Financial Planning – What We Do

At LHK Financial, we provide an unbiased, trustworthy financial planning service to our existing and prospective clients. Our approach to financial planning is firstly to assess our clients’ needs and objectives, with product recommendations as a secondary output. 

Our financial advisors have extensive experience in assisting clients in identifying their financial goals and devising strategies to meet these goals. We use a holistic approach to ensure that we have a comprehensive understanding of your unique circumstances, which allows us to provide truly bespoke advice.

Our areas of expertise include:

Personal Financial Planning

• Personal pensions
• Family and income protection
• Regular and lump sum investments
• Inheritance and gift tax
• Cash flow modelling

Corporate Financial Planning

• Employee benefits (pension and risk)
• Executive benefits (pension and risk)
• Business protection
• Tax-efficient lump sum investments
• Tax-free termination payments

Personal Financial Advice

We work with clients to identify and implement clear strategies to help them reach their personal financial goals. Our offering consists of three stages which are designed to ensure that you are provided with advice which is truly specific to you:

1. Initial consultation and discovery

The first stage involves the gathering of information to establish your current financial position and attitude to risk. This exercise will take into account your personal objectives, assets and liabilities, income and expenditure and any financial products currently in place.

2. Overview and recommendations for Financial Planning

We fully evaluate the information gathered, taking into account the current technical, legislative and regulatory requirements. We then prepare a detailed written recommendation for your review.

3. Implementation of a financial plan and ongoing reviews

Once the recommendation has been agreed upon, we proceed with implementing the proposed financial plan. It is important that we engage with you at least annually, to make any adjustments to your financial plan. Life will inevitably change and so will current rules and regulations, so it is vital to be able to make changes to any financial strategy.

Family and Income Protection Financial Planning

We understand the financial pressures placed on disposable income, such as day to day living expenses, paying down mortgages, saving for children’s education and putting funds aside for your retirement. The financing of these demands is largely dependent on remaining healthy and continuing ability to work. It is therefore imperative that a strategy is put in place to plan for the financial consequences that would result in premature death, serious illness or disability. The graph below illustrates at different stages in life, the amount, type and priority of the protection will change. Through a detailed analysis of your circumstances, we ensure that you have sufficient benefits in place to meet the financial shortfall caused by sudden illness loss of income or premature death.

Corporate Financial Advice

Corporate financial planning is a balance between the needs of the business, your employees and your own personal goals. As these change at different stages of your personal and business lifecycle, it is vital to be able to make timely changes in order to shape the future of the business and create positive outcomes for your employees, co-directors and shareholders.

We specialise in all aspects of employee benefits (i.e. pension and risk), regular and lump sum investment advice and business protection planning. We work with clients to design appropriate arrangements which are aligned with their corporate objectives.

Group Pension and Risk-Benefit Schemes

In the current pension environment, there is a complexity of rules governing the various retirement planning options that are available. It is therefore imperative that once the decision has been made

to fund retirement, expert and unbiased advice is sought to ensure that you plan in the most tax-efficient and appropriate way. We specialise in pre and post-retirement planning for the self-employed, business owners and employees.

There are numerous key variables that we consider when planning for your retirement:

• Review of existing pension arrangements
• The setting of retirement goals
• Maximisation of tax-relief
• Devising appropriate investment strategies
• Post-retirement options.

Once we have reviewed your position and requirements in relation to these variables, we will recommend a pre and post-retirement plan which is specifically tailored to your circumstances.

Employee Benefits From Financial Planning

The ever-changing pension landscape means that both employers and trustees face many ongoing challenges.

Common points for consideration:

• Are you setting up new benefits (e.g. pension, death in service and disability) for employees and executives, whereby you need to make informed decisions that reflect all the latest industry and regulatory developments?
• Are you considering taking some difficult actions in relation to your existing benefits and would appreciate unbiased advice?
• Are you concerned about the impact of any changes on employees relating to the restructuring of their benefits?
• Are you aware of the ongoing costs associated with the relevant benefit arrangements?

How we can help with Financial Planning:

• By ensuring that your existing arrangements are compliant and accurately reflect the business strategy in relation to employee benefits, and
• By maximising value under the ever-present pressure to control and reduce costs
• By ensuring good and proper governance of the arrangements in line with current legislation, and
• By maximizing the benefits offered to employees, to attract and retain key talent, particularly at the senior level.

Our team have a range of professional qualifications and practical experience to support employers in designing and implementing innovative pension and risk-benefit solutions for their employees.

Business Protection

One of the key risks facing any business is the death, illness or injury of a business partner or key employee. Such an event could give rise to a number of immediate financial pressures for the business. 

These could include a bank review of a business loan, disruption to the business (e.g. loss of sales, key customer etc.), curtailing of credit facilities and/or the requirement to purchase the departing owner’s share of the business.

Business succession planning is the process of protecting a business against some of the costs associated with such an event. Arranging business protection is an efficient way to ensure that adequate funds are available to ensure the survival of the business in a cost-effective manner.

This type of protection can be arranged by way of the following insurances:

• Shareholder
• Partnership, or
• Keyperson

It is important that appropriate steps are taken when setting up this type of protection, to ensure that the arrangement is set up correctly from a legal and tax perspective.

Besides Financial Planning What Services Does LHK Provide?

Our experienced team can arrange cover for you across all types of business insurance and home insurance policies. The following products are what we can help you with: Home insurance, Car insurance, Gadget insurance, Marine insurance, Personal accident insurance, Self-build insurance, Travel insurance, Commercial legal expenses, Commercial liability insurance, Commercial motor insurance, Commercial property insurance, Contractors all risk insurance, Credit insurance, Cyber insurance, Directors and officers insurance, Engineering insurance, Farm insurance, Group personal accident insurance, Marine cargo/ goods in transit insurance, Moter fleet insurance, Moter traders insurance, Office insurance, Professional indemnity insurance, Shop and retail insurance and Special types vehicles insurance.

If you are interested in starting a new business or securing your current one, contact an insurance broker to discuss your options.