Over time we have had quite a few conversations with our Independent Financial Advisors about how we are funding my retirement. We had been pretty sure where we were heading, then our Financial Advisors called requesting a meeting with the suggestion the previous advice was changing!
After that phone call, I can tell you my brain was buzzing for a bit and I was definitely unsettled. Was this early retirement a cruel, short lived illusion? Did I need to return to work, what would I do? What could I do? Should I sell a kidney to raise some extra money? Silly me, I don’t think anyone would want one of my kidneys now.
The phone call spoke of “nothing to worry about” and that on its own is enough to make me worried about some things. I heard further due diligence was taking place on our behalf and also investigating my occupational pension in more detail.
We had the meeting at our house. They came, we chatted over a cup of tea and then straight down to business……
I had previously suggested the 85 year rule might apply to me and it was probably worth looking into. So the Advisors persisted, many times it has to be said, with my local government pension scheme and eventually discovered the previous pension valuation was slightly inaccurate, all because of the 85 year rule.
So with this and taking into account other “due diligence” issues, it looks like we are going to Plan B and keeping my pension exactly where it is. Previously with Plan A we were going to move things around to achieve increased flexibility. Now it makes sense to leave things alone but there are also some disadvantages and we can live with these. The wonderful thing is, our income can remain fairly steady.
Now to a matter of integrity
It would have been very easy for our Advisors to stick with Plan A. They knew we were broadly agreeable, this would have been considerably more lucrative for them and we were quite happy with this. However, they acted in our best interests. Mind you, we should expect nothing less.
This is so refreshing. All too easy to think of these slick financial types in their fancy cars and flashy offices being out to fleece people like us. Just think of those unfortunate Welsh steel workers who had been persuaded to hand their nice final salary pensions over to a bunch of crooks. By our reckoning we are their poorest clients (yes, really) and they haven’t made much money from us over the years, so it is still nice they should operate in this way. As I said, we should expect nothing less but we still do value their honest, professional advice enormously.
There we are. The advice has changed from Plan A to Plan B and it will be better for us with less exposure to some choppy economic times ahead and more security instead. I still find myself asking “why?”. Why have I been able to retire so early? We are just ordinary people and live in an ordinary house. While my time is now filling with useful things and a few ideas for the future are whirling in my mind, there must be a real purpose behind all of this.
Related: Why financial planning is important