Lifestyle Financial Planning for Teachers
Case Study
We first contacted Scott 4 years ago after being given his name by a friend and colleague and received advice on our mortgage at that time. We were very happy with the service Scott provided and we were looking forward to meeting Scott again this year after he contacted us about his Lifestyle Financial Planning service.
We were unsure what to expect however what we received took us completely by surprise!!
Discovery Meeting
At this meeting, the discussion was not about financial products or our pensionable service. It was centred around us what goals we had and what we both wanted to do in our retirement years. The discussion was all about us and our hopes and dreams and what we wanted to achieve.
We were asked questions such as “What do you want to achieve, financially, in the next 5, 10, 15 or 20? What’s important to you? What drives you? What are your lifestyle expectations? What do you want out of life?”
Scott explained that without answers to these fundamental questions no financial decisions can made. We then worked to identify the cost of our current and future desired lifestyle allowing for all of the things that we both wanted to do in our lifetime. We found this an enjoyable part of the process as it helped identify what we both wanted to do with our life - now and in the future. My main question to Scott was could I retire tomorrow if I really wanted to and would I be able to afford it financially!!
We then set a date to meet up for Part 2, The Truth Experience.
The Truth Experience
Once we had established exactly what it was that we both wanted to achieve, the next stage was to construct a comprehensive financial plan. This is where Scott took both our Teachers pensions and all of our existing financial products and analysed them to identify exactly what we had, what they were worth now and what we could safely assume they would be worth in the future - taking into account performance to date.
Scott then took all this information, along with a breakdown of our lifetime expenditure requirements and input this data into his financial planning software. This software is called truth™ and quite simply, it enables Scott to show you what your financial future looks like, year by year.
Then, using truth™, Scott looked at 2 specific ‘what if’ scenario’s in order to identify what options I had on retirement. Firstly I wanted to see what the picture looked like if I worked to age 60 and received my full pension. Secondly I wanted to know was it financially viable to retire tomorrow, even with the reduction in pension benefits for going early. This is when I was able to see the possibilities available to me, now and in the future. The Truth Experience gave me a snapshot of my financial future in retirement and allowed me to work with Scott to make sure I could afford the Lifestyle I wanted when I decided to stop working.
Without using this software, I would not have been able to visualise my financial future in such detail and would not have known where to start to complete all the pieces of this complex financial puzzle.
This meeting is completely interactive and I was able to offer suggestions and make changes which were immediately put in to the Life Plan to allow me to see what effect they had on my financial future. I could clearly see what I could spend month upon month and year upon year in order that my money never runs out. This was key to me as I want a certain Lifestyle and need to know if my Lifestyle will be sustainable.
I was able to throw in one off expenses and again Scott was able to demonstrate what effect this had on my financial well being.
The Implementation Meeting
From our meetings and discussions, we decided that action needed to be taken and therefore we met for a third time to implement the Financial Plan we had agreed on.
I was very comfortable with what we were doing as it was the final stage of a comprehensive process and we had only got to this place by knowing exactly what I was trying to achieve in the first place.
In many ways this process is directly opposite to my previous experience of dealing with financial advisers as they are generally only interested in selling products. I firmly now believe that a financial adviser has no right to ‘sell’ you a product unless they have carried out this three stage process.
The Sat Nav Meeting
Scott explained how you don’t go to the Gym once and you are fit and in the same way, you can’t complete a Financial Plan once and expect it never to change. Our next meeting will be in 12 months time or sooner if I decide that my circumstances have changed.
At first, I found this service took a bit of getting used to as it was not what I was expecting at all. I had preconceived ideas of what would be discussed and talked about and did not expect to be asked about my goals and ambitions for the future. To then be able to see my financial future clearly mapped out and to go over different scenarios to see what effect they had on my financial future was a fantastic experience. To know that you can drop in any scenario at all and watch what it does to your financial picture year upon year to help you decide if it is achievable is worth so much.
I have agreed to sharing this case study as I believe it can make a difference to Teachers who are unsure of the age they are able to retire. It can bring together all the various financial products both you and a spouse/partner have gained over the years and present them in one simple to understand Life Plan.
It is very difficult to get over to you the service and what is involved until you have actually gone through it. I have gone through the 3 step process and feel much more confident financially as I know what my plan looks like and I have Scott that I can call on at any time to discuss my financial needs.
Give it a try, it really is worthwhile.
Allan Graham
