THE SCENARIO
Planning in your thirties
Lucy and James are in their mid-thirties with two small children under three. Lucy is a management consultant at a large firm and her career is progressing well. James is a freelance IT consultant and is able to work part-time from home. After saving hard they managed to purchase their first house together. Lucy’s earnings are growing and are likely to improve significantly as her career progresses. James is able to work flexibly but, once the children are older, may consider a career change which would involve going back to university.
Their goals:
With two small children, both Lucy and James are concerned about what would happen if one of them were to die or become unable to work. They are unsure about private education for the children but would like to consider it as an option when the children are older. They have surplus income each month which is just sitting in the bank doing very little although they do have some money in a savings account in the event of an emergency.
How can we help?
We were able to demonstrate the impact on their financial situation in the event of death or disablement and we were able to recommend appropriate protection policies. We were also able to show what capital would be required should they want to send the children to private schools although our analysis also showed that school fees could be paid from Lucy’s income if her earnings grew going forward. We recommended that Lucy and James invested their surplus income tax efficiently including pension contributions for James. We introduced Lucy and James to a local Solicitor to ensure that their Wills were reviewed and updated to reflect their circumstances.
Ongoing Support
We continue to review Lucy and James’ financial planning position every year to ensure that their investments are performing in line with expectations and to ensure that they are on track to achieve their goals and objectives.
Disclaimer – this is a hypothetical client example and does not constitute a formal recommendation.