Why Your Financial Plan Should Be as Personal as Your Career Path

You’ve worked hard to build a career or business that reflects your ambition, values, and vision. Your financial planning should do the same.

Whether you’ve scaled a company, built a successful Practice, or managed complex investments, your financial world is uniquely yours, and it deserves a strategy to match.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All, And That’s a Good Thing

There are many well-established financial planning principles in the UK, making use of pensions, ISAs, and tax allowances, for example. These tools can be powerful, but their real value lies in how they’re applied to your situation.

For high-net-worth individuals, this means going beyond the basics to develop a plan that reflects your personal and professional path:

• Planning around variable income streams like dividends, profit shares, or business sale proceeds
• Managing lifetime pension allowances with care and precision
• Aligning investments with long-term goals, whether that’s intergenerational wealth, philanthropy, or a second venture
• Navigating inheritance tax proactively, using trusts, family investment companies*, or gifting

Strategy Should Follow Your Story

No two careers are alike, and neither are two financial plans.

A senior executive in London, an entrepreneur planning an exit*, and a family business owner with international assets will all have different needs, priorities, and opportunities. The most effective plans don’t apply rules - they apply relevance.

• Is your current remuneration structured in the most tax-efficient way?
• Are your assets protected in a way that supports both flexibility and succession?
• Have you built in the ability to adapt as your goals, family, or business evolve?

Financial Planning as an Extension of Your Vision

When properly aligned, your financial plan becomes more than just a framework - it becomes a powerful enabler of your long-term goals. That includes:

• Structuring income and investments for clarity and control
• Planning for IHT well in advance - with thoughtful, family-led decisions
• Coordinating with legal*, tax, and business advisers for a joined-up approach

The result? Confidence that your financial life is moving in the same direction as your ambitions.

A Final Thought

Is your current financial strategy fully aligned with the life you’ve built and the legacy you want to create? If the answer is “almost,” it may be the perfect time to elevate your approach.

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The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.

The levels and bases of taxation, and reliefs from taxation, can change at any time and are generally dependent on individual circumstances.

*Family Investment Companies, some aspects of business exit and legal services are separate and distinct from the services provided by Derek Mills Wealth Consultancy and SJP.

Trusts are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

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Although the content of the article was correct at the time of writing, the accuracy of the information should not be relied upon, as it may have been subject to subsequent tax, legislative or event changes.