For many things in life, you have a choice – do it yourself or getting someone else to do it. From cleaning your car, to investing your money, decorating your house and marketing your business. The choice is yours – but there are a multitude of reasons influencing your decision, including:

• Cost – getting someone else to help, invariably means spending some cash
• Time – have you got the time to do these tasks?
• Expertise – do you know how to do it?
• Inclination – you may have the time, you may have the ability, but do you really want to do it?

We’re in the business of managing people’s money. Yes, you can open an ISA with Barclays or a SIPP with Hargreaves Lansdown and crack on. But where are you going to invest? If at all? Are you ok with earning 0.01% on your hard-earned savings? Are you just reading the Money section from the Sunday papers?

Using a professional will often deliver better benefits vs the DIY approach, but you need to mentally decide that’s where your going. Using a third party to look after your life savings and financial future for example, is no trivial matter and in the world of managing money, there are numerous complexities to deal with……

• Jargon – do you know your lifetime allowances from your gilts from your S&P 500?
• Time – do you have the time to keep on top of what your money is doing?
• Research – are you talking to investment houses and fund managers?
• Rational thinking – we are emotional beings and make most decisions based on our emotional reaction. What would you do if you saw your investments drop by 10%? Or indeed, rise by 10%? Would you stay invested?
• Desire – do you have the inclination to continue to monitor, research and trade your investments?
• Risk – what risks are you monitoring? Are you thinking about markets, capital risk, income, inflation and others? Or are you just thinking whether the FTSE100 goes up or down?
• Plan – do you have a plan? What are you trying to achieve? What are your timescales?
• Cost – what are you actually paying? Transaction fees, stamp duty, fund management fees – you’re already paying someone!
• Tax – we all want to minimise the tax we pay, yet are you taking advantage of your allowances?
• Who? – Are you looking after just your finances? Or for your whole family? What happens if you’re unable to? Does you partner know what you’re invested in & why?

Here at Wattam Kirby Mee, we have the experience, knowledge, relationships and professionalism to help you and your family in the years to come. What do you want to spend your time doing? Do you want to sleep easier knowing that someone is looking after your best interests and help you make those difficult financial decisions?

We work alongside your other trusted professional advisors, such as accountants and solicitors, to ensure that your plan and transactions work in your favour.

If that sounds like something you want to find out more about, get in touch today.

Thanks for reading.