by our CEO, Sonya Byers
In January, Women in Transport members were offered the opportunity to attend a breakfast seminar on financial well-being with Morrinson Wealth Wellbeing, an organisation that specialises in providing financial education to employees and organisations throughout the UK.
The company is a predominately female team and the seminar has been designed to educate and empower women in the management and planning of their finances. The seminar was facilitated by Katy Brown, Partner at Morrinson Wealth Wellbeing.
Topics covered included:
The core principles of financial planning and investing
Annual tax allowances and reliefs
Protections for you and your family - wills, trusts and lasting power of attorney
Pensions
What is financial wellbeing? Essentially, it means peace of mind and knowing that you can cope with the unexpected. Katy set out some simple steps for financial planning:
Spend less than you earn
Insure against disaster
Invest wisely
All sounds pretty straightforward doesn’t it? But, we all know that finances and admin can be pushed out of our minds and to the bottom of our list when we are juggling busy lives and responsibilities. It is increasingly important to understand our finances and make the most of the tax allowances and reliefs available.
In the past, baby boomers traditionally had a very straight-forward path through education, a job, a mortgage, a family and a final salary pension. Today’s millennials have a different financial journey often involving several different jobs and pension pots and perhaps not choosing to become homeowners or have a family. The onus for financial stability in retirement has gradually moved from employer to the individual. This is against a background of the rising cost of living, increasing student loan and other debt.
Katy suggested thinking about our finances in three stages:
The Larder - today money for short term needs and wants, including rent and bills
The Fridge - tomorrow money for larger spend items, including mortgage deposit, home improvements and holidays
The Freezer - future lifestyle money i.e. savings for future family life and retirement
She suggested thinking about splitting income three ways - a third on living, a third on debt repayment and a third on your financial future.
On the subject of investments, Katy recommended diversifying your portfolio and considering the following:
Investments depend on your attitude to risk - there’s no one size fits all
Your time horizon - how long do you want to tie money up?
Don’t try to guess the market
Diversify
Use your annual allowances
Build your pension pot
Evaluate your investments annually and with every change of personal circumstance or legislation
Katy also recommended that everyone makes a will and ensures it is up to date. It is crucial to note that financial planning is an ongoing process and evolves over time. It is always worth thinking about what is right for you personally; do you need critical illness cover, life assurance, income protection? In planning for your future lifestyle, you need to consider your ‘magic numbers’ - what age do you want to retire, what level of income do you need for the rest of your life?
Members were also able to book a 45 minute one-to-one confidential consultation with a financial advisor from Morrinsons Wealth Management following the seminar.
Personally, I found the time to think about my own finances and review my personal circumstances really valuable. Here’s some feedback from our members:
“Practical, straight forward and broad advice.”
“Really helpful event on a subject that is universal.”
“ Very glad I attended and will certainly be making changes to how I save and invest going forward.”
“ The presentation was really useful as I would never have got round to doing this in my free time! "
“It was good to go through my personal finances as it made me realise how much more I need to do, now I feel motivated to do it.”
“Things were presented in ways that were accessible to non finance experts.”
“Engaging. I thought this was very valuable and would recommend similar topics to empower and advise women.”
Some links that you might find useful in thinking about your own financial wellbeing and planning:
Money Advice Service: Free and impartial advice set up by the Government
Pension Tracing Service: Find contact details for a workplace or personal pension plan
HMRC rates and allowances: Find the rates of different taxes, excise duties, interest rates, exchange rates, allowances and levies published by HMRC.
Our thanks to Morrinson Wealth Wellbeing for generously hosting this insightful and practical session for our members.
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