New Year, New You: Our top three tips for financial discipline in 2022

Traditionally, many New Year’s Resolutions do not make it to the end of January.

Quite often they fail for not being specific enough or being too severe but most of all it is perhaps easy to make all sorts of promises to oneself about changing behaviour whilst happily over-indulging at Christmas but not so easy to keep those promises on a dark January evening.

Managing your finances can also require a fair amount of discipline.

If you look after your own investments then you need the time to read widely, to keep up-to-date and to study ideas. You may well not have this time (or the inclination) which is why many decide to delegate the responsibility to external wealth managers such as Rosecut.

To kick start the year, here are Rosecut’s top three tips on on financial discipline for 2022 but do remember we are not tax advisors so please do check this with your tax advisor before taking any action:

1. Use your Capital Gains Tax (CGT) exemption

The UK government allows you to make tax free capital gains of up to £12,300 (GBP) in this current tax year. You get an exemption, and your spouse or partner also gets an exemption. If you have not already used this then consider how you might do so as once you reach 6th April 2022, the 2021/2022 allowance is lost.

Do you have any investments standing at a gain that you could sell in the near future to use this exemption?

The strategy needs careful planning as you cannot buy the same investment (shares or funds) back within the next 30 days and you may not want to be out of the market sitting in cash for that long. However, you can buy similar investments that may give you a similar result or you could ask your spouse or partner to buy back the investment you have sold.

2. Top up your Pension using your pension allowance

The UK pensions annual allowance is £40,000 (GBP) per annum on which you can get tax relief of up to 45% depending on the level of your income. You or your employer can pay towards this allowance.

You can also carry forward £40,000 (GBP) from the three previous tax years and so you might be able to contribute up to £160,000 (GBP) in one go. The oldest year drops out of account after the 5th April so again it is a “use it or lose it” situation

3. Contribute to an Individual Savings Account

Contributing to Individual Savings Accounts (or “ISAs”) are tax year specific. You can pay in up to £20,000 (GBP) per tax year and all returns (income as well as gains) are tax free but once you get past the 5th April any of the outstanding ISA allowance will be lost.

You may be amazed to hear that £20,000 (GBP) saved every year from age 30 for 40 years assuming a growth rate of 5% p/a will reach over £2.5m by the time you reach 70 or over £4m at an investment return of 7% p/a.

Before the age of 18, parents can even contribute to a Junior ISA (or “JISA”) at a rate of £9,000 (GBP) p/a. If the child has say £90,000 (GBP) in a Junior ISA at 20 and can contribute £20,000 (GBP) each year for the next 40 years, that is a nest egg of £3.1m by age 60, again assuming a growth rate of 5% p/a. It’s not magic, it’s pure maths, so why not get started today?

If you would like to speak to a member of the team regarding any of these tips or your own financial situation, please reach out to us by email at contact@rosecut.com and we would be happy to help.

Please note that this is not a financial advice and it does not take into account individual circumstances. Please also contact a professional advisor prior to any decision making.

Tax benefits may vary as a result of statutory charges and their value will depend on individual circumstances. Specific risks associated with particular investments are detailed on this website and in our printed literature. You should consult with a professional tax advisor for any tax advice and support.

The value of an investment and the income from it can go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount invested. This may be partly the result of exchange rate fluctuations in investments which have an exposure to foreign currencies. You should be aware that past performance is no guarantee of future performance.