Simon White APFS

Director / Chartered Financial Planner

Simon is a Chartered Financial planner with a focus on helping clients get the best out of their money. He has worked in financial services since 1993, passing through many roles, initially with a pensions focus, and more recently across the whole pantheon of financial products.

Since moving into an advisory role, he has focused on learning about Lifestyle Financial Planning and how to apply this in a holistic way, and now helps clients to explore, define and live their best lives, given the resources available to them.

Experience

Simon has particular experience working with people who are looking ahead to their retirement and asking questions such as:

  • When can I afford to retire and how much do I need in my pot to achieve this?

  • How can I bring this forward?

  • How much do I need to sell my business for to achieve the retirement I crave?

  • Given what I have accumulated over a lifetime of work, how much can I afford to spend when I stop?

  • What are the possibilities for my retirement?

  • Can I do everything on my bucket list, and if not, what can I do to change this?

Simon sees gaining experience as a lifetime process and is constantly looking to the best thinkers in the field of financial services and beyond, whilst building out his knowledge through structured learning and attaining additional qualifications.

Finally, as a trusted partner to businesspeople, and as a director of the firm, Simon has embarked on a two-year MBA course to add further value to Opus and its clients.

Career highlights

  • Enabling a client to retire 7 years early and to start ticking things off their bucket list.

  • Achieving Chartered Financial Planner designation in 2018.

  • Working with a great team of people to build and grow a fantastic client-focused financial planning business

Q&A

Q: Tell us something interesting about you.

Living in Scotland for many years, I have climbed 70 of the 280 Munros (mountains over 3,000ft). I also started learning the piano three days before I turned 50 and aim to achieve Grade 8 by 60. Finally, I make my own beer from raw ingredients and can brew almost any style you can think of.

Q: What are you going to do when you retire?

  • Long-distance walking – the Camino de Santiago has a strong pull.

  • Spend more time in the Alps and Pyrenees.

  • Travel slowly across Europe, to sample regional foods, drinks and culture.

  • Cycle the long-distance Eurovelo network.

  • Spend more time with my family and friends.

  • Read more.

(I haven’t yet told my wife Helen any of this….)

Q: If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Patagonia – Chile – Peru: the ultimate road-trip.