Granite Financial Planning

Investment, retirement and financial advice from an award-winning financial planner

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What we do

Granite was formed with the vision to offer 'Planning for Life'

Formed by Managing Director, Paul Gibson, and his wife Nicola, Granite Financial Planning offers a high quality, personal financial planning service. Together they employ the latest technology to offer a first class service to clients.



Who are Granite?
We are a boutique financial planning firm who work with a limited number of clients. We aim to provide a highly personal service and treat you as an individual. You will have a continual relationship with your financial planner and we welcome working with your other professional partners when appropriate.

What makes you different?
Unlike many other advisers who still concentrate on product sales, we believe financial planning should come first as this is a vital process which helps determine how much investment risk is required (if any), whether you are on track to achieve your goals and importantly how much is enough.

Product advice may well follow but it is difficult to see how this can be done effectively without creating a financial plan first.

Are you well qualified?
Our Managing Director, Paul Gibson is a Chartered Financial Planner, Fellow of the Personal Finance Society, Chartered Wealth Manager and Certified Financial Planner™. This combination of qualifications and designations make him one of the most qualified advisers in the UK.

If your adviser is not Chartered or Certified, ask why not. Don’t your financial affairs deserve the best?

Are you independent?
We are fiercely independent and have no external shareholders or influence. We are answerable only to our clients. Many of the largest providers of financial advice in the UK are “restricted” which means they only offer a limited product range. We offer advice from the whole market place.

Sounds expensive
We don’t aim to be the cheapest in the market but aim to offer far greater value than many of the larger firms where clients are effectively paying for large bureaucratic administration systems, dividends to external shareholders and layers of management.

We typically save clients money on their current fees, reduce their investment risk, improve their investment returns or in many cases all three.

Have you won any awards?
Our Managing Director Paul Gibson was the 2015 and 2016 FT Money Management Financial Planner of the Year and has won numerous awards over recent years. Whilst technical knowledge is important the ability to apply this is equally important. Awards are an excellent third party endorsement of our work and capabilities.

What don’t you do?
We don’t predict the investment markets because all the evidence shows this is a futile pastime that wastes both time and money.

Likewise, we only operate in areas where we can offer real value and don’t dip into areas we are not experts in. If you require mortgage, general insurance or employee benefits advice we can introduce you to a firm who specialise in this area.

Lifestyle planning
Lifestyle Financial Planning
Retirement Planning
Retirement Planning
Investment Planning
Investment Planning
Investment Principles
Investment Principles
Estate Planning
Estate Planning
Risk Management
Risk Management
About us

Chartered Financial Planner

Paul Gibson attained Chartered status back in 2005 and attended the inaugural graduation ceremony held at The Guildhall in London in March of the following year

Chartered Status is the profession’s gold standard for financial planners. It confirms that every Chartered Financial Planner has completed a suite of professional qualifications equivalent to a bachelors’ degree.

Royal Charters, granted by the sovereign on the advice of the Privy Council, have a history dating back to the 13th century. Nowadays, Charters are normally reserved for bodies that work in the public interest and which can demonstrate pre-eminence, stability and permanence in their particular field.

All Chartered Financial Planners adhere to a respected code of ethics. The Code exists to guide the profession and to protect the public. Failure to operate to the guidelines set by the Code can result in a serious disciplinary action.

All Chartered Financial Planners must have at least five years’ relevant professional experience and commit to continued professional development. This helps ensure that their knowledge is up to date with the latest legislation and technical developments, and that they act in accordance with current regulatory requirements.

You can trust Chartered Financial Planners, like Chartered Accountants, Surveyors, or Engineers, to be highly qualified, reputable and capable of providing you with quality advice with the utmost integrity.

You should therefore be confident that a Chartered Financial Planner can be relied on to consider your personal circumstances and devise a plan to help you meet your needs, fulfil your aspirations and help provide you with a secure financial future.

Certified Financial Planner™

A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional will put your needs and interests first at all times.

Paul Gibson achieved CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ status in 2006 and has retained this designation every year since.

What's a CFP™ professional?
A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional has the knowledge, skills and experience to help you to review all of your options so you can make informed decisions about what you want from life both now and in future. They've been tested to make sure they meet rigorous international competency, ethical and professional practice standards. This means that not only will you have peace of mind regarding the technical accuracy of their advice but also the integrity that underpins it. They’ll work with you to make sure you’re in control of your finances and achieve your life goals. The best financial planning results come from working with a CFP professional. When seeking objective, expert and trusted financial planning advice you should always look for those who carry the CFP™ mark.

CFP™ certification is the only globally recognised mark of professionalism for Financial Planners. CFP™ professionals are qualified at a level well above the minimum regulatory requirement (similar level to University degree). In the UK there are many thousands of advisers, but only around a thousand of which carry the CFP™ mark.

Certification Requirements:

Professional Qualification
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professionals have successfully completed a rigorous assessment which tests their knowledge and skills on key aspects of financial planning.

Experience
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professionals must gain relevant financial planning-related experience before they can use the CFP™ certification mark.

Ethics
CFP™ Professionals must voluntarily ascribe to IFP's Code of Ethics and Practice standards. Those practitioners who violate the code can be disciplined, including permanent loss of the right to use the CFP™ designation.

Education
CFP™ professionals must complete 50 hours of continuing professional development every year to stay current in financial planning knowledge, including ethics.

Compliance in these four areas means that an individual who holds the CFP™ designation is well prepared and qualified to give sound, professional Financial Planning advice.

Services

Our financial planning services

Lifestyle planning

Lifestyle Financial Planning

We help answer life’s biggest financial questions through personalised financial planning, not product sales. Using advanced cashflow modelling, we show how today’s decisions affect your future, helping you plan confidently for retirement, investments and major life changes while minimising risk and reducing the fear of running out of money.

Retirement planning

Retirement Planning

Retirement means something different to everyone, but achieving it requires careful planning. We provide expert pension and retirement advice, helping you navigate complex rules, maximise your options and retire with confidence. As an award-winning Retirement Planning Specialist, Paul Gibson offers trusted guidance tailored to your goals.

Investment planning

Investment Planning

We believe successful investing is built on evidence, not market fads. Our disciplined, diversified investment approach is based on Nobel Prize-winning research, helping you take only the level of risk needed to achieve your goals while keeping costs low and focusing on long-term success. Our Statement of Investment Principles is available by request.

Investment Principles

Investment Principles

Our investment philosophy is built on evidence, diversification and long-term discipline. We focus on achieving your financial goals through appropriate asset allocation, low costs and informed decision-making, avoiding market timing and investment fads. Our full Statement of Investment Principles is available by request.

Estate Planning

Estate Planning

Protect your family’s future with expert Inheritance Tax planning from Granite Financial Planning. As more estates face IHT, professional advice can help minimise tax and maximise what you leave behind. With award-recognised expertise, including two FT Money Management IHT Planner Runner Up accolades, we help safeguard your legacy.

Risk Management

Risk Management

Protect what matters most with tailored insurance and risk management advice from Granite Financial Planning. From life assurance and income protection to critical illness cover, we provide independent, whole-of-market solutions to safeguard your family, income and business. Effective protection planning is the foundation of a secure financial future.

Our six-stage

Investment process

Our six-stage financial planning process begins by understanding your goals, circumstances and attitude to risk. We research, prepare and present tailored recommendations designed around your objectives. Once implemented, we provide ongoing reviews to help keep your plans on track, adapting to changes in your circumstances and legislation.

Investment Process
Frequently Asked Questions

Is this you?

This is one of the most common queries we receive. The answer in many cases is yes, provided you are prepared to spend some time investing in your future.

Define your lifestyle
We spend a lot of time discussing the things you enjoy doing now and establishing what you want to do with the rest of your life.

The active years of your retirement may be when you spend more time with your family, or travelling the world or doing the things that you have always wanted to do but have not had the time.

In later years your lifestyle may be more sedentary but long term care costs may be an issue you need to consider.

Cost your lifestyle
How much is your future lifestyle likely to cost? We try and put a price tag on your future lifestyle and can factor in one offs such as paying for a wedding, having the holiday of a lifetime etc.

Armed with this information we then crunch the numbers.

Plan your lifestyle
By conducting some sophisticated financial cashflow modelling, we can help assess whether you are indeed able to retire in 10 years’ time. If you are we will let you know.

If you can’t we will also let you know but hopefully we will be in a position to make some recommendations to help you get there.

If you want to see your financial future now when you can do something about it, please get in touch. We would be delighted to have a chat.
It is hardly surprising that this is a common remark. Since pension “simplification” was introduced back in April 2006 we have had unprecedented change after change culminating in the introduction of pensions freedom in April 2015.

Whilst freedom, options and choices are clearly a good thing the complexity they create can be overwhelming for the layperson.

So when retirement comes around how do you plan to ensure that you can live a happy retirement without having to worry about your finances for a period which could last 30 years or more?

The decision to purchase an annuity, or access flexi-access drawdown or a combination of these is not an easy one to make.

But help is at hand.

Granite Financial Planning are armed with lifetime cashflow modelling software which can help assess your options.

We can model different scenarios such as downsizing or incorporating state pensions when they become payable should you choose to retire before state retirement age.

We can also assess the rate of return you require on your pension pot and other assets assuming you are willing and able to take some investment risk.

Our aim is to help ensure pensions are no longer confusing but merely one of the products available for you to use to help you live your life without the fear of ever running out of money.

Granite Financial Planning’s Paul Gibson was the FT Money Management Financial Planner in 2012 and is recognised as a Retirement Planning Specialist by the Personal Finance Society.

Please get in touch for a no obligation initial chat.
A great question which, understandably, is incredibly difficult to answer.

Your lawyer can give you great estate planning advice involving trust planning and utilising wills etc. but they will normally shy away from answering this question.

Likewise, your accountant can undertake some impressive tax planning but is unlikely to commit to a specific figure.

Your financial adviser may be able to help. But only if you have the right financial adviser.

A Financial Planner armed with lifetime cashflow modelling software can model various “what if” scenarios showing the implication of giving money or spending it or setting up a Trust arrangement.

They can show you whether you can indeed afford to give money away at all or whether a series of smaller gifts over time might be more beneficial.

Clearly some assumptions will have to be made and any financial plan implemented needs to be reviewed on a regular basis but the output can be hugely enlightening.

Granite Financial Planning offer such a service and Paul Gibson has been named Runner Up in the Inheritance Tax Planner of the Year category in the FT Money Management Financial Planner of the Year awards on two separate occasions.

Estate planning can be incredibly complex and one professional may not necessarily have all the answers. By working together financial planners, lawyers and accountants can help provide a better overall solution.

If you would like to have a chat about your estate planning issues, please contact us.
Yes, we absolutely can help.

Banks have had a mixed reputation of offering financial advice over the years. They often only seem to appear in the financial press when they have received a fine from the Regulator.

The problem with banks historically has centred around poor senior management decisions, inappropriate sales targets and essentially being product floggers as opposed to offering proper financial advice.

They generally have only offered tied or restricted product ranges which often have benefitted them more than their customers.

Many of the banks now offer no financial advice or only to those with large portfolios, often in excess of £500,000.

Staff turnover at banks is also notoriously high and your adviser may be here today and gone tomorrow or you may be pushed into a different service level if you do not have a big enough portfolio.

Granite Financial Planning aims to deliver a professional but personable financial planning service. We want to be the firm that clients can trust and be confident in, who listens to you carefully and provides clear explanation and clarity.

We provide independent investment and financial planning advice and as a new business have a real desire to look after clients and grow our client bank.

If you are looking for a safe pair of hands and a firm who take a cautious approach to achieving your financial goals rather than trying to shoot the lights out with performance, then please get in touch.
This is a common scenario and whilst a nice position to be in can cause some sleepless nights in itself.

Why? Because as a business owner you may have been so busy working in the business that you may have neglected your own personal life and perhaps not given enough thought as to what you would like to do now there are no time constraints and less pressure financially.

Define your lifestyle
We spend a lot time discussing the things you enjoy doing now and establishing what you want to do with the rest of your life.

The initial years after selling your business may entail ticking things off your “Bucket List” and travelling. Or it could mean helping the family out now when you can see the benefits first-hand.

Cost your lifestyle
How much is your future lifestyle likely to cost? We try and put a price tag on your future lifestyle and can factor in offs such as paying for a wedding, having the holiday of a lifetime etc. making charitable donations.

Plan your lifestyle
By conducting some sophisticated financial modelling, we can help assess whether the capital realised is sufficient to do all the things you want to and importantly whether you will run out of money.

It can also help assess the rate of investment return required from your capital and ensure that you only take the necessary amount of investment risk to fulfil your objectives.

If you would like help building your financial future, please get in touch.
Yes, we do. In fact, we have a number of years’ experience of working with them.

Contractors have generally worked for employers prior to setting up on their own. They may have had pension arrangements, death in service, private medical insurance and other benefits in kind as part of their overall financial package.

On setting up on your own you need to replicate these benefits but of course can choose which ones are essential and exclude others if these are not required. If you are single you may not require life assurance for example.

We can provide advice on putting in place the most appropriate retirement and risk management package as cost effectively as possible.

We can also prepare a financial plan incorporating lifetime cashflow modelling to let you see how your financial future looks. It can help inform decisions as to how much to pay into pensions, or exactly how much life assurance you require.

Running your own business can be lonely at times and trying to be an expert in all areas is not possible so why not delegate your financial affairs to real experts. This can leave you time to run your own business effectively.

We offer a no obligation initial meeting so please get in touch and we can have a chat.
Paul Gibson

Award-winning financial planner

Paul Gibson is a multi-award winning Chartered Financial Planner with over 25 years’ experience. He brings with him a wealth of technical knowledge and specialist financial planning expertise and aims to establish long-term relationships with a select number of clients.


Chartered Financial Planner
Certified Financial Planner™
Chartered Wealth Manager
Fellow of the Personal Finance Society

Career
Paul has held senior positions with banks, accountancy firms as well as local and regional IFA firms.

He received Chartered Financial Planner status at the inaugural ceremony held at London’s Guildhall in 2006. This prompted him to move to London to live and work for over five years.

He is one of the few advisers who also holds Certified Financial Planner status – the CFP™ certification is the only globally recognised mark of professionalism for Financial Planners.

Qualifications
Having attained the benchmark Financial Planning Qualification back in 1996 he has passed further qualifications in order to improve the service he offers to clients within the following disciplines:

Personal Investment Planning
Taxation and Trusts
Pensions
Savings and Investment
Business Financial Planning
Supervision and Sales Management
Pensions Simplification
Long Term Care

Awards
Whilst technical qualifications are clearly important, Paul has successfully demonstrated the application of his skills and knowledge via the FT Money Management awards – widely recognised as the industry ‘Oscars’. He is currently the 2015 FT Money Management Financial Planner of the Year, the first ever Scottish recipient of the award. He has also been a category winner or runner-up on six previous occasions reflecting his many areas of expertise.

What’s important?
Paul believes that a Financial Planner's role is primarily about planning and not about selling financial products.

Financial planning done properly can answer the big questions such as:

Can I afford to retire yet?
How much do I need to save?
Will I run out of money?
How much is enough?

If you are planning to invest, first invest in planning. The financial plan should drive the investment strategy and ensure that only the minimum investment risk is taken to achieve your goals and objectives

Paul gibson