Establishing when retirement is achievable

Jonathan was in his mid-50s when he contacted us, having been referred by a friend who is an existing client. Jonathan works for a large pharmaceutical company as a senior consultant. He lives with his long-term partner, Rosemary, who works part time as a self-employed marketing manager. Jonathan has three grown up children from a previous relationship, all of whom are financially independent. Jonathan approached us as he was looking for advice around his pensions and retirement options. Specifically, to determine when he can stop working while achieving his and Rosemary’s desired lifestyle throughout retirement.

Jonathan had accumulated a substantial pension pot throughout his working life and was also concerned that he may be affected by the Lifetime Allowance (LTA).

Our approach

Jonathan met with one of our Chartered Financial Planners. This initial meeting allowed our adviser to get a strong understanding of Jonathan and Rosemary’s current situation as well as their goals. It also provided the opportunity for Jonathan to learn more about the process of becoming a client of Mearns & Company. During the meeting it became clear that Jonathan had the following goals:

Our planner prepared a cashflow forecast plan for Jonathan and Rosemary, which they went through during the initial meeting, and which highlighted the following:

The points above were important to Jonathan and Rosemary in terms of giving them reassurance and peace of mind over their finances.

We went on to analyse Jonathan’s existing pensions and recommended that he consolidate them by transferring them to a personal pension held on a suitable investment platform. We recommended this for the following reasons:

Based on Jonathan’s situation, goals, investment knowledge and experience, and his attitude to risk, we recommended an income drawdown strategy so that he and Rosemary could achieve their goals. In doing so, it allowed them to:

Now

 Jonathan’s pensions have now been transferred and consolidated on to a platform. He has topped up his cash savings, using some of tax-free cash, and reinvested the excess into a tax-efficient investment portfolio on the same platform.

We now provide Jonathan and Rosemary with our annual review service which includes monitoring their goals, reviewing investment performance, reviewing their income and expenditure, making use of their tax-free allowances, as well as general retirement planning.

Jonathan is now in the position of knowing that he can decide when he would like to stop working, safe in the knowledge that a tax-efficient retirement income strategy is ready to be implemented whenever he is ready.

Names and other details that could potentially identify our clients have been changed to protect their privacy.

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