Fees
How we charge
We don’t charge percentage-based fees. Instead, we provide a clear explanation of our fees at each stage of the financial planning journey. Our fees are agreed before we begin any work, so there are no hidden surprises.
We believe that the fees should be based on the work and complexity involved in creating your financial plan, not your level of wealth.
The complexity required at each stage of our financial planning process may vary, and the way we charge reflects this.
We charge a fixed fee for each stage of our financial planning process. We believe this is both transparent and fair and avoids any potential conflicts of interest.
What happens first?
Our first meeting is at our expense. You will not need to pay anything for this meeting or commit to moving things forward. It is an opportunity for us to explore your current circumstances and the areas you want to improve by working with us.
By the end of this meeting, we will have identified your primary aims, the fee that we will charge to complete the financial planning work for you and outlined the process and next steps.
We will confirm this in writing in our Letter of Engagement. No chargeable work will begin without your agreement to proceed.
Occasionally, some clients don’t require all of the stages in our financial planning process. In this case, we will help you decide at our initial meeting. You can contact us here if you have any questions about our fees or what our financial planning service might cost you.
Stage 1
LifePath Define
Creating your financial plan
Goal setting
During this phase, we take a deep dive into what’s important to you and what you hope to achieve. This will enable you to create a priority order so you can focus your time, energy and ability on doing the first things first. This is essential in making sure you’ve got the right money coming in at the right time.
Our three levels of service and their costs:
Level 1
(Low complexity)£675
This service is for clients going through significant changes, such as divorce or the death of a partner. In this case, it may not be appropriate to commit to a deep dive into your life goals while you come to terms with your new reality.
This service is also appropriate if you have simple planning needs and wish to start sorting out your future finances. This includes young families or entrepreneurs looking to start using their available allowances while their business grows.
Level 2
(Moderate complexity)£1,625
This service is designed for most clients and is our proven step-by-step process to help identify meaningful goals for your life.
Typically, you will use this service if you’re about to start the process of building your resources for retirement or are within 24 months of taking benefits from your pension.
This is also invaluable if you’re at the stage where you’re wondering if there’s more to life or if you’ve reached a “fork in the road”.
Level 3
(High complexity)£1,925
This service is the same as Level 2, but includes additional coaching sessions to help with specific big decisions such as redundancy, whether to take a new role or set up your own business.
Stage 2
LifePath Design
Our recommendations
Financial analysis and recommendations
Once we’ve defined your lifestyle and financial objectives, we will create a picture of your current financial situation.
We present our recommendations for how you can achieve your financial and life goals. It could be as simple as making a few small changes or a complete strategy overhaul. Sometimes compromise is required. We will always be honest and supportive of you. Everyone will go through the Design service however, depending on your situation, there are different levels of complexity for this.
Our three levels of service and their costs:
Level 1
(Low complexity)£950
This service is for clients who want financial clarity. We will provide an overview of your current financial arrangements and recommend any changes that you should consider to help you achieve your objectives.
Clients best suited to this service will typically have less than three pensions or investments, be basic rate taxpayers and not need any tax planning work.
Level 2
(Moderate complexity)£1,750*
This service is suitable if you require a thorough analysis of your current financial arrangements, including existing pensions and investments.
Clients seeking specific planning advice, such as on Inheritance Tax planning, and those retiring imminently and needing help planning for the future also fall into this category.
Typically, you will have tax planning needs in addition to requiring help analysing existing financial products.
Level 3
(High complexity)£3,200*
This service is designed for clients who have more complex planning needs, either due to your Income Tax position or complex pension tax allowances.
This price band will cover specialist advice areas such as long-term care, complex pension advice, detailed estate planning and trusts, and investment advice involving analysis of multiple complex tax consequences within existing investments.
It would also involve intricate tax calculations and complex solutions for us to research and analyse.
*Occasionally, we may need to increase the charge for this level of service to accommodate clients with multiple planning needs. Although rare, in such situations, we will work with you to ensure that you understand the proposed costs before proceeding with the service.
Sometimes, our work will end here because you have all your finances aligned and just need help identifying your goals and where to focus your time. Please note that if you only use our services for this stage of the advice process, the fee may incur VAT. If our recommendations don’t include any new products, then our Align service fees (below) will not be applicable.
Stage 3
LifePath Align
Making it happen
After we have a clear understanding of your situation, we will present our recommendations for how you can achieve your goals in our financial planning report. It may require further planning and research if you decide to proceed with them. We will implement any changes we recommend and manage the process through to completion.
Our three levels of service and their costs:
Level 1
(Low complexity)£700
This service level is typically quoted when no existing plans are in place or when changes to the investment content of existing plans is required.
In this case, the analysis and research requirements are less detailed. It usually involves setting up a new product from deposit savings or changing the investment content within an existing pension or investment to suit your plans or goals without changing the provider.
Level 2
(Moderate complexity)£1,200
This service is designed for clients who need to consolidate pensions or set up multiple plans for different goals or strategies.
You may also need assistance rearranging your finances to match your objectives when you have multiple financial products, such as a mixture of pensions and investments.
It may involve finding a new provider for your existing plans and transferring them across.
Level 3
(High complexity)£2,000
This service is designed for clients with complex planning needs, such as intricate tax planning strategies or complex pension transfers requiring detailed tax calculations, alongside investment recommendations.
It may also involve advising on different planning needs that require significant changes, such as detailed estate planning involving multiple trusts and analysing complex tax consequences within existing investments.
Stage 4
LifePath Refine
Keeping you on track
The real value of financial planning comes from the incremental improvements to the original plan, compounded over time.
Legislation around pensions and taxation can change quickly and often. Existing opportunities can disappear as quickly as new ones arise. Your circumstances and goals will also evolve. Our LifePath Refine services are designed to make sure you remain on track and will provide with with the following:
Regular meetings
Delivered during our forward planning meetings, our LifePath Refine service will update your financial plan, provide regulated advice on all your plans and monitor your portfolio performance and investment returns.
Regular communication
We form long-lasting relationships with our clients. An annual meeting offers reassurance and reminds you about what you must do to stay on track. It enables the plan to be adapted to changing circumstances or priorities.
Ongoing support
We are contactable throughout the year to answer any finance-related queries that you might have. We are happy to help where we can. You will value having a trusted adviser to sound out your ideas and discuss your options.
External support
Sometimes you’ll need help with something that’s outside of our sphere of expertise. We will point you in the direction of several professional connections that we recommend.
Monitoring your plan
Our regular reviews allow us to assess how you’re progressing towards your goals. We’ll pick up on areas of change that you may not realise will have an impact and help you stay on track with your plans.
Peace of mind
Being there whenever you need us can free up your time and make financial decisions easier. This reassurance leads to more time, more choice and more freedom.
We charge a fixed monthly fee that depends on the nature of the work needed to keep you on track. If you transition between retirement stages, your monthly LifePath Refine ongoing fee will change accordingly.
Our three levels of service and their costs:
LifePath Refine Lite
(Low complexity)£150 per month
LifePath Refine Lite
(Low complexity)£150 per month
This is best suited if you have already set up financial plans but would like to check in annually to ensure your strategy is on track and solutions are still suitable.
Although your circumstances aren’t likely to change frequently, you still want support with financial queries and clear explanations on money matters.
This service includes:
- Annual phone call with one of our team
- Annual suitability letter
- Annual valuation
- Access to Proposito Team
- Ongoing admin support
- Every three years a forward planning meeting on Zoom, by phone or at our office with your financial planner
- A Refine Plan every three years
Any additional work related to new planning objectives will incur additional costs.
LifePath Refine*
(Moderate complexity)£300 per month
LifePath Refine*
(Moderate complexity)£300 per month
This is suitable if you require careful monitoring of your financial plans and goals to ensure they are on track.
Typically, clients with more complex personal financial circumstances will require greater involvement with tax planning and monitoring multiple financial solutions.
This service includes:
- Forward Planning Meeting via Zoom, phone or at our office
- Refine Plan
- Financial Forecast
- End of tax year planning
- Ongoing admin support
- Access to Proposito Team
- Half yearly update
- Assist third party with basic information needed.
Any additional work related to new planning objectives may incur additional costs
LifePath Refine Plus*
(High complexity)£500 per month
LifePath Refine Plus*
(High complexity)£500 per month
This is designed for clients with complex financial solutions and circumstances that require frequent reviews and close work.
We remain available to respond to matters and ensure a smooth service. We may help with broader financial planning issues for family members, such as supporting them with matters relating to elderly parents or helping children understand money better.
The cost of this service will be tailored to your individual circumstances and quoted on a case-by-case basis. Any additional work relating to new planning objectives will be included in our ongoing service charge.
This service includes:
- Forward Planning Meeting via Zoom, phone or at our office
- Refine Plan
- Financial Forecast
- End of tax year planning
- Ongoing admin support
- Access to Proposito Team
- Half yearly update
- Assist third party with basic information needed
- Extra work due to complexity: Lifetime Allowance / High Level Income & Assets / Complex Plans: Property in pension / Family Pension Trust / VCT / EIS / BPR
*Occasionally, we may need to increase the charge for this level of service to accommodate clients with multiple planning needs. Although rare, in such situations, we will work with you to ensure that you understand the proposed costs before proceeding with the service.
As an example…
You have two money-purchase pensions and three final salary pensions. You have an Inheritance Tax liability and would like to begin planning for retirement. You would also like to benefit from our ongoing service.
We would charge £1,625 for the LifePath Define goal-setting stage and £1,750 for LifePath Design – financial analysis and recommendations. Your fee for LifePath Align would be £1,200. Following implementation, we would charge £150 per month for our LifePath Refine Lite service.
Total cost: £4,575, plus £150 per month
You have had various successful careers, but you’ve decided to set up your own business and would benefit from additional coaching. You also require help with your existing pensions and investments to help plan for the future.
Alongside this, you have elderly parents who need support with their finances.
We would charge £1,925 for the LifePath Define goal-setting stage and £1,750 for LifePath Design – financial analysis and recommendations. Your fee for LifePath Align would be £1,200. Following implementation, we would charge £500 per month for our LifePath Refine Plus ongoing service.
Total cost: £4,875, plus £500 per month
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