Richard's retirement planning

Client stories

Richard's retirement planning

Richard contacted me as he had recently left his job following a dispute with his employer, and after spending a short while not working, he wanted to understand if he had enough money to allow him to retire now, at the age of 57, rather than looking for another job.

He still had a mortgage against his home, and wanted to consider using some of his pension money to repay the mortgage too.

Richard had seven pension plans, which he had accrued working various jobs throughout his life. We completed authority forms which allowed us to contact his existing pensions to obtain information. Not only does this tell us about how much money he has saved in pensions, it also tells us other important information that we need in order to provide advice:

  • The charges he is paying
  • How his funds have been performing
  • Whether he would lose any valuable features or guarantees by retiring early or transferring

We then worked with Richard to help him understand how much income he would need to retire – to cover both his essential and non-essential outgoings. We also arranged for a forecast of his state pension to be issued, so that we could understand what other income he might be due in the future.

The outcome of reviewing Richard’s position, was that he was able to repay his mortgage, and have enough income from his pensions to allow him to retire.

He ended up taking some additional casual work too, which means the income he needs from his pension is flexible, but by consolidating his existing arrangements into a modern pension plan, this offers all of the flexibility he needs.

We’ll work with Richard under our ongoing advice service to manage both his pension income needs, as well as managing the investments within his pension plan.

Pensions are a long term investment. You may get back less than you put in. Pensions are subject to tax and regulatory change; therefore, the tax treatment of pension benefits may change in the future.