Mr Wayne wanted an assessment of his existing retirement provisions. He already knew his expenditure and subsequent income requirements. As such, he required advice on product selection, asset allocation, tax efficiency, and Inheritance Tax. His two grown-up children had finished university and owned their properties. As a result, ‘touch wood’, they shouldn't need any financial assistance moving forward.

John and his wife, Patricia, had 3 specific goals:

1. Gain access and receive management of his UK private pension

2. Confirm they have enough to live off for the next 30 years

3. Protect their assets for their kids

John held the following assets:

Aviva Pension valued at £770k

ISA’s valued at £480k

£370k in cash from a UK property sale

Full state pension contributions

At our initial free discovery meeting, John completed our Fact Find and Risk profile, enabling us to thoroughly understand his financial position, income requirements, and key objectives.

We also discussed areas John hadn’t considered such as currency risk, ESG investing, and the possibility of him and Patricia returning to the UK after 75.

John said he required €40,000 per annum from his pension, ideally paid monthly. The issue was his Aviva scheme did not allow flexible access. His only option was to encash the full amount and create a large tax liability. Or, buy an annuity which he did not want to do.

He was unsure what to do with his substantial cash reserves both in terms of investment products but also types of investments held. His bank had offered him an OK rate for a 12-month fixed term deposit account but he had no short-term requirement for the money.

We identified the following requirements:

Regular income and the ability to access larger amounts for holidays, particularly over the next 10 years.

Thereafter, a lower annual amount was needed as they planned to travel less and would also be in receipt of their UK state pensions. There was also the possibility they would relocate back to the UK in their old age, post-75.

There was no short-term requirement for the money, as such, capital growth and tax efficiency were the initial priorities both in terms of capital gains tax and inheritance tax.

We also discussed how cash had never outperformed inflation over the long term and with interest rate cuts due in the next 3-6 months, deposit accounts were certainly not his best option for the majority of his cash.

We recommended John transfer his Aviva pension to the Novia Global UK SIPP. We allocated his money to a multi-asset-based portfolio specifically geared toward capital preservation, income generation, and capital growth. We set John up on a monthly drawdown basis whilst earmarking an additional €15,000 to be taken every December for the annual vacation.

For John's lump sum investment, we recommended an Assurance Vie, a tax-efficient investment account in France.

His money was invested into low-cost, global equity funds geared towards long term capital growth.

Once set up, we caught up with John and Patricia every calendar quarter to ensure his portfolio stayed aligned with their ever-changing needs as well as market movements

The fees incurred for the above advice and execution were:

A one-off £3000 initial advice fee.

0.85% per annum, based on the value of the invested assets.