Case Study 3: Confused and self-employed

The problem

Anthony was three years away from retiring, but he had a problem.

His employer had changed pension providers so many times, that he had six frozen plans, plus the State Pension. He had completely lost track of his pensions, didn’t know where they all were, let alone the income they would give him in retirement.

It’s fair to say that with only 36 pay cheques until he wanted to retire, that Anthony was worried.

Furthermore, over the past few years Anthony had seen one close friend suffer a fatal heart attack and a neighbour have a massive stroke, following which his speech was seriously impaired. Both men were previously active, fit and healthy, and Anthony was shocked to see what had happened to them.

To make matters worse, in both cases his friend’s finances were in disarray. This got Anthony thinking as to what his wife would do if anything untoward happen to him.

Anthony was confused and worried in equal measure.

How we helped

Anthony got in touch with me. We initially spent hours helping him to better understand his existing pensions and, equally importantly, what he wanted from retirement.

I then started the process of simplifying Anthony’s financial affairs and preparing his finances for retirement. I combined his pensions into one tidy plan, while ensuring they were invested in alignment with his aims. We also reviewed his other savings and investments.

At every step of the way, Anthony’s wife was involved, giving her clarity on their finances.

How Anthony benefited from our advice

Following my advice, Anthony was able to shred 548 (yes, he counted them!) pages of documentation and free up three briefcases full of papers.

His pension is now online with a platform which allows him to upload bank details, and other financial information, so that in the event of anything happening to him, his wife can see everything.

Equally importantly, Anthony now has far clearer goals for his retirement and knows that his pensions are on track to deliver a financially secure future for him and his wife.

After I had implemented my advice, Anthony was kind enough to email me to say: “Many thanks Victor, we feel much more confident that our affairs are in better order.”