AJLee Financial Planning

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AJLee Financial Planning

We help people and businesses make sense of money and make good financial decisions. At AJLee Financial Planning, supported by St. We’ve been built for purpose.

James's Place Wealth Management, I am committed to building long-term, high trust relationships with my clients. My role is to ask all the right questions and uncover the simple answers. I untangle the jargon and deal in plain language. That purpose is to treat every situation with the respect and integrity it deserves. My advice covers all areas of Wealth Management, including retirement planning

, wealth protection, investment planning, inheritance tax and estate planning. If you’d like to discuss how I can help you, please get in touch. We promise, it will be time well spent.

01/04/2026

“You can’t go wrong with bricks and mortar.”

This house increased in value by £20m.

Then you do the maths and realise it represents an annual growth of less than 5%.

Then deduct inflation, and you’re at about 2.5%.

Then deduct running costs, council tax and repairs – you’re probably in negative territory.

And this is absolutely prime London real estate.

By comparison, the S&P 500 returned approx 9% nominal and 6.5% after inflation.

The £8.1m would be worth £85m by 2025.

Global equities returned a bit less.

During a period that included:
• The dot-com crash
• The global financial crisis
• Covid

And both can be owned with minimal cost or hassle.

I know that a property should be considered as a place to live and raise a family – not an investment.

Some of these numbers confirm it.

09/03/2026

Red screens this morning. Every major index is down. The US opens later, likely to be a similar story.

Money is emotive. It’s tied to security, freedom, and the future we’re building. A dip in the market doesn’t feel like a statistic - it feels personal.

But I’ve come to understand: volatility isn’t a bug. It’s a feature. Dips are the price you pay for long-term growth. The FTSE 100 is down 1.11% today. It’s up 50% over 5 years. Both things are true.

At some point, I made a quiet decision to switch off the news cycle. Not because I don’t care - but because I realised it was taking my attention away from the things that actually matter.

The people around me. My friends. The work I find meaningful. The conversations that actually move the needle.

If in doubt, zoom out.

05/02/2026

Crypto markets recently: violently reminding everyone they’re not an investment for the faint-hearted.

If you checked your portfolio this morning and briefly questioned:

your intelligence

your life choices

or whether the app was broken

You’re not alone - my WhatsApp is full of it.

Days like today are exactly what risk looks like in the real world.
Not in a risk questionnaire.
Not in a “long-term returns” chart.
Not what your favourite YouTuber tells you is going to the moon.
But emotionally, when numbers move fast and down.

That doesn’t mean crypto is “good” or “bad”.
It just means it does what it says on the tin - high volatility, high risk.

I don’t usually comment on Crypto, i don’t advise on it - but when applying the same lens to traditional asset classes:

Volatility isn’t a flaw.
It’s the price of admission.

The only real mistake is taking risks you don’t emotionally or financially understand.

Be kind to yourself today, take a breathe - markets move, people matter.

22/01/2026

🚨FREE MONEY (that many higher-rate taxpayers miss)

If you’re a higher-rate taxpayer paying into a pension via auto-enrolment, there’s a good chance you’re not getting all the tax relief you’re entitled to.

The common setup
Most workplace pensions use relief at source.
Simple example
You pay £100 into your pension
Your pension provider claims £25 basic-rate tax relief from HMRC
£125 ends up invested in your pension

So far, so good.

But if you’re a higher-rate taxpayer (40%)…

You’re entitled to a further 20% tax relief on that contribution (£25 in this example) - and this does not happen automatically.
You must actively claim it!!!!

How do you claim the extra relief?

Via your Self Assessment tax return, or
By contacting HMRC directly if you don’t complete a return

How the money comes back
A tax refund,
A reduction in your tax bill, or
An adjustment to your tax code

An important bit that many people don’t realise
If you haven’t claimed this in the past, you can usually go back up to 4 tax years and reclaim it - as long as:
You were a higher-rate taxpayer in those years, and
The pension used relief at source (most do)

Why this matters
That “extra” relief is effectively free money.
Over several years of contributions, it can quietly add up to thousands. That’s enough money to feed my rather large dog, Louie.

If you’re paying into a workplace pension and earning into higher-rate tax, it’s well worth checking - assumptions are expensive in tax planning.

Money is a tool. Best used properly.

26/11/2025

Quick thought ahead of today’s Budget…

We don’t need to guess.
We don’t need to panic.
We can simply wait and see and plan accordingly.

We’ve handled everything governments, politicians, legislators and markets have thrown our way before, and we’ll handle whatever comes next too.

We will take a breath.
Keep calm and carry on.

👍🏼

18/11/2025

Never gets old, this image.

It’s a brilliant reminder of how emotions play such a huge role in investing, often far more than people expect.

When markets are rising and everything feels effortless, confidence naturally builds. That’s usually the point where many start wondering whether they even need advice anymore.

But this cycle shows exactly why advice matters.
Not just for setting clear and inspiring life goals, tax planning, structure, or building a clear plan - but for protecting people from the emotional decisions that quietly undo years of progress.

And this is the part people often overlook:
When you hire a professional in any field, most of the value is simply knowing you’re not making a mistake, there is accountability from an experienced professional.

In personal finance, mistakes somehow carry bigger consequences than almost anywhere else because they directly affect your security, your lifestyle, and the life you’re trying to build.

No one knows exactly where we are in the current market cycle.

But one thing is certain: it will repeat. It always does.

The goal isn’t to predict it.

It’s to prepare for it - focus on living your life and avoid the costly missteps that happen when emotions take over.

Plan accordingly.

03/11/2025

Doing What’s Right, Not What’s Easy

Building my business to where it is today has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I’ve had the privilege of working with brilliant clients whom I care deeply about - people who continue to push me to keep learning and improving.

It’s a strange thing about this profession - you get to know people and their families so sincerely that you feel a real weight of responsibility not to let them down. It’s a privilege, and what makes me proudest are the relationships, trust, and more joyful lives we’ve built, and continue to build along the way.

In my office, there’s a small and unremarkable sign on the wall. It’s not fancy, but it matters:

“Is what I’m doing now - or about to do - helping my clients get what they want?

If YES: do it. If NO: don’t do it.”

Simple, but that line has guided my decisions for years - including this one.

My time with St. James’s Place has been defining. It gave me an incredible foundation and the chance to work alongside talented, like-minded people. I’ll always be grateful for that. Their Academy is second to none.

Change can feel uncomfortable, but that’s often a sign you’re doing the right thing. I’ve never wanted to stand still or rely on the old way of doing things just because it’s familiar, easy or convenient.

That’s why I’ve joined True Potential Wealth Management.

Their approach aligns completely with mine: people first, not just their portfolios. It’s built around three things that truly make a difference: transparent costs that deliver clear value, strong investment performance, and technology that puts the power in clients’ hands.

It’s not only about growing wealth; it’s about giving people clarity, control, and the confidence to live life on their terms.

This was a big decision, but one that brings me closer to what I’ve always believed in: helping people live life on their terms, with confidence and clarity.

“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” - John D. Rockefeller

31/10/2025

This is my niece and I, Sophie 👸🏼

She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s going to have options when she’s a little older.

Kids are expensive, I get it. And it’s a lot of pressure to juggle the cost of life now while also trying to give them the best possible head start in a world where everything just keeps getting more expensive.

But you don’t need to have all the answers, or all of the money, right now. Start small - it really does add up. My sister and her husband are seeing that first-hand.

If you put aside just £100 a month for your child from birth, the effect over time can be huge.

Junior ISA example:
£100 a month for 18 years = £21,600 invested
At an 8% annual growth rate, that could be around £48,000 by age 18, completely tax-free. That’s from £100 a month!!

Child’s Pension example (my personal favourite):
Imagine you pay in £100 a month for 10 years = £12,000 invested
With 20% tax relief from the government, that becomes £15,000.
Left to grow at 8% a year until age 60, it could be worth around £1,070,000!!

It’s not about the money, but what it means for their lives.

A small, consistent habit today could one day lead to a great many options.

22/10/2025

OPTIMISM - Food for thought this week.

The current bull market just turned three years old.
Looking back over the past 50 years, every bull market that made it this far kept going - on average lasting around eight years, with some stretching well into double digits.

When everyone’s trying to predict things and play God, it’s a good reminder that time in the market consistently beats timing the market.
Volatility can test patience, but disciplined investors who stay invested tend to capture the full benefit of these long-term cycles.

For me, it reinforces the importance of having a clear plan, diversification, and staying the course - not reacting emotionally to short-term noise, even when the news, your mates, taxi driver, your barber, are all saying the same thing.

Source: Ryan Detrick, CMT / Carson Investment Research

20/08/2025

🏠 Taxing the Family Home: Fair or Another Penalty for Success?

The Chancellor is reportedly exploring a significant shift: introducing Capital Gains Tax on the sale of primary residences above £1.5m. Gasp!

On one hand, the government needs revenue, and targeting higher-value properties might appear an easy option without touching income tax, VAT, or NI.

But for many families, especially in London and the South East, a £1.5m home doesn’t always equal great wealth. For those who’ve worked hard (and paid their fair share of tax), built up assets responsibly, and may possibly want to downsize (or right-size), use equity to fund care, or pass something down to their kids, it risks being another penalty for success.

And it’s part of a pattern:

- Dividend allowance cut to almost nothing
- Capital Gains Tax allowance sharply reduced to almost nothing
- Entrepreneurs’ Relief renamed Business Asset Disposal Relief and the lifetime limit slashed from £10m to £1m - meaning entrepreneurs selling a business after years of risk and sacrifice now face far bigger tax bills

To me, this feels like a steady erosion of aspiration and enterprise in the UK.

For now, nothing is confirmed - so it’s a case of wait and see. But the bigger question remains: where does a fair contribution end and where does punishing success begin?

17/07/2025

Unpopular opinion:

We don’t want Trump to “sack” Jerome Powell.

1) He can’t, and shouldn’t. Central bank independence matters. Undermining it risks long-term damage through political interference.

2) It’s a good thing Powell is standing up to
Trump. More broadly, leaders should be challenged by those in power- it forces reflection, accountability, and better decision-making.

Societies don’t thrive on yes men.

Even if it means higher rates, I’d take integrity over manipulation for quick wins any day.

Address

Days Lane
Brentwood
CM159SL

Website

https://www.ajleefinancialplanning.co.uk/

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