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Following a financial education session with WEALTH at work, I was introduced to an Adviser and found it hugely liberating to talk to them. It was one of the happiest conversations I ever had!
I still remember that moment when I first presented my pension statement and asked what he thought. He said something like; “Why on earth are you still working as you could comfortably retire now?” The conversation helped me to understand how much retirement income my savings would generate. That’s the thing… you see the numbers, but you don’t always know what it all means and what can be done to generate a retirement income until you receive advice. Weeks after, I announced that I was leaving and gave my workplace a year to find my replacement.
Before this, I didn’t know where to start and had a fear of the unknown. But I worked through my plan with my Adviser who provided me with help and reassurance with my decision-making. I wish I’d known sooner how getting advice would help me start my retirement plans.
Su Santiapillai, a retired employee and partner – Joe Santiapillai
Su comments; “Many years ago, a colleague of ours recommended that we get in touch to help us understand our personal financial situation. We set up a meeting with an Adviser and our relationship went from there! Several years later our employer began offering financial education sessions which we also attended. These education sessions were very informative and prompted us to discuss further topics with our Adviser such as retirement planning, lifetime allowance, annual allowance, and other related topics. Working with our Adviser combined with attending the financial education sessions has allowed us to learn things we didn’t know before and we wish we’d known sooner how getting support could make retirement planning so straightforward!”
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Joe adds; “To reiterate what Su said, the guidance and advice we have received have been extremely useful over the last few years. Every time we have a meeting with our Adviser, it’s clear that he’s done his homework, he has the answers and suggestions for us to move forward and is very knowledgeable. His advice over the last ten years has been excellent.”
Su agrees; “Yes – he has definitely guided us. For example, at the time, I was concerned I may exceed the lifetime allowance but he allayed our fears and went through it all and offered great advice. We went through retirement planning and what we would need to do to draw money from our savings and investments. The knowledge and expertise meant we had no concerns.”
Joe comments; “Admittedly, we did not have the knowledge to manage it all ourselves, so it was a weight off our minds. The support the Adviser gave to us meant we had the confidence to continue with them. If we have any questions, he comes back to us as soon as possible with an answer. The advice we have received has been incredible and we feel confident in recommending the service to our family and friends.”
Sarah and John* – retired BT Employee
*Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality
John comments: “We were first introduced to WEALTH at work when they provided financial education and guidance sessions at our workplace. My wife Sarah and I were both working for BT but were at different stages of our careers, however, the sessions came at the perfect time for both of us! As I was closer to retirement, the session helped me expand my knowledge of my pension and investments, whereas Sarah was still working, so was educated on how she could utilise her pension contributions to her full advantage.”
Sarah adds; “The education session was great and afterwards I started to make Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) toward my pension to help work towards a comfortable retirement. Without the financial education I wouldn’t have known the benefits of this in the long run.”
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John agrees; “The session was great and opened my eyes to how unorganised our finances had become. After the session, we were offered an appointment with an Adviser. Prior to seeing our Adviser, we had funds in various accounts and ISAs, but they helped us to consolidate our finances so that everything was in one place.”
Sarah adds; “The whole experience from the initial education session to working with an Adviser has been brilliant! We wish we had known earlier how easy it would be to take control of our finances and plan for retirement. For anybody considering financial education, we would say the sooner you attend a session, the better!”
John agrees; “There’s an old saying ‘Money brings its own problems’ which can be true unless you know what you are doing! Thanks to the service, we have been able to enjoy our retirement, moving house and holidaying, whilst knowing that our investments are in safe hands!”
