You may benefit from working with a financial adviser if you are planning towards an important life goal or financial objective. This could include buying a home, getting married, planning for retirement, investing surplus income, or managing an inheritance.
Many people seek financial advice when they want greater clarity and confidence around their finances. Others simply want to ensure their money is working as effectively and tax-efficiently as possible.
A financial adviser can help if you:
You may not require ongoing advice if your finances are relatively straightforward, with simple savings arrangements, limited financial commitments, and no immediate planning needs. However, even in these circumstances, professional advice can provide valuable reassurance and help you avoid costly mistakes.
A financial adviser helps individuals and businesses make informed financial decisions and plan confidently for the future.
This may include helping you:
We provide independent financial advice to individuals, families, and business owners across Sheffield and the surrounding areas, with advice built around your personal goals and circumstances. We use financial planning and cash-flow modelling to help you understand where you are today and what may be possible in the future.
We also assess your attitude to risk and capacity for loss to ensure any recommendations are suitable for your individual circumstances and aligned with Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulations.
At Fogwill & Jones, your first meeting is a free, no-obligation consultation designed to help us understand your current financial position and future goals. We regularly work with clients across Sheffield and surrounding areas, helping them plan confidently for the future.
During the meeting, your adviser will discuss areas such as:
The purpose of the meeting is to establish whether we can add value to your situation and outline how we may be able to help.
A good starting point is to check that the adviser is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). You should also understand whether they are independent financial advisers, meaning they can recommend products and solutions from across the wider market rather than from a limited panel of providers.
Beyond qualifications and regulation, it is important to find an adviser who takes the time to understand your goals, explains things clearly, and makes you feel comfortable asking questions.
When choosing a financial adviser, consider whether they:
We work with individuals, families, and business owners across Sheffield, helping clients make informed financial decisions with confidence and clarity.
Our office is based in Sheffield at:
DeVere House
4 Acorn Business Park
Woodseats Close
Sheffield
S8 0TB
We work with clients across Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and throughout the UK, offering both face-to-face and remote meetings.
Our office opening hours are:
If you require an appointment outside of standard office hours, please contact us and we will do our best to accommodate your availability
Bringing relevant financial information to your meeting helps us provide more accurate and meaningful guidance.
Useful documents may include:
Do not worry if you do not have everything available at the first meeting. We can help guide you through what is needed.
We believe good financial planning is built on long-term relationships and regular communication.
Depending on your preferences, you can stay in touch with your adviser through:
We aim to provide clear, responsive, and personal support so you always feel informed and confident about your financial plans.
Fogwill & Jones does not directly hold client money.
When investing, your money is typically held securely with an investment platform or product provider. Depending on your circumstances and objectives, this may include providers such as AJ Bell, Aviva, Fidelity or Fundment.
As independent financial advisers, we research the wider market to recommend the most suitable platform or provider for your individual needs.
We do not set a minimum or maximum investment amount.
However, financial advice should represent good value for you. In some cases, if the amount available to invest is relatively small, a self-managed approach may be more cost-effective.
If we believe this is the case, we will tell you honestly during your initial consultation.
The best time to invest depends on your personal circumstances, objectives, and time horizon.
In general, starting earlier can provide greater long-term potential because your investments have more time to benefit from compound growth.
For example, a £10,000 investment growing at 8% per year over 30 years could grow to approximately £100,626 before charges and inflation.
However, investing is usually more suitable for medium to long-term goals. If you need access to your money within the next one to two years, cash savings may be more appropriate.
Before investing, it is also sensible to maintain an emergency cash reserve. A common guideline is to keep between three and six months of essential expenditure in accessible savings.
Market falls are a normal part of investing and can happen for many reasons, including economic uncertainty, inflation, interest rate changes, or global events.
While market volatility can understandably feel concerning, it is important to remember that investing is typically designed for medium to long-term goals. Historically, investment markets have experienced periods of decline followed by recovery over time.
Reacting emotionally to short-term market movements can sometimes do more harm than good, particularly if investments are sold during temporary downturns.
A well-structured financial plan will usually take market fluctuations into account through:
We help clients remain focused on their long-term objectives and provide reassurance and guidance during periods of market uncertainty.
Having several pensions from previous employers can feel overwhelming, particularly when trying to plan for retirement.
A good first step is to gather any pension statements you already have and contact providers for updated information. If you have lost track of older pensions, you can use the Government’s Pension Tracing Service.
Once you have a clearer picture of your pensions, it is often beneficial to review them with a financial adviser.
An adviser can help you:
Consolidating pensions is not always the right option, but professional advice can help you make informed decisions.
Retirement planning is highly personal and depends on factors such as your lifestyle goals, income needs, savings, pensions, and desired retirement age.
In the UK, private pensions can generally be accessed from age 55, rising to age 57 from 2028. The State Pension age is currently 66 and is scheduled to rise to 67.
The earlier you begin planning for retirement, the more options and flexibility you are likely to have.
At Fogwill & Jones, we help clients across Sheffield and the wider surrounding area use cash-flow modelling to better understand:
Retirement planning is about creating clarity and confidence for the years ahead.
The tax treatment of pensions on death depends largely on your age at the time of death.
Under current legislation, pensions generally sit outside your estate for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes.
However, changes announced by the Government will bring pensions into scope for IHT from April 2027. Tax rules can change and will depend on individual circumstances.
Professional financial advice can help ensure your pension and estate planning arrangements remain appropriate and tax-efficient.
As a general guide, pensions and investments should be reviewed at least once a year. Regular reviews help ensure your plans remain aligned with your goals, attitude to risk, and changing circumstances.
However, you may benefit from reviewing your finances sooner if there have been significant changes in your life, such as:
Investment performance should also be reviewed in the context of your long-term objectives rather than short-term market fluctuations.
Our ongoing financial planning service includes regular reviews to help clients across Sheffield and the surrounding areas stay on track and adapt confidently as life evolves.
The cost of financial advice can differ greatly between services and providers. We discuss our fees openly and transparently during your initial free consultation with one of our advisers.
Depending on the type of advice you require, we typically charge either:
For clients who choose our ongoing advice service, we charge an annual fee of up to 1% of the amount invested. This covers ongoing reviews, investment monitoring, and continuing financial advice.
If we arrange protection policies such as Life Insurance or Income Protection, we may receive commission from the product provider. We will always explain this clearly before you proceed.
You do not have to commit to an ongoing advice service and many people seek advice for a specific financial need or one-off decision.
However, ongoing financial advice can be valuable if you:
Financial planning is not static. Your goals, personal circumstances, legislation, and investment markets can all change over time.
An ongoing relationship with a financial adviser can help ensure your plans remain aligned with your objectives and continue to support your long-term financial wellbeing.
Yes, ideally, everyone should have some form of life insurance. Life insurance can provide valuable financial security for the people who depend on you.
It may help your family:
The right level and type of cover will depend on your personal circumstances, including your income, debts, family situation, and existing benefits.
In general, life insurance premiums tend to be lower when cover is arranged at a younger age and while you are in good health.
A financial adviser can help you understand what level of protection may be appropriate and ensure any policies are aligned with your wider financial plan.
