Its not about the Money

1958: The Happy Feeling - Edwards

It has been another full on week, with some significant work being done for clients. It is a fantastic feeling to be able to reveal to clients that they have enough to do the things that they want. I had a case last week where a couple were very concerned about their future and thinking that they would be have to work until in their late 60's perhaps older. Imagine the feeling that they had when I demonstrated with proper financial planning that not only did they have enough to retire at 65 but could actually afford to lose an income and still do so. This was quite a shock... were my numbers right? well we had certainly checked their information several times, yes there was the reality that assumptions about the future are just that - assumptions, but the data was indeed correct. I had even built in some doomsday scenarios showing the impact of stock market crashes - which still revealed favourable long-term results.... with a big caveat.

The caveat being that they do not increase their lifestyle spending significantly. This is why asking clients to complete details about spending patterns is really vital. Having realistic expectations of what you intend to do during "retirement" or as I prefer to call it your "work not required" period, is rather vital to get broadly right. Hence the more I understand a clients real plans/desires/aspirations, the better and more accurate the financial plan. This is why I spend a considerable amount of time updating income and expenditure information, as clients will know, who have been asked for their P60's etc over the last few weeks. Whilst it may appear that I'm asking about the money, I'm really asking about your lifestyle, which is the one thing that few are prepared to give up or reduce upon retirement.