Yasmin Wales

Financial Planning Director

Yasmin has worked in the wealth management industry since 2015 and has worked at 7IM (previously Tcam) since 2017. Yasmin is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and a Chartered Financial Planner, specialising in retirement planning, pensions, and estate planning. She enjoys building strong relationships with clients and help them to make informed financial decisions.

7 Questions with Yasmin

1. How did you get into wealth management?

After graduating from my degree in Politics and International Relations, I took a role in a pensions department and quickly found both the role and company interesting. I then completed a two-year training course to qualify as a Financial Planner, working in various placements and different areas within the UK.

2. What’s the biggest highlight of your career in wealth management?

I really enjoy helping my clients to achieve their goals, and this is the main highlight in my career. I am also proud to have qualified as a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society in December 2020 and to have been nominated for the "Financial Adviser of the Year - Scotland and NI" and "Rising Star - Advice" categories at the Women in Financial Advice Awards 2023.

3. What do you find most rewarding about managing people’s wealth?

Being a trusted adviser who my clients can come to and rely on for major financial decisions is something that I find very rewarding. It is a great feeling to help my clients achieve their financial goals, such as buying a dream home, funding their children’s education, or feeling confident and comfortable enough to retire.

4. What’s the worst non-financial investment you’ve made?

Nothing too bad thankfully! Like most people I bought exercise equipment at the start of lockdown that stayed in the box gathering dust for the whole time, but luckily nothing as expensive as a Peloton.

5. If you could pick one financial habit for everyone to have, what would it be?

I like the phrase “pay yourself first” which means allocating a portion of your income directly to savings and investments. Whilst it is of course important to ensure you pay any debt and ensure you have enough left to cover your basics, this can remove the temptation to spend any leftover cash on unnecessary purchases and can help build a solid foundation for your finances – whether that is an emergency fund, saving towards a property purchase or retirement.

6. What’s the one thing to keep in mind about tax allowances?

If you have scope to do so, utilising all available allowances can be a very tax-efficient way to maximise your financial position. Whilst many people decide to look into their allowances in April (just before the end of the tax year), it can be useful to contribute as soon as possible to benefit from compounding – which essentially means you benefit from returns on both the initial amount invested, as well as the returns you have already received. Benjamin Franklin summed this up when he famously said: “Money makes money. And the money that money makes, makes money.”

7. What’s the importance of cashflow modelling and tax planning during a client’s financial journey?

Cashflow modelling is an extremely useful tool that I use with most clients, to help plan for their future. Once we have added in their assets, income and expenditure we can then account for personal circumstances (retirement, gifting, downsizing) and wider considerations (inflation, market returns, life expectancy). This can then help to analyse how sustainable a person’s lifestyle is likely to be, and whether any changes are needed to ensure they have sufficient funds for the rest of their life.

It can also be used to provide reassurance ahead of making any major decisions in their life. As an example, I recently assisted a client who owned a rental property which was providing a decent return but with the caveat of heavily taxed and very inflexible income. By demonstrating that we could replicate the income from the sale proceeds, in a much more tax-efficient manner, whilst maintaining the capital value, the client was able to feel confident enough to sell the property and reinvest into an appropriate investment strategy.

The cash flow modelling outputs are highly susceptible to change and are not guaranteed. The above scenarios are intended to give you an idea of the sustainability of your income and asset base over the long-term period of retirement up to the point of death as estimated in our cash-flow assumptions.

However, it is important to understand that the performance of your investments could be affected by adverse performance, inflation and unforeseen circumstances and the reality of your cash flow going forward could also vary significantly.