Why did Rick and Dawn get in touch?

After many years of employment, and heading towards their mid-40s, both Rick and Dawn had decided it was time to do things on their own terms.

Consequently, they both left their jobs to set up in business together.

When they contacted us, Rick and Dawn had one simple aim, to plan for their retirement, but without compromising on their current lifestyle.

How did we help?

We started by chatting about the lifestyle they want; both now and in retirement.

It was clear to me that Rick and Dawn like the finer things in life; and why not? Different things appeal to different people and that’s why no two financial plans are identical.

We then started to look at meeting their twin goals of planning for their retirement without compromising on their current lifestyle. Using a detailed expenditure questionnaire, we established the cost of their current lifestyle and estimated how this may change at retirement. By using our sophisticated financial forecasting software, we could determine the amount of money they needed to accumulate if they were to maintain their current lifestyle in retirement.

Rick and Dawn had a couple of pensions each: two group personal pensions for Rick and a couple of personal pensions for Dawn. Neither of them had contributed to their pensions since they had left employment and had made no further provision believing that “Their business would be their pension.”

When we compared the amount they needed to build up to retire successfully, with the likely future value of their business, it was clear there was a large gap which needed to be plugged.

This gave them the nudge they needed to start planning seriously for their retirement. By using the profits their business was generating they could do this without compromising their current lifestyle.

We also simplified things and made planning easier by combining their existing pensions.

Finally, we looked at the ‘what-if’ scenario and put plans in place to ensure that their current and future lifestyle would not be affected if they were unable to work through illness, or died.

How did Rick and Dawn benefit from our advice?

They are now completely clear about the amount they need to put aside each and every month to create their chosen retirement.

Pinning their current lifestyle, and their retirement, to the success of their business has provided even more motivation to ensure it is a success.

Finally, our annual reviews give them a chance to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, making sure their plans stay on track.

Please note

A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55. The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances, tax legislation and regulation which are subject to change in the future.