Using Financial Planning to change your life

The situation

James and Karen were referred to me by their Accountant.

James was 55, and, to put it bluntly, very stressed. He wasn’t enjoying work and ideally wanted to return to the more flexible, and lucrative, world of consulting. It’s also true to say that James and Karen’s financial affairs were in a bit of a mess. They had two children in private school, which was expensive as well as a large interest-only mortgage.

To add to their stress levels, they had no savings or emergency fund, which they felt left them extremely exposed.

In short, life was stressful and while both James or Karen knew what they wanted, they just couldn’t see how to get there.

How I helped

I reviewed their current financial position and used financial forecasting software to determine when James could afford to reduce his hours.

This told us that James needed to carry on working for another 18 months, after which point he could return to consulting. This came as a pleasant surprise, as for the first time, both him and his Karen had a financial plan, and were working together toward something.

They were very appreciative, as it no longer felt like they were drifting.

What did my financial advice achieve?

I was able to provide James and Karen with clarity of vision for their financial future, along with a path to getting there.

This helped relieve James of some of the stress he was under and allowed him to start planning his return to consultancy. It also gave them peace of mind that they would be able to continue paying the school fees while putting in place provision to repay their interest only mortgage.

Both James and Karen said they should have sought financial advice years ago, as they would have saved more and spent less!