FIRMS IN FOCUS - ROB TERRY: HIGH EDGE FINANCIAL PLANNING
In this series of blogs and podcasts, we speak to principals and advisers from the AR firms of both Lyncombe and Sense Network. This series was created to give our firms an opportunity to introduce themselves, discuss what's on the horizon and get a sneak peek into what keeps them busy outside of financial planning.
In today's blog, we welcome the fantastic Rob Terry of the Derbyshire based High Edge Financial Planning.
TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF
So, I'm 53…Crikey! I’m married with two children, and this is all I've ever done since the age of 18. I started with a Home Service Insurance Company before moving on to a couple of banks and other independent adviser firms, but because of a desire to work in a certain way, and that was to be more lifestyle focussed with clients, it made sense to make the break and set up my own practice and look to grow that over time. Now it’s been going for around 15 years or so now.
A little bit about me; I’m a runner and have been for a few years now. I’ve completed a few ultra-marathons, usually 55k maximum although they do tend to measure a little bit more than that. I had the fortune to get a place in the 2019 OCC in the Alps which any runners will probably know what that is, as it is always oversubscribed but I managed to get through the ballot on my second attempt. Unfortunately, about 4 or 5 weeks beforehand, I broke my toe so I had to complete it with a broken toe, but I managed to do it so that was good.
Aside to running, I run Belper Town Ladies Football Club’s Development Team and I’ve been involved with that since my daughter started playing football for their U9’s and she is 20 now. We’ve not really had a consistent team for the last few years so it can be a bit challenging but that’s good and I enjoy that.
I mentioned lifestyle as being important and being able to do things, and in an effort to ‘practice what I preach’ I suppose, 4 years ago I learned to ride a motorbike as it was something that had always been on my mind but I think the influence of whatever Grandmothers always say “don’t ever ride a motorbike, be safe” and I never did but I later took the opportunity to learn and 4 years later I’m a bit of a biker. I didn't want to get to the point in life thinking “I wish I'd done that but never had the chance” so I’m all for that kind of thing and I also discuss that with clients as well.
I play the guitar a little bit, it is a little bit, I’m very much a home player. I’ll look to learn songs and try and play along to them. I’ve got 3 guitars I should be able to play with 3 but I do like them, I think they are beautiful things, and it might not stop at 3 but we’ll see.
With a bit of a picture being painted there of motorbikes and guitars, I do also like rock music, I haven’t got the hair for it though, but there you go! So that’s me, that’s a little bit about me.
the 'retirement ready' zone
There are a few different types of clients I work with. I have the typical client groups, so there’s those at retirement, those who are looking for some of the best solutions for their circumstances and small business owners, that can be of any age really, but they have control over the pull strings typically. So there’s things you can do there that they may not typically be aware of, such as tax savings etc. One of the main groups is the 45 to 55 year age group which is the ‘get in retirement ready zone’ and I’ve found that this is the kind of age group that you can really make a difference with as it’s not too late after that, particularly depending on circumstances, such as with business owners, but within that age group you can really make a difference to how retirement will be. I can wholly relate to that because I fall into that bracket, so I've got the same kind of challenges and opportunities really that they do. So, I can talk with some authority on that to the client.
The kind of thing that you find might be mortgages are coming to an end, children may be less of a financial drain for want of a better phrase, and there can be a wave of disposable income coming but the challenge is, what do you do with it? It’s really easy to absorb that income into a new lifestyle of spending on any manner of things. Buying for the sake of it can happen and it might not necessarily be things that are needed. It can bring enjoyment and that sense of well-being, but, it can be relatively short lived however.
It is really important within that age group when this is happening that you do the necessary checks to see whether you're on track, to get the ideal retirement. Without doing that, it could be a bit of a problem. In order to help the clients to understand this, one of my most important tools, if you like is an expenditure questionnaire. They are normally associated with borrowing, but what it actually does is give a reasonably accurate picture of what a lifestyle costs now, and also prompts the thoughts about what it could be in retirement.
For me, lifestyle is the key because we all have one. They're all personal to us and it’s our available money that enables us to fill out lives with what we enjoy. It’s a huge factor that should come first and foremost before products. Occasionally, I'll get inquiries where people say they need to sort a pension out, but they know they probably need to, but why? What does it need to achieve? What does it need to provide them? So we really do drill down into that.
So, in order to determine what lifestyle, we can afford in retirement, we complete the expenditure questionnaire, discuss what is important to them in life, what we want to achieve, where do we want to go? What places do we want to visit? What do we want to have? Are there material things that are important and what will all that cost? Will the current assets that we have like pensions, savings, any investments, will they provide for it or is there more that needs to be done? And then what's the best way of going about it? How do you best put yourself in the position of getting the retirement that you want.
We use some cashflow Forecasting Software and Cashflow Modelling Software which helps us to see whether a client will be OK, using prudent assumptions on things like growth rates and inflation, or do we do we have a gap that we need to bridge? And again, what’s the best way of doing it?
I'll often say to clients, it's like going on a journey somewhere that you've not been before. You want to know how long it takes, might there be any roadworks along the way that could hold you up? Is the place likely to be nice when you get there? Typically, you plan that out beforehand so you know, it's a place that you want to visit, if there are going to be any hold ups and how long it roughly might take.
That’s the kind of planning that you should apply to retirement. How long have you got until retirement? What could go wrong and impact on the results of retirement? Is my retirement likely to be nice when I get there? Have I done enough planning to get the kind of retirement I want?
So, by planning well in advance, if the destination doesn't look great, at least you've got the opportunity to change it. So rather than spend, what could be 30 years somewhere that you actually don’t like, a magical mystery tour can be exciting, but if the destination is run down and dull, it won't be much fun when you're there. Retirement is a one-way ticket so it is really important that you get the planning in place well in advance, rather than life it to chance.
Or, if you are interested to hear more about the range of support services we offer our growing community of financial advisers? Get in touch today.
