Four Ways to Give Savings a Boost
As a financial advisor, you are always looking for new ways to help your customers save more money and get better returns on the savings they already have. Here are our top tips to save you time and effort.
Clear Interest-Bearing Debts
As the great authority on household finance Martin Lewis always makes clear, in the current low-interest rate climate, checking savings and debt interest rates is vital. Carrying debt at a higher rate of interest than whichever savings vehicle your client is using does not make sense. Your customers will always be better off clearing debt first, unless the APR on debts and credit cards is lower than the rate of interest on their savings. It is highly unlikely in the current financial climate that this is true, unless all their debt is interest-free. If a customer has a loan incurring interest at 3% and savings in an account earning 1% interest and can repay the loan early without incurring penalties, paying the loan early is a no-brainer which will leave them better off in the long term.
Make Sure Fast-Access Savings Are Earning the Best Available Interest
Using software for financial advisors, you can keep tabs on the market quickly and easily, letting you alert your customers if new savings products become available that could earn them a better rate of interest.
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Review Mortgages and Loans
Bank of England base rates seem due to stay low for the foreseeable future, so lenders are competing hard. Using software for financial advisors can make it fast and easy to identify opportunities for your client to switch to a cheaper mortgage or loan. If a customer is due to remortgage or has a personal loan at an uncompetitive rate, alerting them to cheaper products can help divert their hard-earned cash into their savings.
Protecting Savings
Ensuring a customer has appropriate insurance in place to protect their savings in the case of illness or loss of a spouse can make a huge difference to the lifetime value of their savings pot. Using software for financial advisors available here can save you hours evaluating the insurance products available.
Working smarter and utilising software can make it easy to provide great advice to your clients and allow you to help even more people with their finances.