Background
Douglas Gordon is a London based Solicitor, a partner in his international legal firm. He thinks of himself as a fairly sophisticated individual financially but was seeking a bit of clarity in respect of his affairs. He is in his early 50s and would like to retire at 60 but is unsure how feasible this is given his current arrangements. He is married and he and his wife have 2 children who live away from home and are financially independent. He was recommended to VWM Wealth Management by a business colleague who is an existing VWM client.
Client Objectives
Douglas was looking for a review of his existing finances, and importantly an honest analysis of whether he was in a position to retire at 60 with complete financial independence. He was concerned about what he perceived to be poor returns from his existing pension company and he wanted advice on the best way to deal with this. He has a significant amount of money invested in a selection of ISAs, Unit Trusts and individual shares and would like some advice on the best way to manage these funds going forward. He, like the rest of us, is concerned about the money he is paying to HMRC and so would like all of the above assets to be managed as tax efficiently as possible, and reduce his overall annual tax bill where possible.
Results
At our initial “discovery meeting” it became apparent that we were able to help Douglas as part of our Wealth Management service. We began by completing an audit of all of his existing affairs and provided him with a complete summary of his investments. As part of this Report we provided a range of clear and concise recommendations that we felt would help him achieve his objectives. We were able to confirm that he would be able to retire at 59 if he implemented all of our recommendations which included moving some of his poor performing with-profit pension monies into a more efficient Self Invested Personal Pension. We were able to consolidate many of Douglas’s other investments and have them managed on a day to day basis by VWM Investment Management. We were also then able to look at Douglas’s tax position and ensure that going forward his investments were managed tax efficiently and that he and his wife and family were able to make use of annual tax allowances.
This advice saved him more than £90,000. We agreed on a plan of action to deal with Douglas’s objectives and implemented that plan, also agreeing that it should be reviewed on an annual basis.
Key Results
- Douglas’s money will work harder and will be safer following a transfer of poor performing assets to VWM Investment Management.
- Douglas will be able to exceed his expectations and retire a year earlier than planned.
- Douglas saved £90,000 in tax as a result of our recommendations.
- Douglas has saved time, stress and hassle by agreeing an ongoing review of all investments.