What type of investment works for you and how much risk you want to take with your money?
Investing reflects your attitude towards risk and your confidence can change by understanding financial terminology, asset classes and investment types. It can also be advantageous to diversify and many of our clients like to have a range of investments.
Asset management and Risk assessment
Known as fixed-interest securities, Bonds are essentially a type of low risk loan investment issued by government or a company and the exact amount bondholders will be paid can generally be anticipated if say the bond is held until maturity.
Types of financial investment
The money you put into a bank account, building society or pension fund are savings and you can diversify your investments by spreading your wealth across different accounts and funds. Shares are units of a company’s stock and entitle the shareholder to a portion of the declared profit in the form of dividends. As part of your investment planning, it is important to understand how your dividends will be paid. Interim dividends are paid six-monthly whilst final dividends are paid at the end of the year as either shares or cash. When buying shares you could invest across sectors, overseas and in both small and large companies. Property assets are when you invest your money in a commercial or residential building.
Tax efficient wrappers
ISAs, LISAs, and SIPPS are ways to manage your savings and tax efficient wrappers protect your wealth. There are two types of Independent Savings Account relevant to investing cash or shares and stocks. A Lifetime Individual Savings Account is a bespoke ISA for those under the age of 40 who are looking to save for new property assets or retirement, or a combination of the two. You can benefit from substantial tax breaks whilst annually investing up to £40,000 per year within a Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPP) wrapper. However, the financial restraint with this type of investment is that your funds are accessible from the age of 55, and you’ll be taxed on the withdrawal of 75% of the total sum.
Many individuals decide to invest in funds and Tracker Funds (or Passive Funds) of low cost and Active Funds, often with higher fees due to the need for financial management, are the two main types of investment. The simplicity of being able to track the performance of a specific market as opposed to the decision to seek the guidance of an expert for the more dynamic nature of active funds maybe a consideration for investors looking to manage their wealth whilst spreading financial liabilities and developing their investment portfolio.