Financial advice for Contractors
Whether you are a client or not you can benefit from the advice below. Choosing a reliable and truly independent financial advisor needn’t be difficult.
If you’ve just become a contractor / freelancer or even been one for a while, there’s a good chance you will be earning more money than if you were a permanent employee, which after all is only fair bearing in mind the less secure nature of your profession.
Additionally, your finances are probably a little more complex, and whereas a permanent employee, whatever that means these days (I don’t think the term ‘permanent employee’ really exists anymore), you could probably benefit from the services of an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA).
Sitting down with an IFA makes all kinds of sense especially as a contractor or freelancer; they will review your current financial situation and help you to achieve the financial goals you have set yourself, whether that be to retire early, build a tax efficient nest egg or provide additional levels of security for yourself and your family.
Financial advice for contractors includes:
Contractor Pensions - did you know that if you have a limited company your company could be making pensions contributions on your behalf? Having your company pay into a pension can be a highly tax efficient way to make payments. You can invest money directly from the company bank account into your pension. By doing this you avoid paying the income tax you would have paid if the money went into your net salary. In addition you will reduce NI contributions. So for every £100 that is invested in your pension, you pay £46.20 and the taxman contributes up to £53.80.
However, something to watch out for is that not all pension companies can accept pension contributions from a company bank account; however an IFA will be able to guide you through this mine field.
They can also run illustrations to see if you are saving enough towards that golden day when you can sit back, relax and retire on that beautiful Caribbean island. Additionally, they will be able review how well your pension fund manager is performing against their peers. Remember just because a fund manager ‘was’ top quartile last year, it doesn’t mean they are still outperforming the market!
An IFA can also help with Life Cover, Income Replacement and Critical Illness Cover as well as other Investments and Savings Plans.
SJD Accountancy recommends Wardour Partners who support thousands of private clients and have over £150million of client funds under active management. They provide a strong, reliable and experienced service, if they didn’t we wouldn’t recommend then. SJD has over 10,000 clients so we really do have the pick of the bunch when it comes to who we recommend.
Wardour Partners aren’t tied to any financial institution so can therefore search the whole market to find the best product for you. Typically their fees are paid by whomever they recommend (fees are pretty standard across whoever they recommend) so you can be sure of receiving the best and most appropriate advice tailored meet your needs.
And remember you don’t even need to be a client of SJD to benefit from the advice of one of Wardour Partners IFAs.
If would like to have a chat with an IFA please 0845 013 5505 or send an email.
You may also find the follow guides and pages helpful:
Contractor Pensions
Contractor Mortgage Assessor
Contractor Mortgage Calculator
Contractor Mortgage Guide Myths and Facts
Top five tips on getting a Contractor Mortgage
30 second Step by step guide to Contractor Mortgages
Professional Indemnity Insurance for Contractors
SJD Accountancy
SJD Accountancy are the UK's largest specialist provider of fixed fee, limited company accountancy services to contractors; we've been acting for contractors across the UK since 1992 and have more than 11,000 clients.
We are the only National specialist firm of accountants with offices in all major UK cities so you’ll never be far from your accountant. SJD also have more qualified staff than any other firm in our market with qualifications from the following major tax and accountancy bodies - ATII, ATT, ACCA, CA, ACA, FCCA, ACMA. You’ll also be pleased to know that we are one of the lowest priced as well.
SJD have also won every relevant industry award possible, including:
- Best Contractor Accountants - Contractor UK 2011 - 2007
- Accountant of the Year - The British Accountancy Awards 2011
- Best Professional Team of the Year - UK Customer Experience Award 2011
- Customer Commitment Award - Institute of Customer Service 2011
- National Chamber of Commerce Award 2010
- Medium firm of the Year - Finalist Accountancy Age 2010
- Excellence in Customer Service - Finalists National Customer Service Awards 2009
- Sunday Times Best Small Companies - Award 2009 - 2007
- Small firm of the Year - Accountancy Age 2007 & 2004 and finalists in 2010 and all years since 2003
- Deemed PCG accredited accountants and fully MSC compliant
We offer all clients:
Free face-to-face meetings. This is another unique service, only SJD offers free face to face meetings - tax is complicated and sometimes only a meeting will do.
Unlimited access to your own dedicated accountant. No call centres, no outsourcing, no automated call handling. Simply telephone, email or meet your own dedicated accountant face to face.
Money back service guarantee. All your telephone calls and emails will be answered the same day or we will refund your monthly fee's.
Outstanding reputation. We have won more awards for customer service and accountancy excellence than any other firm in our market.
All inclusive low cost monthly package which includes completion of accounts, payroll bureau, dividends and corporation tax computations, personal taxation, free bookkeeping software, unlimited access to your accountant and all company returns.
All this for a fixed monthly fee of £110 plus VAT, which is one of the lowest prices in the market. And most importantly, in a recent survey 98% of our clients rated SJD as 'better than other accountants' - we are working hard to convince the other 2%!
If you have any question about contracting or would like any further advice please either contact your SJD Accountant or call our new client services helpdesk on 0500 152500 / 01442 275789 or e-mail rachel@sjdaccountancy.com.
Appoint SJD Accountancy and never worry about your tax or accountancy affairs again!
You may also find the following pages, guides and case studies useful:
Take home pay calculator - How much could you be taking home
Contractor FAQ - All your frequently asked questions and their answers
First time Contracting or Freelancing? - A summary of the alternatives along with pros and cons
Choosing an accountant - For a full review
Step-by-step Guide to Contracting - Download a FREE copy of our guide
Limited or Umbrella? Can't decide? - We help you decide which is best for you
Guide to Contracting - All the best guides to contracting in one place
Expenses Guide - Know exactly what you can claim
Umbrella company guide - Everything you ever wanted to know about umbrella company services
IR35 Guide - A great plain English guide to IR35.
