Real, people-focused planning.
Our process at TDH Financial Planning starts with you and your life, followed by modern financial planning using tried and tested methods.
Financial Planning fit for modern life.
We have a simple financial planning process that helps you to identify your best life.
Step
1
Review & Life Plan
After our initial coffee chat, we will arrange a meeting to review your current financial situation and understand your life goals.
Step
2
Objective Setting & Building Your Plan
We use a combination of gentle, non-judgemental questioning combined with state-of-the-art cashflow modelling software to build your plan.
Step
3
Implementing & Reviewing Your Plan
We will help you make the changes now that will help you start to lead your best life and then review this with you at least once per year. If your circumstances require more frequent reviews then this will be our approach.
Our Solutions
We can help you with the following:
_edited.png){kind=icon}
Pensions & Retirement Planning
Investment & Estate Related Tax Planning
Savings & Investments
Personal & Family Protection
Estate Planning
Business Protection
Please note that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) does not regulate some aspects of cash flow, estate or tax planning or trust advice. HM Revenue and Customs practice and the law relating to taxation are complex and subject to individual circumstances and changes which cannot be foreseen.
Client Service is everything to us.
We will never overcharge you for our services and our fees are fully transparent.
We will never encourage you to take unnecessary investment risks.
We will not let your financial plan drift. Your plan is iterative and ongoing and we will ensure this is reviewed and tweaked when necessary.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
We understand that placing your faith in a small firm may present you with some unique concerns that might not be as important if you were dealing with a large firm. To help you consider these fully, before you engage with us, we have made a list of “Questions & Answers” and these are detailed below.
How can a small firm, charging modest fees, be confident of remaining profitable with rising employee costs, business rates and energy prices affecting so many businesses?
We feel we are in an advantageous position compared to larger firms. We work from two rooms in our home which means we do not have many of the business expenses of larger firms. In addition, we are a husband-and-wife team with no other permanent employees.
What happens to my investments if TDH Financial Planning stop trading?
TDH Financial Planning does not hold client money. We act as your agent in placing your capital within very well diversified investment funds, held securely on an investment platform. These funds are ring-fenced assets for you and do not sit on the balance sheet of either the investment manager or platform provider. If we were to stop trading you would be able to instruct the platform yourself or appoint a new financial planner as your agent.
Our compliance network, ValidPath, can provide a new financial planner for you to work with, although you can appoint a different firm if you prefer.
How can a small firm remain on the right side of the Financial Conduct Authority when their rules are frequently being updated?
We have joined forces with ValidPath, who are a Network of Independent Financial Planners. Through ValidPath we have access to technical and compliance expertise, as well as market leading technology. They have a two-decade history of ensuring firms like ours provide excellent and compliant advice to their clients. They also provide Professional Indemnity Insurance to their financial planning partner firms which further protects their clients.
What will happen when you eventually retire?
That’s a good question! Having spent many years helping people plan for retirement and getting great pleasure from seeing them do it successfully, you would think we would be keen to plan for our own retirement. The reality is a little surprising – we don’t actually like the word “retirement” but we love the concept of “financial independence”.
We believe when you reach financial independence you have choices and one of them may be to continue to work. In fact, working for the joy of it, rather than just to pay the bills, is very healthy and can lead to a longer and happier future.
​
We’re inspired by David Attenborough – we can’t imagine he’s ever thought much about retirement.
Although we have reached our own financial independence we have no plans to retire. But, if that ever changed our clients would be the first to know and we would help them to transition to a new suitable arrangement, which could mean introducing them to a similar minded firm, who we believe can offer the same high level, personal service. Don’t expect that to be anytime soon as we have a long way to go.
With only two employees, how can TDH Financial Planning continue to provide a high level of service through holidays and periods of illness?
This issue is not unique to small firms. If you work closely with any individual from a service provider you could have similar concerns. We enjoy holidays and believe they are necessary for good mental health but we also recognise that, occasionally, a client’s concern can’t wait until our return. For that reason, we have a daily check of emails and voice messages to ensure emergencies can be addressed.
Thankfully, we are both very healthy and have no plans for that to change! But, accepting that possibility, we have arranged locum services through our authorising firm ValidPath.
How can a small firm, like TDH Financial Planning, research the investment markets thoroughly and provide expert investment advice?
As mentioned within “Our Approach to Investment”, we believe in index-tracking and Evidence Based Investing. We, therefore, don’t try to beat the market and wouldn’t try to convince you that we have the ability to do that. In fact, we don’t believe many, if any, firms can do that.
The investment providers we recommend provide low-cost portfolios that track the world’s markets and expertly deliver the returns you would hope for and expect from this approach. We believe this is the safest way to access the world’s stock-markets and we don’t believe it will be possible to consistently beat the markets, no matter how much you pay for investment expertise.
How can a small firm provide the technical expertise required to look after its clients in this ever-changing financial landscape?
We are committed to Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and this makes up a reasonable proportion of our working week.
Technical support is provided by ValidPath and the various investment and platform providers that we work with. In addition, we subscribe to Techlink, who are an independent provider of financial information and technical support materials for the finance industry.
The value of investments may go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Get in touch
Leave us a message below and one of our team will get back to you shortly.
.png){kind=logo}
The information and guidance provided within this website is subject to the UK regulatory regime and is therefore primarily targeted at consumers based in the UK.
​
TDH Financial Planning Ltd is an Appointed Representative of ValidPath Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Firm Reference Number 197107. Registered office address: 21 Kenmuir Avenue, Glasgow, Scotland, G32 9LE. Registered in Scotland. Company number: SC778407.