Retirement: plan for a fulfilling future and enjoy the now

October marks Financial Planning Month and throughout the month we will be sharing the views, approach, and advice, of our trusted team of financial planners at Clarion.

John Winstanley, Financial Planner and Business Development Director at Clarion, has already shared his thoughts this week about true lifelong financial planning and family finances. Today, he focuses on retirement.

John on retirement:

“In terms of retirement, cash management is really important. People have a fear of holding too much cash and it is exacerbated at the moment because interest rates are so poor.

“But if you don’t hold enough cash and something like COVID‐19 rears its ugly head and markets fall substantially then you may be forced to withdraw funds from your pension or investments when perhaps it is not the right time to do so.

“Make sure you have enough cash set aside that you can live off for the next 12‐24 months. This provides a buffer so that you can be confident that your investments can ride out the storm and not cause any detriment to your overall plan.

“In retirement, people will often draw down on their pension savings over their lifetime. This is where financial planning is very powerful, as it provides clients with clarity for how long that money will need to be drawn down. For some clients, it could be that they are drawing down on the same pension pot in 20‐25 years’ time. And, if that is the case, perhaps there is an argument to marginally increase the risk that they are taking with a proportion of that pot, because part isn’t going to be touched for so long and it could be earmarked as the last money that they will call upon. This will give it much more of a chance to grow and perform over the longer term, hopefully improving the longevity of their financial plan and giving them greater financial security.

“I have some clients who are quite frugal with the wealth they have accumulated and are protective of it because they lack the confidence in how long their capital will last. I try to provide a degree of comfort and try to encourage them to spend a bit more money as there are things that they could be doing and enjoying now. This is all part of a robust financial plan and what I need to advise them on.

“On the flip side of that there are definitely some clients that are not putting enough aside for their retirement or financial future. They may want to take early retirement and continue the lifestyle that they have become accustomed to whilst working. This is probably quite different to what would have happened even a decade ago when clients would retire and accept the fact that their income would probably be two thirds of what it would have been previously. Now, people want an extremely fulfilled retirement, doing lots of things and travelling all over Europe and the World. Having a robust financial plan in place and the wealth to support that is really important.”

Experience true financial planning at our cost: contact John Winstanley to book a free initial consultation meeting at [email protected], which is backed by our Clarion Guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied with the value of the service you have received after the fourth meeting, when you receive your written financial plan, we will waive all fees.