Wealth Management Case Studies Edinburgh

A 52-year-old senior manager working for a financial-services employer in Edinburgh's New Town had picked up three deferred workplace pensions across two previous Edinburgh jobs and one current scheme. Combined value sat around £185,000. Two of the legacy pensions still held default fund choices set 15 years earlier and the charging structures pre-dated the 0.75% workplace pension charge cap that applies to auto-enrolment defaults.

We summarised what was held with each provider, the ongoing charges figure on each fund, and the total annual cost across the four pots. We also identified one safeguarded benefit on the oldest scheme worth checking before any consolidation. After the written summary the household took regulated advice from a chartered financial planner on whether to consolidate, where to consolidate to, and how to handle the safeguarded benefit.

A senior director living in Morningside drawing approximately £140,000 in salary plus discretionary bonus, crossing the Scottish Advanced rate threshold at £75,000 and pushing into the personal allowance taper zone above £100,000. The effective marginal rate on income between £100,000 and £125,140 reached 67.5% once the personal allowance withdrawal was layered on top of the 45% Advanced rate band and 2% employee NI.

We set out the band-by-band marginal rate picture and modelled the effect of redirecting £30,000 of discretionary bonus into employer pension contributions via salary sacrifice. The household also held unused pension annual allowance from the previous three tax years, opening the carry-forward route. The contribution mechanics and the carry-forward calculation were regulated-advice items; the household took advice from a chartered planner with Scottish-tax familiarity.

A widowed homeowner in their late 70s in the Old Town, with an unencumbered Georgian townhouse valued around £800,000, a £475,000 investment portfolio split across ISAs and a GIA, and cash savings of £125,000. The transferable nil-rate band from the deceased spouse plus the household's own nil-rate band and residence nil-rate band gave a combined allowance of £1,000,000. The £400,000 above that figure carried a projected IHT charge at 40%, or £160,000 in tax due on death.

We covered the seven-year gifting rule, the £3,000 annual exemption, normal expenditure out of income, the introductory mechanics of discretionary trusts, and the Scottish-specific overlay of legal rights (the entitlement of the surviving spouse and children to a fixed share of the deceased's moveable estate under Scots law, which runs alongside any will-based plan). The numbers and the Scottish layer were significant enough that regulated advice was essential. The household took advice from a chartered financial planner working alongside an Edinburgh private-client solicitor on a multi-year plan combining lifetime gifting to the two adult children, regular gifts out of surplus income, and a small loan-trust structure on a portion of the investment portfolio.

A household in their late 40s in Stockbridge inherited £210,000 from a parent's estate, made up of an investment portfolio held on a platform charging around 0.75% per year plus actively managed fund choices averaging 1.1% ongoing charges. Total annual fees on the inherited holdings sat around 1.85%. The household already held £42,000 across their own Stocks & Shares ISAs on a low-cost platform.

We mapped the inherited holdings against the existing portfolio, identified significant overlap in regional allocation, and flagged the embedded capital gain position on three funds where the rebased value at date of death already covered most of the gain. The household took regulated advice on the consolidation and rebalancing.

A couple in their early 40s in Leith, both employed by Edinburgh-based employers with auto-enrolment workplace pensions matched at 5% by each employer. Both partners sat in the Scottish Higher rate band at 42%. The household held £95,000 across a mix of Cash ISAs and small Stocks & Shares ISAs across both partners. The question was whether to redirect surplus monthly savings into additional employer pension contributions (capturing 42% Scottish Higher rate relief), increase ISA contributions, or open a Lifetime ISA each.

The information review covered the tax treatment of each option, the access flexibility at different ages, and the trade-offs between guaranteed employer pension match versus ISA access flexibility before age 55. We did not recommend a specific allocation; we set out the framework with the Scottish-rate relief properly modelled. The household worked through the decision themselves on the basis of the written summary.

Two directors of an Edinburgh creative-services limited company in their late 40s with young families, each drawing a mix of salary and dividends totalling around £130,000 per year. Existing personal life cover did not reflect the household income dependency on the company; replacing the cover via personal policies would have cost the household roughly £190 per month each post-tax, with the Scottish Higher and Advanced rate marginal positions making post-tax cover more expensive than for an English equivalent.

We set out the mechanics of relevant life cover: company-paid, premiums treated as a tax-deductible business expense, no benefit-in-kind treatment on the director, proceeds payable to a discretionary trust outside the estate for IHT purposes. The household took regulated advice from a protection specialist on the policy structure and cover amounts.

An established household in their mid-50s in Bruntsfield with a combined £540,000 portfolio across SIPPs (both partners), Stocks & Shares ISAs (both partners) and a small GIA. Already advised by a regulated firm with an annual review schedule. The household used the discovery call to validate the upcoming review rather than to seek a different adviser.

Information review identified three points worth raising at the regulated review: the equity allocation had drifted around 6 percentage points above target after a strong year, the previous tax year's ISA allowance had not been fully used because of timing on a property purchase, and the reduced dividend allowance was creating a small income tax liability on the GIA worth restructuring.

A consultant in their early 50s working at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh with full NHS Scotland Pension Scheme membership and three private pension pots from previous locum and academic work. Combined private pension value sat around £265,000. The consultant had previously breached the standard annual allowance in two tax years and held a scheme-pays election on one of the breaches.

We summarised what was held in the three private pots and the projected NHS Scotland scheme benefits at age 60 and age 65 retirement points. We flagged the McCloud remedy implications on the NHS Scotland service pre-April 2022 and confirmed this needed regulated advice from an NHS pension specialist. The private pension consolidation was a simpler question. The household took regulated advice on both pieces from a specialist firm with NHS Scotland pension experience.

A senior employee in their late 50s in Corstorphine accepting voluntary redundancy from a Gogarburn-based employer with a £180,000 settlement: £30,000 within the tax-free redundancy threshold, £150,000 above it and subject to Scottish Income Tax in the year of receipt (pushing into the Higher and Advanced bands). The household wanted to use the settlement to bridge to early retirement at age 58, then drawdown from a DC pension and the state pension at scheme age 67.

Information review covered: the Scottish Income Tax position on the taxable portion (with the higher Scottish bands biting harder than rUK would), using pension carry-forward to make significant pension contributions from the taxable element (recovering Scottish marginal tax via pension tax relief and reducing the immediate tax charge), the ISA allowance for the current tax year, and how flexi-access drawdown would work from age 55. The pension carry-forward calculation was material and the household took regulated advice on the contribution recommendation.

A couple in their late 60s in Trinity with a combined estate around £1.6 million wanted to help both adult children with first-home deposits. Daughter (early 30s, buying in Leith) needed £75,000. Son (late 20s, planning to buy in Glasgow within 18 months) was earmarked for £45,000 to follow.

Information review covered the seven-year gifting rule, the £3,000 annual exemption (carry-forward of one year available), normal expenditure out of income (with the documentation required to claim it), the interaction with the residence nil-rate band on the family home, and the LBTT picture on each child's purchase (Scottish First-Time Buyer Relief raising the LBTT nil threshold to £175,000). The numbers were large enough that the gift would be a potentially exempt transfer with full IHT exemption after 7 years. The household took regulated advice from a Scottish private-client solicitor and a financial planner on the documentation, the gift wording, and the deed of gift.