After many years of hard work John is now a successful business owner and enjoys a very comfortable lifestyle.Over the years he has built up some cash savings, a variety of investments and a number of pensions with different companies. At this point John has no idea of the value of his current portfolio and hasn’t had it reviewed for several years.
John is 50 next year and feels that now is the time to “get serious” about sorting out his future but he’s uncertain as to how he should do this or where he should start.
With so little free time as it is, he finds it difficult find a moment to consider what’s truly important to him both now and in the future.He feels swamped by financial paperwork that simply makes no sense to him.
John suspects that he isn’t making the most of the opportunities to secure his future income but, without proper financial advice, he is unsure where he may be missing out.
What we did:
- Over the course of several meetings we discussed with John his goals and plans for the future including his main priorities.
- We collected John’s relevant personal and financial details to assess his current financial position – assets/liabilities and income /expenditure, etc.
- Based on the outcome of a risk profile questionnaire, we adjusted John’s portfolio into more appropriate low risk, low cost investment funds.
- Investments and pensions were consolidated onto a single ‘platform’ to streamline monitoring and maintenance of the portfolio.
- Using both personal and business assets we prepared a Financial Plan which clearly laid out how John could meet his objectives.
- We used a lifetime cashflow projection to show John what he needed to invest, and what he could comfortably afford to spend, to secure the financial independence he sought.
The results?
- John has greater sense of clarity, more control and confidence over what the future holds.
- He has a feeling of being in charge of his own destiny.
- He is more relaxed about his retirement and can refocus on his business with fresh enthusiasm.
The challenges
- Clearly understand John’s current position and how he would like his future life to look.
- Ascertain how John feels about investment risk and clarify the role his investments will play in shaping his future.
- Build a bespoke investment strategy for John’s portfolio aimed at helping him enjoy the retirement he desires.
- Consider how business assets and profits could be used to supplement his investment strategy.
- Agree with John his ‘Number’ – the amount of money he will need to accumulate to maintain his ideal lifestyle in retirement.