Marc Millar from North Wealth Management, and Senior Partner Practice of St. James's Place Wealth Management talks to Highlights PR's Keith Newman about his work and how he can help businesses of all sizes with their financial affairs.
Tell us a little bit about what your business does?
I help individuals and business owners with financial advice and planning. I think there’s lots of things that people don’t realise that they can have when they’ve got a sole business or a small, limited company. For example, income protection.
What does income protection do?
It’s there for when a sole trader or a limited company finds that they can’t work. At this time, challenges with their income can become overriding as everybody’s got their outgoings and expenditure on a monthly basis and not being employed means that you’ve no income. Income protection policies cover them for a certain percentage of their turnover looking at the last three years but for those kinds of individuals it’s more about “Peace of Mind” that they’ve got something in place that would provide them with an income that would cover part or most of their outgoings on a monthly basis.
What would you say to somebody who perhaps is worried about the rising cost of living and then this is just another expense?
It’s very difficult as a lot of it comes down to affordability. There’s a lot of options available and it’s about looking at what’s most importantto them. I don’t sell on fear, and I don’t get people to take anything on that they can’t afford. That’s why I’ll sit down with my client and look at the options in depth.
Are the services you provide tax deductible?
For limited companies then they could use it as a business expense with relevant life cover. There are other tax benefits too that I discuss on an individual basis. For example, taking profit from a business into a pension is straight forward, if you have a pension in place and you’ve got a successful business you can then backfill what you haven’t used on your annual allowance for the three years previous. Now I know you work with a lot of sole traders and limited companies, but you’ve also got a wealth of clients who are bigger companies or shareholders how’s that different to being a sole trader? I think that at any level the similarities are that all these people are engrossed in the business trying to make it successful and more profitable. They have to look after staff as well as the challenges we have with the cost of living and expenditure. Sadly, many of them don’t have the protection in place for their level. Take for example, a limited company with multiple directors. It’s about “What if?” How would they settle an individual’s share of the business if they passed away? What if someone was incapacitated and couldn’t work? I can arrange life insurance for them as well as key person protection in case the worst happens. It means that there’s continuity in the business so they can perhaps bring someone in at that same level on a set amount that they’ve already covered for in the protection. How can you help businesses raise money? The priority now with a lot of businesses is to have their own buildings and commercial properties. It’s quite complex but pensions can be utilised for commercial premises purchases and can be used in conjunction with a self-invested personal pension. For some it is a very smart way to be tax efficient, but every circumstance is different, and I’d need to research and talk to the business owners before offering any advice.
We’ve talked about helping business owners, but can you help people who work for an employer?
Everybody’s under a lot of pressure from rising costs and there’s a lot of anxiety and depression about and the first thing that people think of is finance. I’m more than happy to sit down with a group of employees and listen to what their challenges are, give a little bit of help with their own pensions or state pension projections or look at what they need to give them “Peace of Mind.” The most forward-thinking companies are the ones that value their staff and will allow me to sit down with them for trusted advice.