Financial planning is about spending as well as saving
Abigail and John were referred to Magus by an existing client and came into the office for an initial meeting to discuss their situation. They both work hard and have achieved senior positions within their respective companies. They have two young children and their main life goals revolve around providing them with the best possible upbringing.
Both Abigail and John lives are pretty hectic and they had never before sat down and had a detailed look at their finances. For many years theyhave been working as hard as they can, clearing chunks off the mortgage and diverting spare cash into pensions and ISAs without any real plan or understanding of their risk profiles.
Whilst they had saved fairly diligently, had almost cleared their mortgage and had built up a reasonable nest egg; they had not really given much thought to what they were saving for. During our meeting we talked in some depth about their life goals and what their drivers were. Both were keen to retire as early as possible but felt that they would not have sufficient pension income to stop working much before age 65.
From the meeting it became clear that Abigail had a dream of the family owning their own bolt hole on the coast where they could escape to in the summer and spend long relaxing weekends. Unfortunately, they had never got round to seriously thinking about this or considering whether or not it was affordable.
After collecting as much information as possible regarding the family's income and expenditure, we generated a cash flow analysis which illustrated year on year what the family's finances would look like.
The cash flow analysis produced results which came as a surprise to Abigail and John; the figures showed that not only could they look forward to a comfortable retirement several years earlier than they had anticipated but with only a year or so further saving they would be able to put a significant deposit down on the holiday home that Abigail dreamed of.
They now understand what they are saving and investing for and we have put in place an investment portfolio which they can easily understand and is structured to match their risk profile. We will meet with Abigail and John on an ongoing basis to ensure that their money continues to work for them and allows them to lead the lives they want to live.
