Retirement planning – John and Tara

“I initially went to Chambers Smith Financial Planning to discuss what they could do for the investments my wife and I had acquired over our lifetime.

Over the next 10 years, Chambers Smith helped us implement high-quality financial advice and planning to meet all our needs going forward, including arranging a great investment plan, drawing my defined benefit pension, getting organised for retirement, and IHT planning. They haven’t stopped working on achieving the best possible outcomes for us.

Chambers Smith keeps in regular contact with us, performing in-depth annual reviews of our finances, including any additional research that I might request. They keep us up to date with any changes to markets or products and value our opinions and input as much as we do theirs. They offer a bespoke service and are willing to tailor their practices and documents to fit our needs, which I know is something we just wouldn’t get from a larger national firm.

We are extremely happy with the service they have provided to date and have total confidence that all our future financial needs will be professionally and proactively serviced.”

Dan Smith, Financial Planner

“When we initially met with John and Tara, they were still in the process of accumulating their wealth and they had some significant issues on the horizon that needed addressing.

They wanted an adviser that could look at their overall circumstances and put together a holistic financial plan.

John was approaching his Lifetime Allowance that was significantly higher than it would have been had we not recommended that he take out transitional protection. As a result of our calculations, he drew his pension earlier than expected, which, along with the transitional protection saved him six figures in tax that he would otherwise have paid as a Lifetime Allowance charge. This has also allowed him to get a significant benefit out of his pension at a young age.

John and Tara also had a significant Inheritance Tax liability, however, as they were both relatively young, they did not feel comfortable in gifting away assets at this time. We devised a plan that involved building up wealth within their pensions that is outside of their estate for Inheritance Tax purposes and depleting their assets that are in their estate. We also arranged an insurance policy in trust that would help the beneficiaries of their estate to meet the potential tax liability on their deaths.

They had also built up an investment portfolio that we reviewed for them and assessed whether they fit within their risk profiles and met their objectives. This led to us consolidating all of their investments, adding further capital that they wanted to invest and putting together a bespoke portfolio to meet their needs.

We meet John and Tara annually to review the plan, as their circumstances have changed significantly over time and they are now retired. Along the way, they have added to their wealth and investments by a considerable amount, which we now manage on their behalf.

It has been important that we continue to review their Inheritance Tax liability and Lifetime Allowance to ensure we optimise their position as well as continuing to proactively manage all of their investments.”