Smart Money January/February – Start 2025 with a new year’s wealth check

Welcome to our January/February edition of Smart Money. Start 2025 with a new year’s wealth check. Here’s a brief summary of what’s included in this edition:

On page 03, we explain how you could use your allowances to help maximise your wealth by utilising tax-efficient strategies and minimising liabilities. With the end of the tax year fast approaching, this could be your opportunity to review your annual allowances and assess how best to make the most of them. With some significant changes to tax allowances in the 2024/25 tax year and further reductions expected in the future, planning ahead could be key.

On page 09, find out more about changes to the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) exemption and how this could help you arrange your investments tax-efficiently. For the tax year 2024/25, the CGT allowance has been reduced to £3,000, allowing you to make tax-free gains up to this amount. However, any gains above this limit may be subject to CGT. Appropriate planning is essential to help make sure your hard-earned investments work efficiently for your future.

On page 10, we look at why the beginning of 2025 offers the opportunity to take stock of your financial health, which could help set the tone for a prosperous and secure year ahead.

On page 11, we explore how regular financial planning could help keep your retirement goals within reach. While life’s uncertainties, such as health challenges, might be beyond your control, there are steps you can take to help strengthen your financial resilience and prepare for the unexpected.

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Foster Denovo Private Wealth is a trading name of Foster Denovo Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until age 55 (57 from April 2028 unless the plan has a protected pension age).

The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available.

Your pension income could also be affected by the interest rates at the time you take your benefits.

The Financial Conduct Authority doesn’t regulate trust planning and most forms of inheritance tax (IHT) planning.

The financial conduct authority does not regulate tax and trust advice and will writing.

Some IHT planning solutions put your money at risk, and you may get back less than you invested. IHT thresholds depend on individual circumstances and the law. tax and IHT rules may change in the future.

The tax treatment is dependent on individual circumstances and may be subject to change in future.