
Professional in appearance and manner
Driving licence and use of a vehicle
Duties

Dealing with client enquiries
Maintaining client database
Data reconciliation
Producing biannual valuations
Designing and posting electronic client Newsletters
Dealing with various third parties including insurance companies and fund managers
Maintaining work schedule, new business register etc.
Other administrative and marketing tasks

Once satisfactory competence has been demonstrated the jobholder will be expected to conduct unaccompanied face to face client meetings taking instruction in respect of Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Funeral Pre payment Plans.

Please message requesting an application form.

29/01/2021

THE ‘7 GOLDEN QUESTIONS’ - QUESTION 7

We have put together the ‘7 GOLDEN QUESTIONS’ any investor needs to ask their adviser before going ahead with any recommendation.

QUESTION 7 - How much are you getting paid (and what for)?

When you are dealing with any service provider, whether its financial services or getting your car repaired, transparency in what you are paying for is paramount. Only once you know how much you are being charged, and what you are receiving in return, can you assess if the benefits outweigh the cost. Always confirm how much your financial adviser is charging in writing. (This applies to the original set-up of the investment and ongoing servicing of the investment). If your adviser can’t tell you (or won’t tell you) how much they are getting paid, or cannot provide a description of the services provided, be on your guard.

The KEY QUESTION here is “Am I receiving ‘Ongoing Advice’ or just an ‘Ongoing Service’? If you are receiving ongoing advice from a firm that does not hold discretionary investment permissions, you will be regularly contacted by your Financial Adviser to implement changes to your asset allocation and/or fund choice together with the regular rebalancing of your portfolio. If you are not, why not? Can it be that the best funds available when you made your investment 10 years ago remain the best funds? Can it be that the asset allocation of the portfolio has not wavered in those 10 years despite all the market volatility we have seen? Probably not.

Should it be the case that if you have been a loyal investor for 10 years that you should have at least the same portfolio your Financial Adviser would recommend to a new client who is in your position? Of course it should.

Here at T&CFP all our Ongoing Advice clients have the peace of mind their portfolios reflect our current understanding of the global economic climate and market conditions, not those of 10 years ago.

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03/12/2020

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Office is decorated and the days are definitely getting colder. We will be in the office until 18 December and then off until the 4 January. Advisors will still be contactable by their mobile's if you need urgent advice or help.

06/11/2020

THE ‘7 GOLDEN QUESTIONS’ - QUESTION 6

We have put together the ‘7 GOLDEN QUESTIONS’ any investor needs to ask their adviser before going ahead with any recommendation.

QUESTION 6 - Performance?

The purpose of investing is not to turn £100 into £1,000,000, but to ensure the ‘value’ of your investments is preserved and not chewed-up by inflation.

Over the last 5 years our clients who have a Cautiously Balanced attitude to investment risk (the most common within T&CFP) have enjoyed investment returns of 28%. With inflation (as measured by RPI) at 13% over the same period, this equates to a ‘real return’ of 15%.

WHAT ABOUT THIS YEAR WITH CORONAVIRUS?

You should not measure the success of a long term investment over the short term. Here at T&CFP we are ‘Investors’ not ‘Traders’.

In saying that, our clients who have a Cautiously Balanced attitude to risk have achieved an investment return of +1% year to date. In comparison the FTSE100 has lost nearly 20% over the same time period.

We are understandably very proud of our investment performance record. This is a direct result of our unique approach to investment using the Wealth Intelligence Investment Strategy (WIIS).

As with any asset backed investment, the usual risk warnings apply. i.e. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. The value of investments and any income from them can fall as well as rise. Your capital is at risk and you may not get back the full amount invested.

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(Source: Financial Express 6 November 2020)

23/10/2020

THE ‘7 GOLDEN QUESTIONS’ - QUESTION 5

We have put together the ‘7 GOLDEN QUESTIONS’ any investor needs to ask their adviser before going ahead with any recommendation.

QUESTION 5 - What are the on-going policy charges?

Ongoing policy charges are levied by the product provider and the fund managers. These charges need to be fully understood because, by their nature, they are ‘hidden’ within the policy. Keeping these charges low means investors keep more of what they make as ongoing charges are a ‘drag’ on investment performance.

As a guide an actively managed fund of equities that you may hold in your ISA would typically charge an Annual Management Charge of 0.80% to 1.00%.

A competitive Platform provider would typically charge between 0.25% pa and 0.35% pa.

This gives a total cost of holding the investment between 1.05% and 1.35%. Remember, if you are invested in ‘passives’ (Question 3) the total cost of holding your investment should be significantly less.

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16/10/2020

THE ‘7 GOLDEN QUESTIONS’ - QUESTION 4

We have put together the ‘7 GOLDEN QUESTIONS’ any investor needs to ask their adviser before going ahead with any recommendation.

QUESTION 4 - Exit penalties and lock-in periods?

Am I able to cash-in this investment immediately without any exit penalties?

We wholeheartedly do not believe in exit penalties or lock-in periods. If an investment product is so good why would you want to leave it?

Exit penalties put a barrier between you and ditching a poorly performing investment, effectively locking you into an unwanted product.

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Town & Country Financial Planning Ltd

31/01/2025

24/01/2023

15/10/2022

29/07/2022

29/06/2022

17/02/2021

29/01/2021

03/12/2020

06/11/2020

23/10/2020

16/10/2020

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