Financial planning is a series of small but important decisions made throughout your life. There are a wide range of financial products that, as your circumstances evolve, may become relevant but if you don’t put in place the appropriate foundations at the start of your career – which help to create the future you want – you risk not realising your vision.

1: Income protection insurance

‘In the past two years, 13% of workers had 2 months or more off work.’(1) Self-employed barristers have no access to statutory or employment sick pay, so it’s worth considering a ‘plan B’ to replace your income should something unexpected occur. Income protection provides a regular monthly income of up to 60% of your gross earnings, if you cannot work due to long-term illness or an accident, and continues to pay until you return to work or the policy ends, with the ability to be claimed unlimited times.

2: Savings and investments

To optimise your financial position, make sure you are using your savings and investments effectively. When you begin practice, the most important step is establishing a method for managing income. Your situation is complex, with factors such as aged debt and fluctuating earnings, so consider implementing a model to meet short-term commitments and maximise long-term growth:

  • Always maintain an emergency fund in an accessible cash account of 3-6 months’ expenditure.
  • Equally non-negotiable is meeting personal, professional and tax liabilities. As you receive income, place a suitable sum into a separate account to cover your tax, VAT and chambers’ expenses. Depending on earnings this may be anything between 30-60%. The remainder can be split between your personal spending/liabilities and building up a nest egg.
  • Cash is not king. It is a vital part of financial planning, but there are other suitable investment products alongside.

3: Pensions

If not now, when? The sooner you start pension planning, the easier it is to create the retirement lifestyle you want. Research suggests that a couple needs £59,000 per annum to achieve a comfortable retirement lifestyle.(2) Aside from generally being prudent, there are other benefits to establishing a pension early:

  • Builds good savings habits, and provides peace of mind for your future.
  • There is genuine cause for concern that at your retirement age, there may well no longer be a State Pension.
  • As higher earners, pensions are a fantastic way of obtaining income tax relief.
  • Equities historically outperform other asset classes over the long term so it makes sense to start saving from a younger age.

Your move...

The start of your financial journey can feel daunting, but you will be surprised by how much you are already doing right. Working with an adviser can help guide you through the complexities. So, no matter how small the step, be active and take control of your financial future – rather than leaving it to chance.

To request a copy of our free Financial Planning Guide for Pupils and New Tenants, or to book a no-obligation financial health check with Westgate, contact us on:

(1) Reaching Resilience: The Role of Protection in Building Financial Resilience, LV=, January 2023 (from a survey of 4,000 nationally representative UK adults), accessed March 2023. (2) The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association/Loughborough University, Retirement Living Standards, 2024.

The levels and bases of taxation and reliefs from taxation can change at any time. The value of any tax relief generally depends on individual circumstances. 

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.