A hat trick of financial improvements for our client

We have recently advised and assisted our client with pension investment, managing ISAs and cash flow planning. We were approached to help our client due to their current advisor providing an unsatisfactory service, who wasn’t engaging with them properly and not meeting expectations.

Our clients are approaching the age of wondering if they can afford to retire early, and wanted reassurance that this was possible. They also wanted to know;

• If the lifestyle they have envisioned for retirement is achievable
• Are their ISAs invested correctly
• What they should do with their defined contribution pension pots
• Due to their age, should they take the higher income from their defined benefit pension or take the lower income with a lump sum?
• Can they afford to help their daughter with a cash gift for a house deposit

Our approach

We set up an initial call to establish what they were looking for, and to see how we could help them. Following on from this, we had our “Discovery meeting,” where we were able to dive into more detail about who they are, what they enjoy doing, how they live their lives and establishing what they do have, in order to see if they can live their desired lifestyle for retirement.

We then began the research process, whereby our team prepared a cash flow plan, to establish what is possible after investigating existing investments and their pensions, so we could then provide tailored advice, with their best interests at heart.

The result

We showed our client that they could afford to retire early, and live the lifestyle they wanted. Our work gave them the comfort and peace of mind they had hoped for, and what they envisioned for retirement can now become a reality. Our client was so thrilled knowing they could retire early, that they even handed their notice in the very next day!

We consolidated their various pensions and investments and invested them into portfolios that were suitable for their needs and circumstances.

We arranged for the withdrawal of a lump sum and income from the DB scheme.

Their state pension entitlement was also checked, to ensure there were no missed years in their contribution history, so they would get the maximum available to them at the state pension age.

Our client was able to gift their daughter £50,000 for a house deposit and we also established that there would be an annual meeting which they would benefit from, to check everything is on track and make changes where needed.