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10 great financial advice tips for efficient money management

Posted on 12 December 202428 March 2025 by Sophie Soraf

As wealth management specialists, we are often asked, ‘Where and how do I start with my money?’ or told, ‘I never seem to have money when I need it’. Understanding how to hold and manage our hard-earned wealth is key to ensuring that we always have funds when needed.

Understanding the basics of money management is the key to finding financial freedom. Our funds fall into three main categories:

Short-term, hands-on money required for day-to-day expenses
An easily accessible ‘rainy day’ fund to cover unforeseen costs, or nice-to-have things like holidays
Long-term investments for life events, for example, saving for retirement, buying a house or paying for a child’s wedding

So, if you would like to manage your money better, read on to find out our 10 top tips for efficient money management.

1. Have a financial plan

Let’s consider the three categories of funds outlined above. Without a financial plan, how will you know how much you need in your current account to cover daily living expenses, how much you can afford to save or invest, or how much you can afford to pay towards your pension each month?

Common components of a financial plan will include:

Financial goals and objectives – where do you want to be in X years?
Income and outgoings – what are you bringing in and paying out? How much can you afford to spend without running out of money?
Protection needs – have you planned for life’s unexpected events, such as losing your job or being too ill to work for more than a few months?
Savings & investments – how much of your money do you have in savings accounts and investment portfolios? Are your savings and investments still offering strong returns? What changes might need to be made?
Retirement – are you currently saving enough for retirement?
Issues and problems – are there any weaknesses or problems that could affect your financial situation? How might these be rectified?

2. Draw up a budget

A budget is the answer if you’re continually running out of money before payday. Starting with your take-home income, first list the bare essentials – i.e., what must be paid out to keep your family sheltered, fed and warm – before moving on to those outgoings that are not so strictly necessary. In order of priority, these are the typical outgoings that feature on most budgets:

Housing costs – such as your rent or mortgage, bills and home insurance
Groceries – how much do you need to feed your family each month?
Other essential outgoings include shoes and clothing, school uniforms, car insurance and road tax, commuting costs, paying off debt, etc.
Savings – once you have prioritised your essential expenses, it is important to budget for savings, such as your emergency savings fund and pension contributions, before you budget for other daily expenses
‘Nice-to-haves’ – this category can include expenses such as eating out, leisure activities, hobbies or holidays

3. Focus on paying off debt

Nothing can derail your finances faster than accumulating high-interest debt, for example, on credit or store cards. If you use a credit card, it is essential to prioritise paying it off on time to avoid spiralling debt that can seriously harm your credit score.

To avoid debt, stick closely to your budget. If your budget says you don’t have the money to buy something this month, don’t use your credit card to do so. The repayments will eat into next month’s money and make it increasingly challenging to stay on track.

4. Save for the future

Setting aside any savings before moving on to non-essential expenses is important. To help you prioritise your savings, consider what would happen if you faced an unforeseen expense. Could you afford to pay out for a new boiler if yours broke down? Or a large veterinary bill? What if you lost your job? A general rule of thumb is to build up three months’ worth of essential outgoings in an instant access savings account for emergencies.

However, instant access accounts typically offer lower interest rates, meaning the return on your money will be minimal. If you already have sufficient emergency savings, it may be worth putting further savings away in a fixed-term savings account, which offers higher interest in exchange for locking your money away for a set period or looking into investment.

5. Invest for higher returns

With interest rates at rock bottom, savings accounts offer minimal interest on savers’ hard-earned cash. Investing is a way of getting higher returns in exchange for a certain level of risk. Stock markets can go up and down, so your investments can fall and rise; however, a financial adviser can assist you in building an investment portfolio that reflects your risk profile. This means you can choose the level of risk you want to accept (although lower risk often means lower returns).

6. Protect your loved ones

According to Royal London, just two in five people say they’d be able to cope for more than three months if they lost their income. If your situation is similar, then it’s important to put in place protection policies, such as life insurance (which pays out a lump sum to your family if you die), critical illness cover (which pays out if you develop a serious or terminal illness) or income protection insurance (which pays a percentage of your monthly income if you are too unwell to work), to safeguard your loved ones against unexpected financial blows.

7. Start contributing to your pension as soon as you start work

When you start work in your late teens or early 20s, retirement seems a lifetime away. But with living expenses rising and even the full State Pension inadequate to fund a comfortable retirement, the sooner you start saving, the more opportunity your investments will have to grow.

According to research, savers, on average earnings, will need to build a pension pot of at least £300,000 to retire well – which is likely to increase. With all employers now obliged to offer a workplace pension under the auto-enrolment scheme and to make contributions for all employees, it’s never been easier to start saving. Your contributions will be taken out of your salary along with tax and national insurance contributions, so you won’t have to worry about making space in your budget. If you are self-employed, you must contribute into a personal pension to avoid a compromised financial situation later in life.

8. Take full advantage of tax allowances

You can keep more of your hard-earned money by making the most of your yearly tax allowances. For example, you can save up to £20,000 annually into an Individual Savings Account (ISA) and pay no Income Tax on the interest or dividends received. You will not have to pay any capital gains tax on profits from investments in a stock and shares ISA. You can also pay up to £60,000 per year into your pension and benefit from pension tax relief.

Other useful tax allowances include:

Tax-free allowances on financial gifts
Capital Gains Tax annual allowance
Personal Savings Allowance

9. Make a Will

We work closely with our legal team to ensure all clients have a valid, up-to-date Will in place, recording how you would like your assets, such as property, savings and investments, to be distributed when you die. If you die intestate (i.e., without a Will), your assets will be distributed according to intestacy law, a set of rules that dictates how assets should be dealt with without a Will. If you are not married to your partner, for example, they may be unable to inherit. Having a Will also means you can plan to pass down your money in the most tax-efficient way possible.

10. Seek professional financial advice

There’s a great deal to consider when dealing effectively with your finances, so it’s no wonder many people feel overwhelmed. Seeking professional financial advice will help you manage your money better on a day-to-day basis and help you with life’s big financial decisions. Picking the best mortgage for your circumstances; putting in place adequate protection cover to keep your family safe; calculating the retirement income you’ll need and ensuring you have a solid plan in place to achieve it; helping you clear your debt and get your finances in better shape for the future… a financial adviser can help you achieve all of this and more.

To contact our financial specialists, please call 0808 231 1320, and we will be delighted to assist you.

This material is intended to be for information purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. It is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for accounting, legal or tax advice, or investment recommendations. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns and all investments involve risks including the risk of possible loss of capital. Some information quoted was obtained from external sources we consider to be reliable.

Tees is a trading name of Tees Financial Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered number 211314. Tees Financial Limited is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4342506.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first budget: New policies to boost UK economy

Posted on 31 October 202428 March 2025 by Sophie Soraf

“Our mission to grow the economy”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, delivered the Labour government’s first Budget on 30 October with a promise to “restore economic stability” and “invest, invest, invest” to promote growth. In her statement, she outlined a number of new tax and spending measures that she said would create “an economy that is growing, creating wealth and opportunity for all.” In total, the Budget will see taxes rise by £40bn.

Economic forecasts

The Chancellor stressed that every Budget she delivers “will be focused on our mission to grow the economy” and outlined seven pillars that will form the government’s growth policy priorities. Key among these is restoring economic stability and increasing investment, while other areas include boosting regional growth, improving skills across the workforce, creating an industrial strategy, driving innovation and transitioning to Net Zero.

Ms Reeves then unveiled the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR’s) latest economic projections, which suggest the economy will expand slightly faster than previously expected both this year and next, before easing off from 2026 onwards. The new forecast predicts the economy will grow by 1.1% in 2024 and 2.0% next year, before falling back to 1.6% by the end of this Parliament. Overall, the OBR noted that, although the policies in the Budget will ‘temporarily boost’ the economy, the overall level of output will be ‘broadly unchanged’ over the five-year forecast period. Inflation is predicted to average 2.5% this year and 2.6% in 2025.

Cost-of-living measures

The Chancellor acknowledged the burden that the cost-of-living crisis has placed on working people, and committed to:

Increasing the National Living Wage (NLW) from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour from April 2025 – a 6.7% increase
Increasing the minimum for 18 to 20-year-olds from £8.60 to £10 per hour (over time, the intention is to create a single adult NLW rate)
Freezing fuel duty for one year and extending the temporary 5p cut to 22 March 2026
Increasing the weekly earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance to equate to 16 hours at the NLW rate
Providing £1bn for local authorities to support those in immediate hardship and crisis.

Personal taxation, savings and pensions

As pledged in the Labour manifesto, there are to be no changes to the basic, higher or additional rates of Income Tax, employee National Insurance contributions (NICs) or VAT.

As previously announced, the government has committed to maintain the State Pension Triple Lock for the duration of this Parliament, meaning that the basic and new State Pensions will increase by 4.1% in 2025-26, in line with earnings growth. This means £230.30 a week for the full, new flat-rate State Pension (for those who reached State Pension age after April 2016) and £176.45 a week for the full, old basic State Pension (for those who reached State Pension age before April 2016).

The lower and higher main rates of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) will increase to 18% and 24% respectively for disposals made on or after 30 October 2024. The rate for Business Asset Disposal Relief and Investors’ Relief will increase to 14% from 6 April 2025 and then to 18% from 6 April 2026. The lifetime limit for Investors’ Relief will be reduced to £1m for all qualifying disposals made on or after 30 October 2024, matching the lifetime limit for Business Asset Disposal Relief.

Inheritance Tax (IHT) nil-rate bands will stay at current levels until 5 April 2030 (previously 2028). The nil-rate band remains at £325,000, residence nil-rate band at £175,000, and the residence nil-rate band taper starts at £2m. Unused pension funds and death benefits payable from a pension will be subject to IHT from 6 April 2027.

The government intends to reform Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief from 6 April 2026. In addition to existing nil-rate bands and exemptions, the current 100% rates of relief will continue for the first £1m of combined agricultural and business property. Thereafter, the rate of relief will be 50%, including for quoted shares which are ‘not listed’ on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, such as AIM. From 6 April 2025, Agricultural Property Relief will be extended to land managed under an environmental agreement with, or on behalf of, the UK government, devolved governments, public bodies, local authorities, or approved responsible bodies.

The concept of domicile status is to be removed from the tax system and replaced with a residence-based regime from 6 April 2025. This includes ending the use of offshore trusts to shelter assets from IHT and scrapping the planned 50% tax reduction for foreign income in the first year of the new regime. Individuals who opt in to the regime will not pay UK tax on foreign income and gains (FIG) for the first four years of tax residence.

In England, higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) which apply to purchases of second homes, buy-to-let residential properties and companies purchasing residential property, increase from 3% to 5% above the standard residential rates, effective 31 October 2024. The single rate of SDLT that is charged on the purchase of dwellings costing more than £500,000 by corporate bodies will also be increased by two percentage points, from 15% to 17%.

In addition:

Annual subscription limits will remain at £20,000 for ISAs, £4,000 for Lifetime ISAs and £9,000 for Junior ISAs and Child Trust Funds until 5 April 2030. The government will not proceed with the British ISA due to mixed responses to the consultation launched in March 2024
The Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trust schemes are extended to 2035
The Income Tax Personal Allowance and higher rate threshold remain at £12,570 and £50,270 respectively until April 2028. From April 2028, these personal tax thresholds will be uprated in line with inflation (rates and thresholds may differ for taxpayers in parts of the UK where Income Tax is devolved)
Working age benefits will be uprated in full in 2025-26 by the September 2024 Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rate of 1.7%
The starting rate for savings will be retained at £5,000 for 2025-26.

Business measures

In her speech, Ms Reeves said, “we are asking businesses to contribute more” to raise revenues required to fund public services. She added, “I do not take this decision lightly,” before announcing:

An increase in employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) by 1.2 percentage points to 15% from April 2025
A reduction of the secondary threshold from £9,100 per year to £5,000 per year
An increase to the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500
The introduction of two permanently lower business rates for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses from 2026-27, funded by a higher multiplier for the most valuable properties
£1.9bn of support to small business and the high street in the form of a freeze on the small business multiplier and 40% rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure properties (capped at £110,000)
£250m in funding for the British Business Bank’s small business loans programmes
The headline rate of Corporation Tax will be capped at 25%.

Health and education

To round off her inaugural Budget, Ms Reeves turned her attention to “two final areas in which investment is so badly needed to repair the fabric of our nation.”

As indicated in the Party’s election manifesto, the Chancellor confirmed plans to introduce VAT on private school fees (except for children below compulsory school age) from January 2025, and to remove private schools’ business rates relief from April 2025.

Funding for the state school system is set to increase by £11.2bn from 2023-2024 levels – a 3.5% real terms increase. This includes:

Increasing funding for day-to-day school spending by £2.3bn, £1bn of which is earmarked for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
£1.8bn to continue the expansion of government-funded childcare
£30m to fund thousands more breakfast clubs in primary schools
Investing in new teachers for core subjects
£300m for further education.

Ms Reeves also announced a £6.7bn capital funding package for education in England in 2025-26, a real terms increase of 19% from 2024-25, including £1.4bn towards rebuilding over 500 schools in the greatest need.

Lastly, the Chancellor tackled her plans for the National Health Service, announcing:

A 10-year plan for the NHS, to be published in the spring
A £22.6bn increase in the day-to-day health budget to deliver on the government’s 18-week waiting time target
£3.1bn increase in the capital budget over this year and the next.

Other key points

Help to Save scheme – extended until April 2027
Alcohol duty – tax on non-draught alcoholic drinks to increase by the usually higher RPI measure of inflation, tax on draught drinks cut by 1.7%
Vaping products duty – new tax of £2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid introduced from October 2026
Tobacco duty – to increase by 2% above RPI on all tobacco products and 10% above inflation for hand-rolling tobacco with immediate effect
Bus fares – £2 cap on single fares in England to rise to £3 from January 2025
Clean energy sector – £3.9bn of funding in 2025-26
Air Passenger Duty (APD) – increased for 2026-27, £1 more for domestic economy flights, £2 more for short-haul economy flights and £12 more for long-haul destinations. The higher rate applicable to private jets will rise by 50% in 2026-27
Devolved government funding – to receive an additional £6.6bn through the operation of the Barnett formula in 2025-26 (£3.4bn for the Scottish Government, £1.7bn for the Welsh Government and £1.5bn for the Northern Ireland Executive)
Expanding government-funded childcare support – an additional £1.8bn pledged for working parents in England, bringing total spending on childcare to over £8bn in 2025-26.

Closing comments

Rachel Reeves signed off her Budget saying, “I have made my choices, the responsible choices, to restore stability to our country, to protect working people… Fixing the foundations of our economy. Investing in our future. Delivering change. Rebuilding Britain.”

It is important to take professional advice before making any decision relating to your personal finances. Information within this document is based on our current understanding of the Budget, taxation and HMRC rules and can be subject to change in future. It does not provide individual tailored investment advice and is for guidance only. Some rules may vary in different parts of the UK; please ask for details. We cannot assume legal liability for any errors or omissions it might contain. Levels and bases of, and reliefs from taxation are those currently applying or proposed and are subject to change; their value depends on the individual circumstances of the investor.

All details are believed to be correct at the time of writing (30 October 2024)

This material is intended to be for information purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. Tees is a trading name of Tees Financial Limited which is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered number 211314.

Tees Financial Limited is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4342506.

ISAs 101: your guide to Individual Savings Accounts

Posted on 6 April 202328 March 2025 by Sophie Soraf

ISA stands for individual savings account and is an investment vehicle that has great tax breaks. It allows you to earn interest on cash savings or dividends from investments without paying income tax or capital gains tax.

To ensure this tax break is not exploited, there is a restriction placed on how much you can pay into them each tax year.

How do they work?

Each tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year, you have an ISA allowance. Currently the ISA allowance is £20,000 for this tax year. This means you have until 5 April to use your ISA allowance for this tax year.

Use it or lose it. If you miss the tax yearend deadline, you cannot back pay to catch up missed contributions. Any money you pay into an ISA will count towards your ISA allowance for the following year. This regularly catches people out with busy lives each year.

To be eligible to open an ISA, you need to:

Be 16 or older for a cash ISA
Be 18 for stocks and shares ISA
Be the parent or guardian of a child under 18 to open a Junior ISA
Be 18 to 39 to open a lifetime ISA
Be a resident in the UK (or a Crown employee if abroad)

An ISA can only be held in one person’s name. It’s not possible to have an ISA in joint names. Hence the title individual Savings Account.

There are two main types of ISA: cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs. There are also some specialist ISAs to choose from.

Cash ISAs

These are similar to regular bank / building society savings accounts with the advantage of a tax efficient wrapper. They should be used as short-term investments ie up to 5 years for maximum effect. Beyond this time scale inflation has the potential to reduce the value of the funds. There are two basic types of cash ISA:

Instant access: Allows you to withdraw and deposit funds in line with the provider’s terms.
Fixed term: Your money is wrapped up for set period of time during which you receive a fixed rate of interest but have no access. As the interest rates rise there are some very good rates on offer.

Stocks and Shares ISAs

These are stocks and shares investment accounts that use your ISA allowance as a wrapper to make them tax efficient. There are a huge variety on offer covering several investment styles and client attitudes to risk. This can make it very hard to compare apples with apples. Care should be taken also to ensure that any charging is made clear from the start.

As with most investment-based products your money is at risk as the value of stocks and shares can fluctuate. However over the longer term (5 years plus) you have the potential to receive better returns than say with Cash ISAs. These tend to form the basis of most investors portfolios as the starting point due to their tax efficiency.

Specialist ISAs

Junior ISAs: for under 18s only, limited up to £9,000 per annum currently. Can be Cash or Stocks and Shares based.
Lifetime ISA: for adults under 40 saving for retirement or to buy their first home. At a very high level they let you earn a 25% bonus on savings up to £4,000 a year. Care and advice should be taken because although you can access the funds whenever you like. You only get the bonus if you use the cash to either buy your first home or take it out after you turn 60. If you withdraw the money for any other reason, you will lose 25% of it as the government takes its money back plus a little extra.
Innovative finance ISA: Peer-to-peer investments which earn interest by lending money to individuals, businesses and property developers. These usually require financial advice to be taken to ensure suitability.
Business Property Relief (BPR) based ISAs: ISAs are not totally tax free; they are liable to Inheritance Tax upon death. Using an ISA that can take advantage of BPR can help ringfence funds from inheritance tax. These tend to be higher risk options and should be discussed with an IFA before proceeding.

You can open a Cash ISA either in a bank/building society branch, online, by post or over the phone, depending on the type of account and provider you choose.

Investment ISAs are similar but best taken out via an Independent Financial Adviser who can source the right plan for your circumstances. They should also ensure that the scheme is covered by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. They will also explain the risk level and ensure that you do not over commit too much of your hard-earned funds in one go. For some Cash ISAs you can start with as little as £1. For investment ISAs this tends to be higher for lump sum investments. A regular premium amount typically start around £50 pm. There is no right amount to start with. It will depend on your own situation. Always ensure that you have enough hands on cash available to cover emergencies. As a guide this is typically 3 – 6 months of expenditure. You will also need to supply your National Insurance number. Always read the small print before signing to ensure that you understand what you are investing into.

How many ISAs can you have?

You can build up several ISAs over the years. You can consolidate your past ISAs by transferring them to your current ISAs if they offer better terms.

You can only pay into one cash ISA, one stocks and shares ISA, one lifetime ISA and one innovative finance ISA in each tax year, and the total you invest across the types of account must not exceed your ISA allowance – currently £20,000.

You can transfer to a new ISA within a tax year – but only if you take all the money you’ve already saved into the old ISA to your new one.

If you have opened a junior ISA for a child, this is not included in your £20,000 allowance (it’s the child’s allowance, which is £9,000 a year currently).

Can you withdraw money from your ISA and put the money back later?

This depends on the terms and conditions of your ISA, so ensure you find out before opening a new ISA whether:

Your ISA is flexible

You can withdraw money and pay it back in during the same tax year without it affecting your ISA allowance (eg if you deposit £10,000 then withdraw the same amount, you can still pay in a total of £20,000 this tax year)
You can also withdraw any ISA money you have from previous tax years, and have until the end of the tax year to pay it back into the same ISA.

Always, check the small print before doing anything as some ISAs may limit the number of transactions you can make in a year. Not all providers allow transfers either, you should also check the T&Cs before making a withdrawal.

Your ISA is not flexible

Any money you pay in then withdraw, still counts towards your remaining ISA allowance (eg if you pay in then withdraw £5,000, you can only deposit up to £15,000 for the rest of this tax year).
Deposits that exceed the allowance will be rejected

Once taken out of an ISA your money will lose its tax-free status if you pay it into a normal savings account.

Can you transfer an ISA to another ISA?

You may want to move holdings in a previous year’s ISA to a new one if the rate of return or fees are more competitive.

This is allowed under the rules; just don’t attempt a transfer until you’ve checked whether your new ISA allows transfers in.

To retain your tax advantages, you need to transfer your ISA directly from one provider to another.

However, if you try to move your ISA by withdrawing the funds, you will lose its ISA status, as it’s no longer within the tax-free wrapper. You may find that a lifetime of tax efficient savings is lost by making this common mistake.

What happens to your ISA upon the death of the plan holder?

Upon death an ISA becomes part of your estate and loses its tax-free status, meaning it’s liable to income tax.

The exception is if you leave behind a spouse or civil partner. Then they would see an amount equivalent to your ISA added to their current year’s allowance, tax-free.

E.g. you pass on leaving £20,000, your spouse or civil partner would receive a one-off addition to their own ISA annual allowance of this sum, giving them a total allowance of £40,000 to invest.

Even if you leave your ISA to somebody else in your will, your spouse or civil partner will still gain the £20,000 additional ISA allowance.

What protection does your ISA have?

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protects the first £85,000 of any cash or investments held in ISAs with each separately registered institution.

To qualify, your ISAs must be in a financial company, such as a bank or investment house, that’s regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

CARE, if you have more than £85,000 in savings with one institution, or two separate companies within the same group, you could end up out of pocket should the group go under as the FSCS only guarantees a payout of £85,000.

The above should be viewed as impartial guidance as to ISA options and what they might mean. The final decision to invest would be yours but as with any investment, if it’s not an area you are completely familiar with you should seek Independent Financial Advice.

This material is intended to be for information purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. It is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for accounting, legal or tax advice, or investment recommendations. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns and all investments involve risks. Some information quoted was obtained from external sources we consider to be reliable.