Our clients / Simon
Young professional looking to retire early
The challenge
Simon is a well-paid professional who suffers income tax at the highest rate. In his early forties when he first came to see us, he had a company pension worth £100,000, some protection insurance in place, plus a lump sum of £55,000 cash that he had just received as a bonus.
Simon had decided that he wanted to stop work when he reached the age of 55, and needed to know if and how he could afford to do this. In addition, his mortgage was due to expire when he was 65, but ideally he wanted to pay this off ten years earlier to coincide with his retirement date. Simon also wanted to reduce the substantial amount of tax that he was paying.
Our solution
Knowing how much of his income Simon spent and the lifestyle he wanted to enjoy after he stopped work, we could see, based upon his financial position when we met, that he would likely run out of capital when he was only 69 years old. We analysed the investments that he already had to see how suitable they were in helping him reach his goals, and cost efficiencies were put in place. Understanding Simon's attitude to investment risk, we worked out how much more capital he would need to accumulate to make it last him for his entire lifetime, and put in place a strategy using the benefits available to him from his employer, plus his own surplus income.
We combined this with advice on how best to redeem Simon's mortgage without penalties or detriment to his current standard of living or his ability to meet his goal in terms of taking early retirement. We also ensured that the protection-insurance policies he had in place were the right ones given his circumstances, and would provide the correct sums of money if anything bad were to happen.
The benefits
Three years after we met, Simon’s mortgage was paid off – this was achieved 20 years earlier than he originally expected, and saved him thousands of pounds in interest. He was also exceptionally happy when he received £22,000 back from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in the first year we worked together, and has been delighted to continue to save thousands of pounds in income tax every year thereafter.
By creating a financial strategy based on efficient use of savings and investments, we have given Simon an assurance that he can afford to stop work at age 55. In addition, his ongoing relationship with Grangewood offers him the peace of mind that his financial affairs are being looked after, and always being optimised to best help him achieve the life he wants.