12 days of Christmas with CGWM: Our festive financial top tips

As 1 December marks the beginning of the festive season, our Investment Managers and Wealth Planners invite you to read our festive financial top tips in our ‘12 days of Christmas with CGWM’.

While the holidays are a time of celebration, they are also a time of reflection – and an opportunity to take stock of your financial position.

For each of the first 12 days of December, we’ve unwrapped a financial top tip to help you manage your finances over the festive season and beyond.

Day 1 - Make your list and check it twice: Create your financial wishlist

The holiday season is when everyone thinks about the things they might like. What better way to start the festivities than by crafting a financial wishlist? On the first of our 12 days of Christmas at CGWM, we encourage you to extend your Christmas list beyond material gifts and consider your financial goals for the upcoming year and beyond. Working with a Wealth Planner, you can outline your long-term financial aspirations and give yourself the gift of planning for financial security this Christmas.  

Day 2 - Christmas trimmings: Take stock of what you’ve got

Before indulging in your favourite festive treats over Christmas, turn your attention to your financial trimmings. Review your investments in line with your long-term objectives – do they still meet your needs, or have your circumstances changed? Alternatively, you might have excess savings sitting in cash that could better serve your long-term goals if it was invested instead. Speak to an Investment Manager to determine the best way to get your trimmings in order.

Day 3 - The gift that’s not just for Christmas: Make financial gifts to friends and family

This Christmas, consider giving gifts that extend beyond the holiday season. Financial gifting can come in many forms – from giving lump sums to friends and family, to setting up Junior ISAs for children. With inheritance tax planning, you might find a way to give this Christmas that can help your loved ones and still serve your own financial needs.

Day 4 - Dreaming of a green Christmas: Align your investments with your values

While Christmases in the UK and Crown Dependencies are rarely white, you can help to keep them green. This festive season, take a moment to reflect on what truly matters to you. By aligning your investments with your values through Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing, you can invest not only in your own future, but the future of the environment and the society we live in.

Day 5 - 'Tis the season to be charitable: Make donations to a worthy cause

In the true spirit of Christmas, extend your generosity beyond gift exchanges. Charitable giving is a fulfilling experience in many ways – while supporting a cause that’s important to you, you can use donations to bring tax relief benefits to your estate. By integrating charitable giving into your financial plan, you have the opportunity to build a legacy while helping others less fortunate than yourself..

Day 6 - Yuletide yields: Make the most of fixed income opportunities

As Yuletide approaches, unwrap the potential of fixed income opportunities. Our investment management experts believe that the bond market may still be ripe with opportunity for the savvy investor. Speak to one of our Investment Managers to see how you might be able to add this into your portfolio.

Day 7 - Driving home for Christmas: Leave your business in safe hands

For business owners, the holiday season brings a well-deserved break, but the responsibility of ensuring your business' financial wellbeing doesn't take time off. Before stepping away for Christmas, review your business finances. Are you confident that your business is financially structured in a tax-efficient manner, and that your business and personal finances are working in tandem to make the most of any tax allowances? No matter what stage you’re at, business financial planning can help you to achieve your commercial and personal goals while protecting your business.

Day 8 - Spread the festive cheer: Think bigger through diversification

Just as Father Christmas travels across the world, think beyond geographical boundaries when it comes to your investments. By taking a global approach to investing, you can focus on quality sectors and themes – an approach that results in a diverse and robust portfolio seeking out risk-adjusted returns.

Day 9 - The joy of giving: Look after the people you care about in the long-term

Extend the joy of giving beyond the holidays. As well as making financial gifts, you can help to set up your loved ones for the future through wealth succession planning. Using tools like our inheritance tax calculator, you can establish how much your family stands to gain if you properly undertake inheritance tax planning – and by working with a Wealth Planner, you can build a long-term strategy for intergenerational wealth transfer.

Day 10 - Festive favourites: Pick your stocking fillers

We’ve seen a few key investment themes perform well this year – 2023 has been a revolutionary year for artificial intelligence, for example, and we’ve also witnessed interesting developments in the healthcare sector.  As we move into 2024, we encourage anyone directly managing their own investments to review their portfolio holdings in light of the current trends, and to consider which stocks they want to carry through into the new year.

Day 11 - A time of reflection: Take care of your wellbeing over the festive season

While the holiday season brings joy to many, it can be challenging for some. For those going through bereavements or family difficulties, for instance, the festivities can feel isolating rather than celebratory. At CGWM, we understand the importance of holistic support, and are committed to providing more than just financial guidance. We encourage any clients experiencing difficulties over the Christmas period to take time to look out for their own wellbeing, and to reach out to us for support if you need it.

Day 12 - No time like the present: Plan for the future

The best gift you can give yourself this Christmas is ensuring that you are financially secure for the coming years. There's truly no time like the present to plan for a prosperous financial future.

Speak to one of our Wealth Planners to see how we can help you get ready for the New Year and beyond, using cash flow modelling to create a financial plan to help you to meet your long-term goals.

If you already have a financial plan, take this opportunity to work with your planner to ensure that it’s up to date with your current circumstances, so that you can start 2024 with confidence.

Conclusion: Step into Christmas, step into Christmas

With the ‘12 days of Christmas with CGWM’ as your guide, step into Christmas and the New Year with confidence about your wealth and financial well-being. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss your financial situation with one of our experts, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

From all of us at CGWM, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Don't forget to enter our competition!

To get you into the spirit of Christmas, we’re giving away more than just our top financial tips. With each of our 12 days of Christmas tips, we’re offering a chance to win a luxurious Fortnum & Mason’s hamper to help you celebrate the season in style. To participate, head over to our latest posts on LinkedIn and Instagram, where you’ll find details of how to enter. Good luck!

Read the terms and conditions here.