For financial adviser use only. Not approved for use with customers. Make more of tax year end Letter and email templates to help you contact clients before the end of the tax year
Making it easier to reach out to your clients There s no doubt about it. The run up to tax year end can be the perfect time to write to your clients about booking in a financial review. Trouble is, finding time to sit down and craft a persuasive letter or email isn t easy at the best of times let alone at one of the busiest periods of your year. That s why we ve put together some templates to take the hard work out of it for you. In this booklet you ll find two templates for pension clients and two for ISA clients, along with a number of sample social media posts. And to help make them more effective, we ve written them using the principles behavioural science (see p3 for details). So now your clients can make the most of their tax allowances. And you can make more of tax year end. Please note As you ll know, it s your responsibility to make sure any communications you send out are compliant. We can t accept any responsibility for any personal losses which arise as a result of using the information in this guide. 2 AV167242_LF10233_1218.indd 2 07/01/2019 15:06
Templates which encourage your clients to act Sending an email or letter to your client is one thing. Getting them to act upon it is quite another. To help you overcome this challenge, we ve embedded the templates in this booklet with a number of nudges drawn from the world of behavioural science. Helping you make the letters and emails you send out as persuasive as possible. Here s an excerpt from one of the templates, explaining some of the nudges we ve used. What is behavioural science? Behavioural science is the study of the often seemingly irrational ways people act and make decisions. A nudge is a way of using behavioural science to promote a certain usually positive behaviour. Salience Our attention is drawn to what is novel and seems relevant to us. Loss aversion We are more motivated to take an action to avoid a loss than to take the same action that will result in a gain. Ego We act in ways that make us feel better about ourselves. Norms We are strongly influenced by what others do. Messenger We are heavily influenced by who communicates information. Dear [handwritten name] Time is short lock-in your pension tax breaks before 6 April 2019 As a valued client, I m writing to remind you that the end of the tax year is coming up fast. Now is a great time to make sure you are making the most of investing in your pension plan. Many people use this time of year to make sure that they lock-in the current financial year s tax breaks before the door closes. Your plan s flexibility From age 55, you ll have complete flexibility over how you can use your pension pot, giving you more control over how you manage your money. You might plan to retire fully, cut down your working hours or carry on working for longer. Whatever happens, you re in the driving seat. Contact me to make sure your pension is on track If you re interested in a financial planning review or in topping up your pension contributions, I ll be pleased to talk through your options with you. Many of my clients take the opportunity to review their financial arrangements before the end of the tax year. If you d like to do the same, please give me a call on [your contact number] to book an appointment that suits you. Financial adviser, [Your qualifications] Source for behavioural science information: The Behavioural Insights Team 3
Pensions letter/email template for basic rate taxpayers This letter/email example is aimed at clients who are basic rate taxpayers and have a pension. Please feel free to adapt this and use it as you see fit. It s often worth testing out different wording to find out what works best for you. And if you re sending an email, you ll need to add an attentiongrabbing subject line to pique your reader s interest. We ve included a couple of ideas below. Subject line ideas Have you locked in your pension tax breaks? Lock in your pension tax breaks before the door closes Dear [handwritten name], Time is short lock-in your pension tax breaks before 6 April 2019 As a valued client, I m writing to remind you that the end of the tax year is coming up fast. Now is a great time to make sure you are making the most of investing in your pension plan. Many people use this time of year to make sure that they lock-in the current financial year s tax breaks before the door closes. Your plan s flexibility From age 55, you ll have complete flexibility over how you can use your pension pot, giving you more control over how you manage your money. You might plan to retire fully, cut down your working hours or carry on working for longer. Whatever happens, you re in the driving seat. Review your financial plans as soon as you can Make sure your pension planning is on track. I can: check that you re still investing in the most efficient mix of assets to help achieve your financial goals explore different pension planning strategies review your personal situation to take full advantage of available tax reliefs Remember that the value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. Tax rules may change in the future. Tax treatment depends on your personal circumstances. Contact me to make sure your pension is on track If you re interested in a financial planning review or in topping up your pension contributions, I ll be pleased to talk through your options with you. Many of my clients take the opportunity to review their financial arrangements before the end of the tax year. If you d like to do the same, please give me a call on [your contact number] to book an appointment that suits you. [Your job title], [Your qualifications] 4
Pensions letter/email template for higher rate taxpayers This letter/email example is aimed at clients who are higher rate taxpayers and have a pension. It encourages them to get in touch so that you can help ensure their financial plans are on track, and that they re making appropriate use of the tax allowances and reliefs available to them. Subject line ideas Have you locked in your pension tax breaks? Lock in your pension tax breaks before the door closes Dear [handwritten name], Time is short lock in your pension tax breaks before 6 April 2019 As a valued client, I m writing to remind you that the end of the tax year is coming up fast. Now is a great time to make sure you are making the most of investing in your pension plan. Many higher rate taxpayers use this time of year to make sure that they lock-in the current financial year s tax breaks before the door closes. Review your financial plans now, in case things change Make sure your pension planning is on track. I can: check that you re still investing in the most efficient mix of assets to help achieve your financial goals explore different pension planning strategies help you to maximise your annual allowance of 40,000 (this is the limit that can be contributed to your pension each year, whilst receiving tax relief) review your situation to take full advantage of carry forward relief Remember that the value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest. Tax rules may change in the future. Tax treatment depends on your personal circumstances. Contact me to maximise your pension tax relief If you re interested in topping up your pension contributions, I ll be pleased to talk through the options with you. Many clients take the opportunity to review their financial arrangements before the end of the tax year. If you d like to do the same, please give me a call on [your contact number] to book an appointment that suits you. [Your job title], [Your qualifications] 5
ISA letter/email template for under 55s This letter/email is aimed at under 55s who have an ISA through the Aviva Platform. To make the message more relevant and therefore more persuasive we recommend including details such as how much your client has invested during the tax year. This makes use of what s known in behavioural science as salience see p3 for details. Subject line ideas Your ISA 2018/19 allowance disappears on 5 April. Use it or lose it Use your ISA allowance before it vanishes on 5 April Dear [handwritten name], Time is short lock in your ISA tax breaks before 6 April 2019 As a valued client, I m writing to remind you that the end of the tax year is coming up fast. I note that so far you ve invested [ xxx] in your Aviva ISA Portfolio in this tax year. The good news is that you can invest another [ xxx] as a lump sum or [ xxx] a month before the end of this tax year to make the most of your annual ISA allowance. Once it s gone, you can t carry it forward or transfer it to someone else. It s also worth remembering that your Aviva ISA Portfolio is a flexible ISA, meaning you can withdraw and replace money in the same tax year without affecting your ISA allowance. Your ISA tax breaks a reminder It s worth reviewing the substantial tax breaks that ISAs can offer. To start, you don t pay income tax or capital gains tax on the returns from an ISA. In addition, you are not required to include ISAs in your tax return, nor any income or growth from them. Finally, your money can continue to benefit from these tax advantages as long as it remains invested in an ISA. Tax rules may change in the future. Tax treatment depends on your personal circumstances. Contact me to maximise your tax breaks If you re interested in topping up your Aviva ISA Portfolio, I ll be happy to talk through the options with you. Many clients take the opportunity to review their financial arrangements before the end of the tax year. If you d like to do the same, please give me a call on [your contact number] to book an appointment that suits you. [Your job title], [Your qualifications] 6
ISA letter/email template for over 55s with a pension This letter/email is aimed at over 55s who have an ISA through the Aviva Platform, along with a pension. Subject line ideas Your ISA 2018/19 allowance disappears on 5 April. Use it or lose it Using your tax allowance could provide additional pension income Dear [handwritten name], Time is short lock-in your ISA tax breaks before 6 April 2019 As a valued client, I m writing to remind you that the end of the tax year is coming up fast. I note that so far you ve invested [ xxx] in your Aviva ISA Portfolio in this tax year. The good news is that you can invest another [ xxx] as a lump sum or [ xxx] a month before the end of this tax year to make the most of your annual ISA allowance. Once it s gone, you can t carry it forward or transfer it to someone else. It s also worth remembering that your Aviva ISA Portfolio is a flexible ISA meaning you can withdraw and replace money in the same tax year without affecting your ISA allowance. Your ISA tax breaks a reminder It s worth reviewing the substantial tax breaks that ISAs can offer. To start, you don t pay income tax or capital gains tax on the returns from an ISA. In addition, you are not required to include ISAs in your tax return, nor any income or growth from them. Finally, your money can continue to benefit from these tax advantages as long as it remains invested in an ISA. Tax rules may change in the future. Tax treatment depends on your personal circumstances. Retirement planning and ISAs Why is building up a pot of money in ISAs a wise move for when you retire? As you may already know, the pension freedoms mean you may have more options on how you can access your pension. However, you will pay income tax at your marginal rate on any withdrawals you make from your pension, after you ve taken any tax-free cash. So drawing a smaller income from your pension and topping it up with income from a taxefficient ISA could help reduce the tax you pay when you retire. Contact me to maximise your tax breaks If you re interested in topping up your Aviva ISA Portfolio I ll be happy to talk through the options with you. Many clients take the opportunity to review their financial arrangements before the end of the tax year. If you d like to do the same, please give me a call on [your contact number] to book an appointment that suits you. [Your job title], [Your qualifications] 7
Social media posts Social media can be a cheap, easy way to reach both prospects and existing customers. Here are some example posts which you could try using on the likes of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. If you re targeting new clients, you may find you need to pay the social media platform provider (eg LinkedIn) to promote or boost your post for the best results. Theme: general tax planning Need help with tax planning before #TaxYearEnd? Use it, don t lose it make an appointment now. It s the end of the tax year on 5 April #TaxYearEnd. Call us now. Make an appointment now. Lock-in your 2018/19 tax breaks before the door closes. Review them now at #TaxYearEnd. Call me. Time to review your tax breaks before it s too late #TaxYearEnd. Call now. Theme: pension tax reliefs Have you locked-in your pension s 2018/19 tax breaks at #TaxYearEnd? Get in touch now. Lock in your 2018/19 pension tax breaks before the door closes at #TaxYearEnd. Call me. Things change at #TaxYearEnd. Have you locked in your pension tax breaks? Get in touch now. #TaxYearEnd is close. Have you locked-in your pension tax breaks? Call me. 8 There are around 39 million social media users in the UK (Source: Statista, 2017)
For more tax year help and support, visit aviva-for-advisers.co.uk or speak to your usual Aviva contact. Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited. Registered in England No 3253947. Aviva, Wellington Row, York, YO90 1WR. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm Reference Number 145452. aviva.co.uk LF10233 01/2019 Aviva plc