Knowing which job to do around the garden each month is essential for keeping outside space neat and manageable.
Although financial planning is obviously different to gardening as everything depends on individual client needs, some tasks may be seasonal due to things like tax deadlines.
So how can new entrants to the profession expect to spend their time as advisers, season by season?
Spring
Spring is the obvious place to start the financial planning year as it covers the end of one tax year and the start of a new one. But before that, advisers pay close attention to announcements in the Budget, which usually happens in March.
“Last year, some big changes were announced [in the Budget] including the lifetime allowance on pension savings being abolished – although the limit on tax-free cash remains – capital gains tax and dividend allowances being reduced, and several other allowances such as the personal allowance being frozen until April 2028, says Charles Stanley financial planner Lucy Chahil.
“These changes had significant planning implications for many clients and as financial planners we need to identify those that will be affected and discuss any necessary action.”
The end of the tax year in April also makes spring a busy time for advisers. Ensuring clients have used annual allowances for Isas and pension contributions is key but many advisers are doing this throughout the year to avoid a last-minute rush to meet the deadline.
For example, Paul Langley, a wealth planner at Succession Wealth, prefers to arrange his clients’ Isas during the year rather than in March and April when everyone else is trying to get their applications in on time.
“Markets go up artificially in April so if I do it over 10 months of the year, clients can get in at a better price,” he says.
It is better for some clients, however, to wait until 5th April is closer. “Sometimes self-employed clients and those who have their own limited company need to wait till nearer the end of the tax year so they have a better understanding of the level of pension contributions they can make,” says Chahil.
“We often need to liaise with their accountant as to the amount of contribution and to ensure any employer pension contributions satisfy the ‘wholly and exclusively’ rules.
As well as tax planning opportunities, spring can be a time for a ‘spring clean’ of financial plans and preparing for the new tax year. “Using fresh allowances, arranging assets in the same way that you would a house at this time of year – what should you have to hand, what can be stacked away for a later date, says Zoe Taylor, chartered financial planner at St James’s Place partner practice Lawrence Neil Wealth Management.
She adds that this is also a good time to make sure clients have sufficient life cover/income protection in place.
Summer
In summer, work tends to slow down a bit for advisers as fewer people are around for meetings because they are on annual leave. This means advisers have time to catch up on things and plan ahead.
“When it is quieter, I end of catching upon paperwork and client work that I may be doing such as tax planning,” says Langley. For example, I have just put a client’s pension in trust to protect their wealth going forward, as it’s the largest asset they have except the house.”
Summer can also be a time for owners of advice firms to wind down, take stock and come back with lots of new ideas. “Usually they are too busy working in the business to work on the business, says Chris Jones, proposition director at Dynamic Planner. “But summer, from a business perspective, is the time to reflect on the business and think what do I need to do and how do we become more efficient?”
This is often the time firms consider changing and upgrading their propositions, software and so on. “Even if you are working, clients are on holiday and that gives you breathing space to think and reconsider,” says Jones. “You can get the paperwork done and you’re not being bothered by people.”
Going on holiday is also a chance for clients to look at where they are at and reset their goals or objectives, which they later discuss with their adviser.
“Thinking about spending habits, cycles and future planning would be sensible – putting cash away for a year or more to obtain the best rates or obtaining projections on pension funds,” says Taylor. She adds that it is also a time when clients start thinking about what they will need to be able to semi-retire and enjoy the sun.
Other clients who have children may be budgeting over the summer for the cost of activities, holidays or childcare during the school holidays. Or planning for the new academic year, as they will be notified of school fee increases or university fees and accommodation expenses over the summer.
Autumn
After a bit of a summer lull, some advisers use the autumn months to catch up with client meeting. “I see a lot of my clients in the autumn because they are back from their holidays and nobody wants to you at Christmas,” says Langley.
In autumn when the nights start drawing in, thoughts may naturally turn to plans for getting older. “It is a time to start arranging your own legal planning and wills or checking in on older relatives in terms of preparing for the winter,” says Taylor. Applications for attendance allowance, putting powers of attorney in place and looking at using gifting allowances for IHT purposes are often autumn tasks.
“In the autumn, many people start thinking about their legacy as they look to take advantage of Will Aid month in November,” says Paul Rossini, chief executive of digital legacy firm AssetPass. Rossini sees this as the time for advisers to speak to clients in conversations around what preparation they have made for their assets and how they are safeguarding their digital assets such as cryptocurrencies.
“The digital legacy of crypto assets is becoming an increasingly common issue as accounts can’t be accessed without the 24 seed phrase, even if the owner of the account has passed away,” he says. So, advisers might use the autumn months to talk about finding a secure digital trustee that will enable them to safely pass on their digital assets when they die.
Winter
Winter is dominated by thoughts of Christmas and a fresh start that comes with the new year.
“At Christmas, you get people who want to buy a home. Rightmove clicks always increase on Boxing Day, they are double the normal rate,” says Jones of Dynamic Planner. “What happens is parents will say I’ll give you £10k to buy a house – or people think I really do hate living with my parents and want to move out.”
Other people experience a relationship breakdown as problems that have been nagging away in the background become too much, so they need somewhere else to live. The first working day of the new year is well known in the legal profession as ‘Divorce Day’.
In Langley’s experience, people tend to put moving home off until the new year. “But it’s good for clients to get a mortgage in place in December, as that’s when advisers are less busy,” he says. “If they’re at home on Rightmove after eating too much turkey and they have a mortgage agreement in principle, they will know what they are able to afford,” he says.
Christmas a time associated with gifts and helping others. Nelsons chartered financial planner Sam Cawley says advisers may use this as a prompt for clients to think about the future and inheritance tax planning.
“Each individual has an annual gifting allowance of £3,000 and can utilise the unused allowance from the previous tax year to make gifts that immediately fall outside of their estate for IHT planning, alongside any smaller gifts of under £250 each,” he says. “For larger gifts, it can take seven years for these to be completely outside of your estate, so planning ahead is key.”
As well as giving to family and friends, Cawley adds that clients may be thinking of gifting to charities where the charities can benefit from gift aid. “People may also get relief in your tax return which needs to be submitted by 31 January,” he says.
Advisers often find that after Christmas, clients start the new year with new objectives such as retiring earlier, and that can be revisiting financial objectives with their adviser. Others will be thinking about their tax returns and paying any tax owed by 31 January.
“Depending on income streams and circumstances, clients may need to raise money from investment portfolios to cover some or all their tax bill,” says Chahil. “It is wise to be prepared well in advance and have the cash available in plenty of time.”
But if the tax bill is unexpectedly high, advisers may be helping clients to reduce the liability going forward, through pension contributions or reviewing the ownership of assets between husband, wife, or civil partner. Before long, the new tax year will begin and the whole cycle will start again.
