Peter is married to Julie; they have grown up children and works in manufacturing as operations manager. His wife is already retired and receives state pension.
Peter approached us as he intended to retire imminently. He had several personal pensions with different providers along with some savings for emergencies. His main concern was how best to access this money to support him and Julie in retirement.
Initial Meeting
During this free initial meeting we discussed Peter’s retirement objectives in the comfort of his home. To build this picture up, we undertake detailed fact gathering including state of health, current income, full income and expenditure including planned costs i.e. holidays/new car. This enabled Peter to see exactly how much they need to live on each month. Peter also completed a risk questionnaire so we could ascertain his attitude to risk and capacity for loss. This allowed us to ensure the pension portfolio that was chosen for him matches his attitude toward investment risk and his circumstances.
After agreeing that they would like us to proceed with undertaking the work, we signposted realistic timescales and next steps.
Research and Analysis
We then analysed Peter’s existing personal pension and research the market selecting the most suitable products to design and build our recommendations making sure they met his goals.
Our strategy was to combine the pensions into one pension and initially take the income from the tax-free cash element each month. This enables Peter to receive the income without paying any income tax until the new tax year was reached. It was then agreed a further review would be required included in the ongoing support before the new tax year to alter the strategy to combine Peter’s personal allowance and tax-free income which still allowed to receive the same income free of income tax.
Presentation Meeting and Detailed Report
We presented our proposal to Peter and Julie in a detailed report at the next meeting. In the report we included information on who and why we recommended a certain provider and strategy over others, past performance of the investments, and various cashflow projections of how long the fund could potentially last assuming Peter took a certain level of income out. Also included were detailed breakdown of all the costs involved in implementing our proposal.
Making sure that Peter and Julie were 100% comfortable with any solution recommended was fundamental. Peter and Julie chose to proceed with the advice, and we completed the necessary paperwork and set up on their behalf the products and services required.
Ongoing Support
Peter is now enjoying a stress-free retirement. We regularly visit Peter and Julie as part of our ongoing service agreement to support him and review his plans making sure we walk side by side though all his financial milestones.
Disclaimer: these case studies are based on real cases, but the names and exact circumstances have been changed for client confidentiality. They provide examples of the service we have offered previous clients and may not be suitable for you.
When you take out an investment product your capital is at risk and the value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you could get back less than you invested. The tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. Income Withdrawal Plans are complex. It’s a good idea to get professional advice because what you decide now will affect your pension income for the rest of your life.
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