Case Studies illustrating the return on investment of coaching
Client 1 had a DC pension pot of £250,000 with not outrageous fees.
However we quickly identified that switching pension and proprietary investment funds to a new platform with equivalent funds saves £644 annually.
More than covering the Cost Crusher package in a single year!
1 year: £644
3 years: £1,932
5 years: £3,220
£ Cost Crusher saving
Over a longer period the saving becomes more pronounced.
20 years: £12,880, or £21,557 including compound growth!
30 years: £19,320, or £43,650 including compound growth!
Client 2 was already well-placed for retirement in approximately 9 years.
During review we observed the client was a 40% higher rate taxpayer but did not require all current income to cover their expenses. Excess income was being invested into ISA and earmarked to repay the mortgage.
We discussed that he could instead sacrifice up to £1,000 per month into his DC pension at a cost of just £580, benefiting from 42% tax relief.
Note some of these tax allowances are reducing from April 2029 so act now to maximise!
As a basic rate taxpayer in retirement his money can be withdrawn at a rate of 15%, meaning a 27% gain on the additional contributions, worth £270 per month / £3,240 per year!
£ Retire On Time gain
Client 3 worked part-time as a university lecturer and had also worked abroad, meaning she was unlikely to hit the full state pension naturally within her working career.
We identified missing years of National Insurance contributions and she called HMRC to make a voluntary NI payment of £1,648.
This single action will increase her state pension by approximately £657 per year.
She only needs to live 3 years beyond state pension age to break even and gain.
Using average life expectancy, this decision will bring her £4,924 extra state pension.
Client 4
Packages - Retire Earlier (£1200) + Annual Ascent (£800)
Gain - 7 years of healthy freedom - priceless
(+ £110,000 of free money in tax relief over four years)
Background
Client 4 initially planned for retirement age 57 in line with private pension access.
He graduated Cost Crusher + Investment Simplifier, with his portfolio now under control we were able to stop fixating on investments and zoom out to illustrate he had already gained one year of freedom to age 56 by optimising costs.
With this pleasant surprise the client was eager to maintain momentum and earn more freedom so we proceeded with the Retire Earlier package.
Assessment
Client held an ISA of £80,000 and pensions totalling £220,000, a mortgage of £290,000, and was using bonuses to overpay the mortgage.
We briefly reviewed his recent spending to determine proportions of Fixed / Fun / Investing Capacity.
This exercise also more accurately determined required levels of spending during retirement, and by identifying two common calculation mistakes, we found future expenditure was lower than he had assumed, immediately saving another two years towards age 54!
Forecast & Action
We drafted a plan to gain more years by making £45,000 of annual pension contributions, not as painful as it sounds!
Using pension tax reliefs and mitigating the 60% tax trap, the client effectively paid just £18,200 annually to gain £45,760 in the pot.
Note some of these tax allowances are reducing from April 2029 so act now to maximise!
Over four years the pension grew rapidly (assisted by investment growth) to £480,000 and their forecast retirement is now age 50
We also coached throughout on salary negotiation and the client achieved 10%+ increases twice within the 4 year coaching period, which offset much of the additional contributions.