The Early Retirement Dreamers

A 56 year-old client – let’s call him “James” for sake of ease (and data protection!) - came to us wanting to retire early. James had “had enough of working full-time” and wanted to spend more time travelling and supporting his growing family, before getting “too old and decrepit to enjoy it”.

He had fragmented clusters of pension pots and other assets, but did not understand how it all fitted together or what it was collectively worth. This meant that he had no idea whether he could retire now, or even whether his dreams of early retirement were remotely realistic.

Initially, James had assumed he would need to work until at least the age of 67, at which point if he did retire, he would see out the rest of his days living off of a fairly restrictive budget. On this basis, he told us that he would like to “retire by the age of 60”, but he didn’t think this was possible, so “anything earlier than 67 would be a bonus”.  

The final element of James’ brief was to ensure that his wife would be left with enough money “for her to live off comfortably” once he passes away, as at that point in time, he had no idea of what she would be left with if the worst were to happen.

Our response? Challenge accepted, of course.

We immediately got started, working closely with James over a number of weeks to truly understand what was most important to him - both now and during his (eventual) retirement - including what sort of legacy he wanted to leave to his survivors. As part of this process, as we do for all our clients, we gathered all the information we could about:

• His current situation, including his income, assets and pension pots.

• His priorities, dreams, goals and ambitions.

• The dreams goals and ambitions of people close to him.

• His ideal future lifestyle.

• What this might cost.

• His current financial resources.

• His projected future financial circumstances.

We then looked at and analysed everything holistically, which provided a number of insights that simply blew James away. We helped him to understand that by making certain lifestyle changes now, and preparing (and adhering to) a comprehensive and in-depth financial plan, he could genuinely and viably:

• Retire fully at 57;

• Do everything he wanted to do before the age of 60, with plenty of leeway; and

• Leave a substantial legacy for his family!

We implemented the changes, and he handed in his notice the next week. The dream, right?