Over the last 48 hours, we have seen a great number of lenders increase their shorter term (2, 3, 4 year) fixed rates.

This is due to an increase in swap rates (effectively the cost of borrowing) over the shorter term.

A word of caution, if you are considering a fixed rate at this time, the key is to act quickly

Some lenders are giving us 2 days notice, some are giving us 2 hours. There are some good deals around, but need to be taken up  quickly.


If you would like to speak with Jeremy, our independent mortgage advisor at finance 4 chiropractors please contact us to arrannge an appointment

T: 01872 242800
E: support@finance4chiropractors.com

The Bank Of England have just announced a further reduction in the base rate to 1%      
Aside from this being yet another record low, it is believed to be the final reduction in rates.

Whilst many mortgage holders will be rubbing their hands with glee as they move to standard variable rates, it is now essential for people to discuss their future mortgage requirements in order to capitalise on the ‘golden deals’ which will come along over the next few months.

Whilst lenders have not issued details of any future deals at this time, there is no doubt that any good product will be highly subscribed.

We already have a priority list of those clients who wish us to seek a good deal on their behalf as they seek to move from the variable rate over the next few months.  In order for you to benefit from this service, you will need to speak with one of our advisors as soon as possible in order to ensure they have everything ready to go when the balloon goes up !

T: 01872 242800
E: support@finance4chiropractors.com

 

The Bank of England have just announced a further base rate drop – by 0.5% to a staggering 1.5% making it the lowest on record – since 1694 when the Bank Of England was established.

If you need the assistance of an independent mortgage advisor to help you find the best deals out there please call us on 01872 242800

 

In these trying times and in light of the deadline for submission of returns rapidly approaching we are hearing many clients have making comments about their tax payments and the usual reluctance to actually paying their tax…

A couple of our clients have mentioned about HMRC being able to delay their tax and not charge them penalties. We have subsequently looked into this so called “Business Payment Support Service” that the Revenue offer (and in fact recently recommended it to clients) who had concerns about meeting their tax payments.

The client in question has said that he was offered an agreement over the phone of delaying the tax due in January by 2-5 months – without any surcharges being issued or additional penalties. He pushed further and they were willing to spread his payments over 12 months. Any further than 12 months and a decision is apparently given to the local tax office.

The only downside is that you must keep up the payments or the agreement is void. Also there is a small interest rate of 2% above base rate until the liability is repaid.

Obviously this may come in useful to some tax payers as it encompasses ANY HMRC payment that you are concerned about not being able to meet, including corporation tax, not just the usual income tax. This could save drawing down on overdrafts from the bank not to mention surcharges that will not be withdrawn if you decide after they are issued that you can’t pay your tax!!

The number is 0845 302 1435  -  link www.hmrc.gov.uk/pbr2008/business-payment.htm

Or please contact finance 4 chiropractors for more details on 01872 271655
support@finance4chiropractors.com

The HMRC has turned its attention to buy-to-let property owners in a search for unpaid taxes.

Accountants, who would prepare a client's tax return and Independent Financial Advisors (IFA) who organise the investment and mortgage for a buy-to-let often work seperately so one neither are always aware of the full picture.

Accountants and the HMRC are therefore encouraging IFA's with clients known to have buy-to-let investments to make early disclosure to avoid a full investigation.

If you are in this position and need further advice we have a full report we can email you so please get in touch on 01872 242800 or support@finance4chiropractors.com

finance 4 chiropractors have an independent IFA and a team of qualified accountants that work very closely together so in the future you can avoid these circumstances by using both services

 

Despite the doom and gloom of the current economy we are still very much open for business when it comes to arranging chiropractic finance.

Our specialist financial advisor can hunt down the most competetive rates and get a speedy answer back on any provisional applications.

We are finding that the media are putting people off applying for finance with the attitude that "finance is hard to raise at the moment", which can not be denied, however many chiropractors with good income levels and possibly a small deposit are still able to achieve the finance they require to purchase their chiropractic practice, chiropractic equipment or fund the set up of a new venture.

For more information, please visit the website http://www.finance4chiropractors.com/default.htm 

or contact our financial advisor Jeremy Squibb on 01872 242800  

Jeremy Squibb, our dedicated F4C Independent Financial Advisor, who generally arranges finance and protection for practise purchases, has now taken over the running of the Mortgage Department within Kelsall Steele.

From now on, in addition to helping you with your commercial finance requirements, Jeremy will be pleased to search across the whole of the mortgage market in order to give you the best possible advice.

With borrowing rates, offers and deals changing daily, never has it been so important to ensure you obtain up to the minute mortgage advice.

 

Do you have a tracker or variable rate mortgage or business loan?

If so, have you thought what you are going to do with the spare 2% of interest you will be saving each month following the recent Bank Of England base rate cuts ?

At finance 4 chiropractors (Kelsall Steele) rather than cracking open the champagne and indulging in caviar sandwiches, we believe it far better to benefit from today’s low interest rates to protect against the raises which will inevitably come at some stage.

With a mortgage or loan of £200,000, you should now find yourself around £333 per month better off – so what to do with it ?

Add into the equation the low position of investment markets, combine the two, and there is a great potential to save for the future.

In 11 months, you could have used either your Cash ISA allowance, or even better part of your investment ISA allowance.  When markets improve, there is a great potential to pay a lump sum off the borrowing.

The same principle follows for mortgages.  £333 per month (plus tax relief of 20%), takes the contribution to over £410 per month – with out the market growing at all, over 2 years you would have saved almost £10,000.

For more information, call Jeremy Squibb at our offices on 01872 271655.

With the recent significant drop in the Bank Of England Base Rate, this will be passed on by the lenders we use for our Practice Purchase loans.

With borrowing rates generally around 1.75% over the Bank Of England Base Rate, where last month a loan would have been charged interest at 6.75%, that cost has now reduced to 4.75% - on a loan of £200,000 that is a reduction of £333 per month.

Rather than reduce your payment, why not speak with your lender to see if you can keep payments the same – the outcome – a 10 year loan would be repaid 20 months early, and save interest of £28,000.

With the Bank Of England “slashing” interest rates by 2% over the course of 5 weeks, many mortgage lenders are now re-grouping, and assessing their products available on the market.

Consequently, we anticipate a huge amount of new products to be forthcoming over the next few weeks.

If you want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the mortgage market, don’t forget to give our dedicated Independent Financial Adviser – Jeremy Squibb – a call, who will be pleased to keep you informed of the changes.

The Bank of England have just announced a massive reduction of 1.5 % in the interest rate

This is the largest for quite some time, and emphasises the need to ensure all mortgages are properly reviewed.

Icesave’s UK customers should be able to find out on Friday about how they will be able to reclaim their savings. A spokesman from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme has said that Icesave’s UK customers will receive application forms for compensation for their lost savings in the next week.

Icesave’s UK customers should have received the first €20,887 from the Icelandic compensation scheme with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme topping up the rest to £50,000 per person per institution. However, Alistair Darling has said that the UK Authorities would guarantee all savings for Icesave’s UK customers. It’s also likely that Icesaver’s UK customers will only have to complete one compensation form to reclaim their lost savings

 

One of the most frequently asked questions today - so here is a brief summary of the latest understanding (as of lunchtime on Friday 10th October)
 
All limits are per person, and relate to Unconnected Institutions - as an example Royal Bank Of Scotland and Nat West are connected
 
Banks and Building Societies     £50,000 per person
 
Northern Rock                          £2 million per person (Guaranteed by UK Government)
 
National Savings
(not Post Office Bank)               Unlimited (Guaranteed by UK Government)
 
Post Office Bank
(Comes under Irish Bank)          Unlimited for 2 years
 
Irish Banks                               Unlimited for 2 years
 
Icesave                                     Unlimited (Guaranteed by UK Government)
(Iceland)
 
Of course, with the potential 'good value' of the stock markets, it could be a good time to be investing there instead.
 
If you require any clarification on the above, do not hesitate to call our Independent Financial Adviser - Jeremy Squibb on the usual F4C phone number

Good news for borrowers, the Bank of England have cut rates by 0.5% today taking base rate down to 4.5%

More events have occurred in the economy over the last week or two and this has hugely affected one aspect of business. Confidence.

Banks don't have it to lend money out, and consumers don't know whether their asset value will go up or down, or by how much. Needless to say, this affects practice selling and purchasing. Whilst there are still clinic-owners looking to sell, and still keen buyers looking for their own clinic, there is difficulty obtaining finance. 

The uncertainty can also cause difficulties arriving at the right prices from both parties' point of view and it is fair to say goodwill prices have dropped from 12 months ago. Sensibly-priced businesses (not just chiropractic clinics) will still sell and open dialogue between parties is crucial to enable deals to proceed. Although some areas have been affected more than others due to demographics, interestingly we have not yet seen a nationwide drop in profitability so there could actually be more of a bargain out there for buyers!

Contrary to advice given to us by Northern Rock on Monday (idiots), any saving deposits with them are 100% guaranteed by the government up to £2million per customer, not the standard £35,000 covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Although keep an eye on their competitiveness as their market position may now result in reduced rates.

Unless you have been on holiday, hopefully enjoying some sun, you will have heard of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG, and HBoS and their acute demise. Rumours are also abound for others and it could be that by the time you read this they will have joined them. Without going into the detail, the situation has largely arisen due to poor lending practices and a frenzied cultural acceptance to taking on debt.
 
However, there are successful business people out there bucking the national trend and accumulating cash instead of leveraging debt and we have already had enquiries early on in this week from people concerned what to do with their savings. And it may seem a daft question but should you be concerned?
 
The truth is we don't know.
 
What we can say however is that the Financial Services Compensation Scheme will cover you under certain conditions. If we focus on pure cash investments, it is the first £35,000 that is safe. So if you have, say, £25,000 in your HSBC Deposit Account and £20,000 working capital in your HSBC Business Current Account, only £35,000 of the total is covered. But be aware the £35,000 limit doesn't necessarily just extend within a bank but is restricted per institution, so if a Group of companies are covered by one Financial Services Authorisation it is only the first £35,000 of savings held within the range.
 
Further to this, good tax planning may have seen you incorporate recently to form a distinctly separate formal Limited Company so we also wanted to establish whether deposits held within a company bank account would be covered. Thankfully, in short, they are. The same limits and criteria apply (£35,000) but if you operate a 'Small Company' as defined by the Companies Act, all is good. (A small company has less than £6.5m turnover; less than £3.26m of assets; and less than 50 employees).
 
If you feel you may be caught by these limits then there are a couple of tactics you can employ.
1) At its simplest you can shift money between your own bank accounts. Obviously you may need to open new ones to ensure they are with different institutions, and this may take a little time, but if you are at all concerned then it is a relative easy solution to protect your hard-earned cash;
2) Another possibility would be to ensure your savings are spread across individuals in your family. In particular your limits are doubled if you have a joint account (i.e. you get £70,000) as it is per investor.
 
It fair to say that specifics will vary from case to case and differing compensation is available for insurance policies and other non-cash investments but take professional advice if you need to.

Today I have updated new pages on the website providing details of an exciting new product we are recomending:

What: Health Insurance

With: Pruhealth

How it works: You collect "Vitality" points for various activities such as exercising regularly, eating healthily, stopping smoking and these go towards benefits and discounts.

Benefits (in a nutshell)
Discounted or free gym membership with a choice of 224 gyms in the UK

25% "no claims" discount each year for not claiming. This can be increased to 50%, 75% and 100% depending on how many Vitality Points you earn

Discounts with Champneys Health Resorts, Cineworld, Eurostar and more

For more information, visit the website

The rates which lenders borrow money is on the decline, which means that some high street lenders are reducing their fixed or tracker rates.

It is best to start looking for a new rate 2-3 months before it is due to expire, rather than have the surprise of the standard variable rate.

Now is the essential time to speak to an independent advisor who can help you with your mortgage

 

When setting up a practice, if you have 5 employees or more, it is a legal requirement to offer access to a stakeholder pension

At present, it is not a requirement to contribute towards any employees pensions, however plans are afoot under the guise of the Governments Personal Savings Accounts in 2012.  

If you have 5 or more employees and require guidance relating the stakeholder pensions please contact Jeremy Squibb, our IFA who will be able to assist you with complying with the law.

Lloyds TSB are fastly moving in the healthcare market and already deal with many dentists, they are now moving into specialising in chiropractors as well.

As independent financial advisors, we always search the market for the best rates and options for our clients and whilst RBS are still very competetive and we hold a good relationship with the healthcare division, Lloyds are starting to match products as well as offer a great service.

Ross and Mike visited the annual conference to continue to build relationships with lenders for our clients and they spent time presenting to the 40 or so healthcare managers about chiropractic in general, our experience over the past 20 years with the profession, the valuation of practices and the services we offer our many clients.

All in all a very productive and interesting day!

 

Don't forget to sign up for regular e-news updates from finance 4 chiropractors! Simply visit our homepage and follow the link or use the link below

http://www.finance4chiropractors.com/forms/subscribe.htm 

The Christmas and New Year period always dies off for new enquiries due to the busy time of year in everyone's personal lives.....business is forgotten! Only temporarily though....

.....March and April we always see an influx of people wanting to find out more information about our services. New years resolutions bring the intentions of buying a new clinic, selling a clinic, moving house, changing accountants, investing for the future of the family....

The fast approaching end of the tax year on 5/4/08 also prompts enquiries about our tax services as well an last minute ISA applications.

We must be offering a good service because more new clients than normal have recently joined us and often we have complimented their "must do" accounts and tax package with more pro-active advice such as tax planning, financial forecasting and general business consultancy to help improve their business

The maximum  amount for investing into a Mini Cash ISA is £3000 per tax year.  Once the tax year has passed, the allowance can no longer be used. 

From April 2008, the allowance rises to £3600 per person.

Cash ISAs enable the investor to save in a tax free environment, often at very favourable rates (one was launched today at 6.5%)

In addition to the cash allowances, in 2008, the total amount payable into an ISA will rise to £7,200 (cash and stocks and shares)

One interesting change from April is that it is possible to transfer your previous Cash ISA (which includes previous Tessa Investments presently held in an TOISA - Tessa Only ISA) into Stocks and Shares - and still retain the favourable tax environment

Care should of course be taken to ensure that you have sufficient readily available funds should the need arise.

Just heard feedback from a client who we have helped to obtain finance for the purchase of chiropractic equipment for his new chiropractic clinic. He managed to secure excellent rates though one of our lenders, Exclusive Benefits, and is now also looking into Xray equipment as well.

One VERY happy client!!  

 

The IFA’s at Kelsall Steele have recently adopted the "wrap platform" for investments and pensions.

 

What does this mean ?

 

In short, the "wrap" enables you to hold all your investments and pensions under one roof, making the management of your investments easier, and opens up the possibility of buying funds on a wholesale basis (i.e. reduction in costs).  In addition to this, the investment advisers’ costs are less, and this is likely to translate into less charges for the client, thus improving your return.

We have just completed on arranging finance in excess of £500k, for the purchase of a chiropractic clinic with freehold property by a young chiropractor

We managed to secure a very competetive rate for commercial finance of 1.5% over the base rate

 

 

More advice from our financial advisor, Jeremy regarding ISA's

With the tax year quickly coming to an end, the Individual ISA allowance still retains its "Use It Or Lose It" status.

This year, investors can save up to £7000 in equities, or £3,000 in cash and £4,000 equities.  Once the tax year ends, so does that year's allowance.

From 6th April 2008, the new contribution limits have however been increased

The annual contribution has been increased to £7,200 with the maximum cash element being increased from £3,000 to £3,600. The additional £3,600 tax-free allowance can be invested in equities, or the whole £7,200 can be invested as such.

The new rules also mean that anyone with previous year’s cash ISA savings can transfer them into stocks and shares ISAs. Unfortunately the situation doesn’t work in reverse, so stocks and shares ISAs can not be transferred into cash ISAs.

From 6 April 2008 Personal Equity Plans (PEPs) will be renamed ISAs and will be able to have the same flexibility as ISA savers enjoy.

With markets around the globe experiencing varying fortunes at present, it is more crucial than ever to ensure your investment mix reflects your tollerance to risk.

Some useful advice from our Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) for chiropractors.....

With the forthcoming reduction in income tax, which may seem a welcome treat to many, the tax rebate added to pension contributions will also be reduced.

If you presently contribute £500 (gross) towards a pension, at the moment you will pay £390 (net), whereas after April you will need to contribute £400 (net) to achieve the same level of savings.

When considering a lump sum investment of say £10,000, by making the contribution this tax year (before April 5th) rather than next, you would have an additional £200 invested into the pension fund.

Out of interest, the same applies to charitable giving through gift aid, so if you are thinking of giving your money away, do it in February or March, rather than April.