The importance of financial wellbeing

Financial wellbeing is a hugely important topic and an area that RBC Brewin Dolphin has been focusing on for several years.

The team at RBC Brewin Dolphin is passionate about making financial education accessible and continues to provide guidance to students, as well as delivering in-house sessions to enterprises across the country.

David Blowers, Financial Planner from RBC Brewin Dolphin’s Norwich office can help to provide expertise for local firms, supporting them with a tailored financial wellbeing strategy covering many key topics such as:

• Making your financial wellbeing plan
• Managing your emotions
• ISAs versus pensions
• Cash savings versus stocks and shares
• Making use of workplace benefits

Supporting employees

There are very good reasons, both from an employee care perspective and a corporate profitability perspective, to make sure colleagues are supported as much as possible in taking control of their
finances. This support could be provided in a variety of ways, including:

• Educational seminars
• One-to-one coaching sessions
• Updating and ensuring you provide good benefit and support packages

RBC Brewin Dolphin’s research with The Lawyer magazine found that one of the key barriers to Solicitors and their colleagues taking control of their finances was lack of time. However, delaying
saving even small amounts of money into a pension can be hugely costly, so it is well worth encouraging employees to speak to a financial adviser about their current position, aspirations for the
future and steps they have in mind to get there.

You could also consider signposting employees to the various online tools that are available to them; this could be useful in giving them an insight into their finances, which would then help to focus any subsequent conversations with a financial adviser.

Steps to better financial wellbeing

RBC Brewin Dolphin partners with firms to provide financial wellbeing packages that are unique to each firm, taking into account what is happening in those businesses during the year. Some of the points which may be pertinent to everyone include:

1. Have an emergency fund to cover at least six months’ worth of essential expenditure for your household. This could help you pay for a large, unexpected bill or see you through a bout of
unemployment.

2. Consider investing any money over and above your emergency fund in the stock market to help mitigate against inflation, provided:
a) these can remain invested for five years, preferably ten years, and
b) you’re comfortable with the fact that during the investment period there will be some rollercoaster moments and you will have to hold your nerve.

3. Start a savings habit! Just do it, and start small if needs be. Consider switching some of your eating out/takeaway spend into monthly savings.

4. Reinvest your dividends! If you don’t need the income, reinvest it and give it the opportunity to grow so that you have a bigger pot when you do need it.

The power of reinvesting dividends

Source: RBC Brewin Dolphin / Thomson Reuters. Comparison of the FTSE All Share Total Return Index and FTSE All Share Price Index. Performance is quoted before charges which will reduce illustrated performance

Get in touch

Interested to hear more about how RBC Brewin Dolphin could support you and your colleagues?
RBC Brewin Dolphin has offices locally in Ipswich and Norwich RBC Brewin Dolphin If you would like some help with taking control of your finances, or to understand how RBC Brewin Dolphin works with firms, please contact David Blowers by email david.blowers@brewin.co.uk.

The value of investments, and any income from them, can fall and you may get back less than you invested. Neither simulated nor actual past performance are reliable indicators of future performance. Information is provided only as an example and is not a recommendation to pursue a particular strategy. Information contained in this document is believed to be reliable and accurate, but without further investigation cannot be warranted as to accuracy or completeness.
Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views held throughout RBC Brewin Dolphin Ltd. Performance is quoted before charges which will reduce illustrated performance.
RBC Brewin Dolphin is a trading name of Brewin Dolphin Limited. Brewin Dolphin Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services Register reference number 124444)