It was ten or so years ago when I called Headley to see if they could help me with pension advice. I assumed that now I’d reached my pension age that I’d end up with an annuity. I wanted my daughter and grandchild to inherit what I had worked hard for – running a business and saving as much as possible – but an annuity wouldn’t let me do that.
My regular income was coming to an end and Glen was already retired, but after selling the business, we had amassed enough wealth to wonder about how inheritance tax would impact on my daughter. I had been an avid cash investor when rates were high but now these were falling I felt it was time to get some help.
The first step was to gather up all our financial info so we could see everything clearly and discuss with an adviser. What I thought would be a simple chat about my pension options soon became an interesting debate and it became apparent that now was the time to look at the wealth in the round. If we were going to pass on our wealth, yet protect ourselves in the future, we needed a plan!
Jane helped us to methodically and successfully put our affairs in order to take care of both our needs and our daughter’s – now and later. Jane explained that the move to a pension drawdown plan would address part of our inheritance tax concerns, so that was an easy decision to make and I have watched the value steadily increase.
We then started to shift cash into specialist and flexible trusts that have now moved a significant amount from our inheritance tax estate, yet we can use the funds while we’re still around! We were also given confidence to carry on ‘gifting’, which came as a nice boost to my daughter who was moving back to the UK and has now also helped my granddaughter obtain her science degree from a leading university. Seeing her reach her potential and being part of that journey has been my greatest pleasure.
Though we were initially a bit nervous about such big changes, watching our money move from one place to another was like a huge jigsaw puzzle taking shape, Jane and her team made it easy for us to understand, kept us informed and took care of all the details. We worked at our speed and the plan evolved over many years.
Over the years it has been encouraging to build a trusting professional relationship nicely blended with a personal one as well. We were both particularly touched with Jane’s call at the beginning of the national lockdown to check how we were and offer any help should we require it.
We’re enjoying ourselves now without the worry of what might happen later, and of course, we enjoy seeing more of our family, and that’s life’s reward.
“If we were going to pass on our wealth, yet protect ourselves in the future, we needed a plan!”
