Planning retirement
Rosan’s story
I needed the help of a financial adviser because my mother had died recently and left me some money and I wanted to make sure I invested it wisely. I didn’t know whether I should be using it to pay the mortgage off, start a savings plan or put it towards my retirement.
I was 58 at the time and I wanted to think about making us more secure as a family. My husband and I have 2 children in their early 20s and having worked my way up through the NHS, I wanted to feel financially confident about approaching retirement.
Jon’s advice was to pay the mortgage off and put the money I’d have been paying in interest into a savings account instead. He also looked into my pension for me by accessing my superannuation and state pension forecasts in order to work out what my value was at retirement.
A TAILORED APPROACH
Jon asked me what was important to me before deciding what to do – I decided that I wanted to make sure my monthly pension amount was as close to my monthly salary as possible. That’s because with my two children more or less living at home, we still have a lot of outgoings.
He advised that I invest the maximum amount in the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme in order to top up my pension, which would give me additional money each month when I retired.
Then he looked at my appetite for risk, what I wanted to invest in and what sort of access I wanted from them. He was able to lessen the risk by splitting the money across different portfolios.
CLARITY OF THOUGHT
It was then that I began to get real clarity about what I wanted to do with my money and which options I wanted to take. You don’t always know what you want to do yourself, but by talking through my worries and concerns Jon could tease out what was actually important to me. He helped me to gain more insight into some of the things I’d not fully realised I’d been thinking about.
For example, I’d begun to think about retiring early. But this is a massive step when you’ve worked for 40 plus years since the age of 18. Jon was able to show me through modelling software what it would look like financially to retire early, how any shortfall could be met, and how things could be rearranged so that I had the monthly amount I wanted, plus a ‘slush’ fund for any extra spending.
This enabled me to see the hard facts, whereas beforehand it was all a bit unknown, and I began to feel more confident then. I felt Jon actually gave me ‘permission’ - I could retire a year earlier than planned and I knew that I also had a cushion of money that I could use if I needed to, as well as enough for a special holiday or work on the house.
It’s all about having choices and doing what’s right for you. You don’t want to save and save with all of that going to the next generation without you having enjoyed it, so it’s a bit of a balancing act.
KNOWLEDGEABLE SUPPORT
I wouldn’t have known about any of these options without speaking to Jon. I don’t know the intricacies of how all the investments work, but that’s the point! I leave him to do that.
Friends of mine have an adviser and they say they don’t understand a word he’s saying, whereas Jon lets you do most of the talking – he’s a very good listener – and explains everything in clear terms.
There is definitely a leap of faith when you’re trusting someone with your money in this way, Unless you’re informed and interested in these sorts of things then it’s difficult to know what to do and what you want - you absolutely need someone to help you crystallise your thoughts. I’ve managed budgets in the past, but this is very different!