Case Studies

How it might work

Mr and Mrs Smith from Birmingham took out a range of investments to establish a portfolio that would provide strong capital growth over the next 15 years as an addition to their already substantial retirement plans. The initial advice culminated in the following recommendation: Unit Trusts & Investment Trusts Investment Bonds Trusts for IHT mitigation The total amount invested exceeded £250,000; the decision to have their financial plans monitored on an ongoing basis was a relatively straight forward one. “You wouldn’t purchase an expensive motor vehicle and then elect not to have it serviced each year” was their reasoning. They, too, considered £37 per month to be a small price to pay for peace of mind provided by the Client Services Agreement and help to ensure the anticipated growth targets were achieved and maintained. Additionally, they paid the £840 for a 'My affairs in order' report which helped to realign some of their portfolio. This also identified other financial areas needing attention; the cost of this report would pay for itself as a result of the further recommendations that materialised.

Mr. and Mrs. Baker from Bristol were looking for advice on the cost of educating their 4 year old son at a local independent school. In addition they required advice on a range of existing personal pension plans and a number of previous company pensions to which they had an entitlement, the recommendations were: Retirement plans Personal pension plan School fees plan Life assurance Personal pension plan Drawdown mortgage In this instance we were able to restructure and tidy up the previous retirement plans and obtain a lower charging structure. This forecast a larger retirement fund at the selected retirement date which was then viewed in conjunction with the requirement for school fees payments. After calculating the school fees and pension premiums using the 'SFIA Pension School Fees Program' we were able to combine both of these financial objectives/goals:- boosting the target retirement fund by 40% we were able to use some of the proceeds to cover the cost of the education effectively allowing the parents to obtain tax relief on the amount of the school fees. Due to the complex nature of these arrangements and the calculations involved, an ongoing review was recommended. A Client Service Agreement, costing £37 per month, was therefore completed to allow us to monitor the performance of arrangements put in place against plan. These clients would now enjoy a much boosted retirement fund as a result of the restructure, the association of the retirement plans and school fees plan would result in a significant enhancement to their overall net worth.