Welcome to the
Acis consultancy
homepage
Who do you think you are? If you would like to trace your ancestors click here.
Are you interested in personal finance? If so, click here.
If you wish to find out more about personal tax, click here.
For more information about investing a lump sum, click here.
For the lowdown on pensions, click here.
To find out about us, click here.
Last update May 2009.
Are you interested in personal finance?
If so, get hold of John Claxton's book Managing your Personal Finances, now in its fourth edition, published by How To Books Ltd. in their HOW TO series @ £9.99,
ISBN no. 1-85703-581-X.
Subjects covered include:
tax
insurance
mortgages
pensions
savings and investments.
In July 2001 a shortened version, called Managing your Money, was published by How To Books in their ESSENTIALS series, @ £4.99,
ISBN no.1-85703-713-8.
At least, do a financial health check.
To visit the How To Books website, click here.
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If you wish to look at personal tax in more detail,
In May 2001 John's next book Reducing Your Tax Bill, a simple guide to paying less personal tax, was published by How To Books in their ESSENTIALS series @ £4.99. ISBN no.1-85703-709-X.
The April 2001 budget changes are included.
The book covers:
income tax
national insurance contributions
capital gains tax
inheritance tax
If you would like some tips from the book, click here.
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Are you interested in investing ?
In December 2001, How To Books published a new book by John in their HOW TO series, called Lump Sum Investing, a guide to successful investing, @ £8.99. ISBN no. 1-85703-742-1.
It includes:
fixed interest investing
pooled funds
direct investing in equities
riskier investments
ISAs, PEPs and TESSAs
specialised investments
reducing tax on investments
For a few ideas from the book, to whet your appetite, click here.
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Do you know enough about your pension?
John's last book is A Simple Guide to Pensions, published by How To Books in their ESSENTIALS series in May 2002 @ £6.99. ISBN no. 1-85703-801-0.
Among the matters covered are:
state pensions
occupational schemes
personal pensions, including the new stakeholder pensions
annuities
planning for your retirement
For some points of interest on pensions, click here.
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About us.
The proprietors of Acis Consultancy are Marie and John Claxton.
Marie was born in Ireland (her maiden name was Bannon).She came to England in 1954 when she married John. They have two children, Caroline and Julian.
Caroline is married to Philip Rush and they have two children, Emily and Aidan. Emily is married to Trevor Hudson and they have a son, Laurence. (To visit Philip's website click here.)
Julian is married to Julie and they also have two children, Finn and Sophie.
John, a chartered secretary and chartered management accountant, was previously company secretary of Davy Corporation plc.
Since retirement from full-time work he has been an adviser to members of the Institute of Directors, a tutor on personal finance at adult evening classes and a personal financial author.
Also he was for six years the pensioner-nominated trustee of the pension scheme he belongs to, Trafalgar House Pension Trust.
If you would like to know more, click here to access his autobiography Ginger's Back.
If you wish to contact us, our e-mail address is claxtons@onetel.com
Why the name Acis you may ask?
ACIS is the designation used to show associate membership of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.
It is also near the beginning of any alphabetical list!
In Greek mythology, Acis was shepherd. The sea-nymph Galatea fell in love with him. Polyphemus, a cyclops, became very jealous and killed Acis, whereupon Galatea transformed her lover's blood into the river Acis.
The story is the subject of an oratorio by Handel - Acis and Galatea.
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FINANCIAL HEALTHCHECK
Reducing borrowing .
Are you borrowing money, except against your home?
If so, consider paying it off as soon as possible.
Establishing an emergency fund
Have you got a cash reserve to fall back on?
You need at least one month's normal expenditure and preferably two or three, in a bank or building society instant-access deposit account, or as a borrowing facility.
Disaster planning
Is your income protected by insurance against the death, sickness or permanent disability of the breadwinner?
Do you have adequate home and car insurance?
Retirement planning
Are you paying towards a pension?
It is never too early nor too late to start.
Getting tax and social security advantages
Are you getting all the tax allowances, reliefs and credits and social security benefits you are entitled to?
Paying for education
If you have young children, are you saving up to pay for private education and/or university?
Special events
Do you need to save up for - your next holiday, a new car, a wedding?
Putting aside just a small amount regularly is the best way.
Reducing your home mortgage
It is worth considering a reduction before investing surplus income or a lump sum.
Investment planning
Have you surplus income which can be channeled into a savings scheme or do you have a lump sum to invest?
Estate planning
Will your heirs have to pay inheritance tax?
If so, consider how to avoid it or pay for it yourself.
All these issues are dealt with in detail in my book.
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TAX TIPS
Income tax
Make sure you get your fair share of income tax allowances and reliefs.
Are you entitled to any income tax credits?
Check your investment income to see whether you could profitably change to tax-efficient investments.
If you are self-employed, make sure it is genuine, so that you cannot be considered to be an employee.
Can you transfer any tax liability to or from your spouse or partner to reduce your joint tax bill?
Are your children's personal allowances being used?
National Insurance contributions (NICS)
Treat NICs as another tax on income, to be avoided if possible.
If you are an employee, can you get your employer to substitute your next pay increase with tax-free benefits ? NICs will be avoided too.
Taxable fringe benefits can still be financially viable, as you only pay the tax and NICS, not the full cost.
Do you have any benefits which are reimbursements or are convertible into cash? If so, can they be changed so that they are not, thus avoiding tax and NICs ?
You can still have tax-free benefits if you are self-employed. Your taxable profits will be reduced by their cost and you will save NICs as well as tax.
Capital gains tax
If you held investments before 6 April 1998, you should calculate the indexation on each and add them to your records - it will be useful when year-end planning.
Calculate the taxable gain (or loss) on each asset you sell, as you go along, in order to simplify year-end planning.
Have you made the most of any reliefs available to you?
When it comes to the year end and you still have some of the annual exempt amount (currently £10,100) unused, consider ways of realising the gain on investments you wish to keep.
Inheritance tax (IHT)
If you understand how IHT is calculated, you can plan to reduce or eliminate it.
If you can afford to give some money to your children now, make sure it falls within the exempt amount (currently £325,000).
Avoid making immediately chargeable transfers, as some IHT is payable at that point - potentially exempt transfers are much more effective.
The older you are, the more likely you are to plan for IHT, but all adults should make a will and should consider their IHT position if their assets exceed the exempt amount.
Couples can now defer some or all of the exempt amount on the first death, so that up to double the amount is available on the second death.
If one of your parents dies and their will is unsatisfactory for IHT purposes, consider making a deed of variation.
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LUMP SUM INVESTING - SOME IDEAS
General advice
Compare interest rates on potential investments by using the AER (annual equivalent rate), which takes account of the timing of receipts.
Have your investment objectives firmly in mind before choosing investment categories.
Spread your investments over a number of categories to reduce risk.
Keep track of how your investments are performing.
Make sure that any guarantee is worthwhile, by reading it carefully.
Fixed interest investments
Interest rates on deposit accounts are changing all the time, so you need to make regular checks on the rates you are getting, switching if necessary.
National Savings may be a good investment if you can keep your money invested for the required period, but they have limitations, particularly when their interest rates are not competitive.
Not many investors buy gilts but they can be a suitable investment in the right circumstances, especially index-linked issues.
Pooled investments
Investment trusts have shares just like any other company share bought and sold on the Stock Exchange but, as their business is investing in a number of companies and/or markets, they spread the risk.
Unit trusts are a favoured way of investing in equities as they also spread the risk.
Index trackers are specialised forms of unit trust which seek to replicate movement in one of the stock market indices.
Direct investment in equities
Spread the risk over a number of share sectors (banks, stores, etc.) and a number of shares in your chosen sectors.
Do not buy a share merely for the shareholders' perks; it must be a share which you would buy even if there were no perks.
Find out whether your employer has a share option scheme and if so consider taking part - you are unlikely to lose.
If you think your employer has good prospects, it is worth buying some shares to take advantage of the tax benefit.
ISAs, PEPs and TESSAs
ISAs are definitely worth considering as a way of protecting some of your investments from both income and capital gains taxes. Currently you can invest £10,200 each year in an ISA, of which £5,100 can be in a cash ISA, if you are aged 50 plus. For those under 50, the limits are £7,200 and £3,600 until 2010/11.
Although new investment is not permitted in PEPs you do not have to cash them in; existing tax protection can be retained and investments (and providers) can still be changed.
If you transferred your TESSA on maturity to a TESSA-only ISA (TOISA),there is no time limit to its tax-free nature.
ISAs, PEPs and TOISAs can now be merged, as the distinction between them has been removed.
Tax on investments
There are many investments which are free of income tax. You need to look at the after-tax returns to make a proper comparison.
If you are a non-taxpayer, compare returns on a pre-tax basis and remember that with investments where tax is deducted at source, it cannot be recovered.
Endeavour to take advantage of the capital gains tax annual exempt amount (currently £10,100).
Not many people have estates which exceed the inheritance tax exempt amount (currently £325,000 - £650,000 for couples) but if you are in that position consider taking some action to avoid paying it.
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PENSIONS - SOME POINTS OF INTEREST
State pensions .
Do you know your state basic pension position, especially if you are nearing retirement ? If not, get a pensions forecast. If your contributions are inadequate, consider paying in more to achieve the full pension.
If your retirement income is below the guaranteed minimum, make sure you get the Pension Credit to bring you up to the guaranteed amount. More is available even if you have a small amount of other income
If you are the recipient of other state benefits, such as incapacity benefit, find out what will be the impact on them when you start to receive the state pension.
Occupational schemes .
If you are a member of an occupational pension scheme, do you know whether it is a final-salary or money-purchase scheme and are you aware of the implications for you ?
Have you considered making AVCs and/or starting a stakeholder pension, to supplement your company pension?
If you are thinking about leaving your occupational scheme (or not joining if you are a new employee), are you fully aware of what you are giving up ?
Have you considered the financial implications of retirement, whether early, at normal retirement age or late, including whether to take any cash lump sum available?
If your pension scheme includes a lump sum death benefit, make sure you have completed a nomination form, so that the trustees know your wishes and the benefit is paid outside your estate.
Personal pensions
Make sure you are paying the maximum personal pension contributions for your age, if you can afford to.
Consider switching your personal pension if the charges are high. Get help if necessary to make the best choice of personal pension provider for you.
If you change jobs, you can continue contributing to your personal pension but if there is an occupational pension available it will almost certainly be advantageous to join it.
If your employer has a group personal pension, weigh up the pros and cons of joining.
Give careful consideration to a stakeholder pension; it could be well worth while joining, whatever your existing pension arrangements are.
Annuities
If you have to buy an annuity with your pension money, give careful consideration as to which type of annuity is best for you.
Shop around for the best rates currently available. Look in newspapers for an indication of what they should be for the type of annuity you have chosen (it might be a good idea to compare rates for different types before making the final decision).
If you have a large fund available, consider deferring the purchase of the annuity, bearing in mind the maximum and minimum amounts you must draw down.
Compare the purchase of a voluntary annuity with the other investments available to you, seeking advice if desirable. When comparing returns, remember that the annuity normally dies with you.
Retirement planning
Can you save for your retirement to provide additional income then? Do you have existing investments which can be used for this purpose?
Find out what your pensions are forecast to provide.
If nearing retirement, have you prepared a post-retirement income and expenditure budget, to see where you stand?
If you need more income in retirement, consider ways of achieving it.
Most people would like to retire early. If you are one, make yourself aware of the financial implications.
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