How we work and what it costs

We build financial plans based on our expertise, extensive research and a thorough understanding of your needs. We spend a lot of time getting to know you and your situation. We only ever put a plan in place when we are confident it will improve your retirement outcomes.

We don’t apologise for the amount of time it takes to design and implement the plans we create. It can sometimes take up to 30 hours of work in Stages 1-5. Don’t worry though, that’s work for us, not you!

Most of our clients then choose to add on Stage 6 (Plan maintenance) because they can see the value of an  ‘MOT’ or review of their plans each year.

Stage 1: Getting to know you

Our first interaction will typically be over the phone or via Zoom and usually lasts about 30 minutes. It is our chance to start getting to know each other.

  • We discuss your current financial concerns and your goals
  • We tell you about our process and how much it costs

Cost

There is no cost for our initial meeting.

If we decide to work together, you will receive written confirmation of the work we will do for you and how much it will cost.

Stage 2: Discovery – It’s all about you

If you decide to work with us, we move onto stage 2

  • We get a detailed understanding of where you are now financially and get some facts from you
  • We do a forensic deep dive into your current spending
  • We discuss what is important to you and what your future plans look like
  • We start to discuss investments and the risk that goes with them

Stage 3: Building your plan

This is the most time-consuming part of the process. The exact amount of time this takes depends on the complexity of your circumstances and the plan we produce.

  • We begin by researching all your existing pensions, savings and investments
  • We check the suitability of what you have in relation to what you want to achieve
  • We assess the level of risk you are comfortable with
  • Using state of the art technology with the information we have gathered from you, we look at where you are heading based on your current situation

Stage 4: Introduction to your plan

We highlight different options and alternative routes you can take.

  • We stress test the plan and discuss ‘what if…?’ using the software to help you see the bigger picture
  • We finally decide on the direction and route you want to take to achieve your goals
  • Paul goes away and starts to prepare to implement the plan

Stage 5: The paperwork

We deal with all the paperwork to implement the plan.

  • We liaise with your pension, investment and saving providers on your behalf to make any changes and we establish new contracts to reflect our recommendations
  • Paul prepares a report with his recommendations to achieve your objectives
  • You receive your personalised recommendations report and your financial forecast plan
    This is when your financial plan starts

Cost

The typical fee for Stages 2-5 is £3,000. This is a one-off fee.

Please note that this fee may be higher depending on the amount of work involved. This is rare but may happen with clients seeking advice at retirement with a lifetime collection of various pension and savings plans.

Stage 6: Plan maintenance

This stage is an annual ‘MOT’ for your plan. For extra peace of mind, clients choose to add this stage to ensure their plan stays on track and to make changes when life throws you a curveball.

This service includes:

  • An annual face to face, internet or telephone meeting
  • A review of your financial plan to confirm you are on track to meet your goals and objectives
  • Regular reviews of your attitude to investment risk
  • Monthly e-newsletter
  • Annual valuation of your current investments
  • Access to Paul by telephone and email throughout the year to respond to and to deal with concerns and ad hoc queries
  • Free investment fund switches and top-ups
  • A review of your investments with reference to your financial plan and attitude to risk
  • Implementation of any agreed changes to keep your plan on track
  • A stress test to confirm your plan remains realistic
  • A review of your cash flow forecast and updates to reflect any changes in your life and finances

Cost

Annual plan maintenance is usually based on a percentage of assets invested.

Our fees for this range between 0.5% -1% per annum but is typically set at 0.75% with a minimum of £1,500 per year.

How do our charges compare?

We are confident in the service we provide and the value that we offer our clients.

We do not aim to be the cheapest but are certainly not the most expensive out there. We like to keep things simple therefore we offer the same service standard to all our clients.

To give you an idea, a typical industry charge is 3% initial fee on assets invested. On a £100,000 investment, this equates to £3,000. However, our initial fee is fixed. Therefore, on amounts over £150,000, we are likely to compare favourably. Ongoing advice fees will typically range from 0.5% to 1% per annum so we would expect our ongoing fee to be competitive.

We encourage you to compare us with other firms, but not many disclose their fees as openly we do. We are very happy to be transparent. We believe our service offers excellent value with no nasty surprises.