Do we need a tax or financial advisor?

[Diorissimo1985]

I'm getting in a muddle about our finances and wanted to hear opinions on using financial advisors - are they worth the fee? Do they make a difference to how you plan your finances? Are they only really for people with loads of money?

We moved abroad last year but keep property in the UK, which we are renting out. We have about £50k equity in that house - not sure at the moment if we will keep it long term or sell. Basically we don't know what would be a sensible plan with regard to finances - so many questions...

• what about capital gains tax?
• if we have some extra money to save (e.g. £5k) should we pay off mortgage or invest it somewhere?
• should we sell property and invest lump sum somewhere? Can't afford to buy where we have moved to
• would FAs be able to advise on pension plans?

Currently feeling quite confused about what we should be doing and don't want to make bad decisions. And if we do get a FA, how much should we be paying and how do you find one?!

• CGT is only when you sell
• You'll owe income tax on the rental income
• little point reducing the mortgage on a rental property
• Yes, IFAs can advise on pensions and savings .... good ones are not really interested in pots under £50k

best way to find one is to ask around

Thank you - that is very useful!
Can I ask why there isn't much point reducing the mortgage on a rental?

Also, when you say IFAs would only be keen to work with +£50k - is that pensions or savings pots? We don't have anything like that in savings but I'm unsure where we can advice

Mortgage rental - it depends on your tax status and other earnings, but at least part of the interest cost is deductible against tax

Pensions - you'd need to look at the value of your total pension pots and savings pots

ask around about a decent IFA and let them go through your figures with you

We use an IFA for pension planning and investments. They did an overall financial sweep through everything so we could have used them for other things but we just wanted to focus on retirement planning.

I googled local independent FA's then checked them out on the FSA website to validate their credentials. We weren't charged for the first couple of meetings as it was a fact finding session to decide whether they were suitable for what we wanted and we were happy with them and their fees.

So yes you can use an IFA but look for a company that covers all financial aspects and maybe ask for an initial phone call to decide whether they would be suitable to advise on what you want.

Thank you - really useful to know!