GETTING STARTED
What is an Independent Financial Adviser?
An Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) provides impartial financial advice to their clients, covering a wide range of areas such as investments, retirement planning, insurance, and tax planning.
Unlike advisers who work for a specific bank or insurance company, IFAs are not tied to any particular financial products or providers. This allows them to offer unbiased recommendations that are tailored to the individual needs and circumstances of their clients.
What is financial planning, and why do I need it?
Financial planning is the process of creating a structured strategy to manage your finances effectively and achieve your life goals. It involves assessing your current financial situation, setting short- and long-term objectives, and designing a plan to meet those goals. This can include budgeting, saving, investing, retirement planning, tax strategies, estate planning, and more.
What can I expect during my first consultation and is there a fee for this?
Your initial meeting with Henson Crisp is designed to see if we are the right fit for you, but also if we can help you reach your financial goals. As such, the initial meeting is at our expense.
In the meeting we will ask what your short-term and long-term financial goals are, this could include plans for retirement, purchasing a home, passing your legacy on or other personal aspirations. From here, we will gather information about your current financial situation - your income, expenses, savings, debts etc. Understanding your risk tolerance and investment preferences is important, this will help us tailor our recommendations to your comfort level with risk.
We will explain the services we offer, and the costs associated for financial planning and investment management. We encourage you to ask questions throughout this meeting to give you all the information you need to make a decision on whether Henson Crisp is right for you.
How often should I review my financial plan?
You should review your financial plan at least once a year to ensure it remains aligned with your goals and life circumstances. However, depending on life events, approaching milestones, changes to your goals and market and legislation changes you may want to review your financial plan more frequently.
OUR PROCESS
When should I start planning for retirement?
Yes. Pension statements, investment summaries, details of income and expenditure, and Identification will help your adviser understand your financial position.
The initial meeting is usually about understanding your goals and helping us work out if, and how we can help you. The advice stage will come later, once we have assessed your situation and completed our research.
Absolutely. Independent financial advisers provide impartial recommendations based on your unique circumstances.
Your adviser will review and adapt your plan as life changes, ensuring you stay on track toward your objectives. We will discuss your circumstances at your review meetings – these could be every 6 months or once per year, depending on the level of service you require. It is important you make us aware of any changes that could affect your financial situation or future goals so that we can make any necessary changes to your plan and keep you on track.
Costs vary depending on the complexity of your needs so it’s difficult to provide an idea on cost.
RETIREMENT PLANNING
When should I start planning for retirement?
Ideally, you should start planning for retirement as early as possible—the sooner you begin, the more time you have to grow your savings and investments.
Starting early allows you to save more comfortably over time and gives your money more time to grow. However, if you start later you may need to save more or adjust your retirement expectations, both financially and your retirement age, but careful planning can still help you achieve your retirement goals.
In summary, the best time to start planning for retirement is now, regardless of your age. The earlier you start, the better positioned you'll be to enjoy a comfortable and secure retirement.
Retiring early can be a rewarding decision, but it requires careful financial planning to ensure you have enough resources to support yourself throughout retirement.
You can typically access your pension starting from age 55 (rising to 57 in 2028). However, there are several important factors to consider when accessing your pension early, including the type of pension you have, the tax implications, and any potential penalties or restrictions.
BUSINESS EXIT & SALE PLANNING
The earlier the better. Planning ahead - ideally a few years before you intend to exit - allows time to strengthen your business, maximise value, and prepare for a smoother sale. But even if you’re thinking about selling soon, it’s never too late to get advice.
Your business’s value depends on profitability, future growth potential, and market conditions. Buyers will also look at how reliant the business is on you personally. We’ll help position your business so that it’s attractive to the right buyers.
Yes. Selling a business usually involves a team — including solicitors for contracts and accountants for detailed financials. We work alongside them to ensure your financial goals are protected throughout the process. If you do not have either of these, we work with a number of specialist accountants and solicitors.
This is common. We’ll help you evaluate each offer and make sure you’re comfortable with the outcome. Our goal is to help you achieve the best possible result for your hard work.
That’s completely normal. Many owners focus so much on building their business that they haven’t thought about life after it. We’ll work with you to plan for your next chapter - whether that’s retirement, investing, or exploring new ventures.
PENSIONS ON DIVORCE
During a divorce, pensions are considered part of the financial assets and are often taken into consideration during divorce negotiations. Since pensions can be one of the largest assets in a marriage, understanding how they are divided is important.
When going through a divorce, your pension is often one of the most valuable assets to be considered. There are several ways pensions can be divided between you and your spouse to ensure both parties have sufficient retirement provisions. Get in touch with our Pensions on Divorce experts to discuss the options available to you.
Yes, in the UK, you can claim part of your spouse’s pension as part of the financial settlement during a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership. Pensions are considered part of the marital assets, and there are several ways they can be divided to ensure a fair outcome for both parties.
INVESTMENTS
The range of investment solutions we provide are tailored to suit your individual financial goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon. Our approach is client-focused, ensuring that each investment strategy is aligned with your personal circumstances and future plans.
These investment solutions can include, but are not limited to, Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), Pensions, General Investment Accounts (GIAs) with sustainable investment options. We'd recommend contacting our team before making any investment decisions.
Using a comprehensive approach we will assess your risk profile. From your initial consultation with us, we will begin to understand your financial goals, investment experience and overall financial situation. We will ask you to fill out a questionnaire to help us assess your attitude to risk, this will give us insight into your investment objectives, evaluating your time horizon, e.g. short-term vs long-term.
We understand that your attitude to risk may change over time for varying reasons such as changes to your financial circumstances or market volatility, therefore we will regularly review your attitude to risk and make changes to your portfolio accordingly.
CHARITY, COMMUNITY & ENVIRONMENT
Corporate social responsibility is a core value, reflected in meaningful contributions to the community. Over £72,000 has been donated to various charitable causes, largely supported by our referral pledge.
READ ABOUT OUR WORK IN THE COMMUNITY AND DONATIONS TO CHARITYOur dedication to environmental sustainability has been proven by our partnership with Carma to counter our carbon footprint and support veterans in the community.
READ ABOUT OUR WORK WITH CARMAVISIT THE CARMA WEBSITE
