The Formula 1 Enthusiasts

One client we met a couple of years ago – let’s call him Alex – came to us so that we could help him understand how his post-retirement future might look if he continued along the same trajectory. In particular, he wanted to know whether he and his wife’s standard of living would drop significantly once they stopped working and started drawing from their pensions.

Whilst starting to analyse his situation, we asked whether he had some grand goal or ambition. Something he had always wanted to do, but had never thought possible. Turns out he did. He wanted to spend a year travelling the world and attending every single Formula 1 Grand Prix throughout an entire season. We asked what was stopping him. His reply? You guessed it: money!

We set about calculating what the trip would likely cost in total, including all the “easy to forget” expenses that inevitably arise. We eventually reached a figure of around £50,000 (to really do it in style), then doubled it to £100,000 (as Alex would certainly not get away with doing it on his own!).

Factoring this ambition into Alex’s lifetime financial planning, we came up with a course of action that would bring Alex’s dream into fruition within 5 years. We helped Alex to release a sensible amount of money from his pension funds early, which enabled him to completely clear his mortgage and therefore significantly reduce his monthly outgoings. We then calculated precisely how much he would need to save each month in order to retire and embark upon that trip of a lifetime just 5 years later.

In the end, Alex managed to achieve all of this without compromising his standard of living. At all.
In fact, he’s even managed to set aside a sizeable legacy for his family.