Turning Paul’s 5 Pension Pots into a Single Retirement Plan

Paul’s Story

Paul was 59 when he came to Drewberry with a number of different pensions — two final salary and three money purchase schemes — in tow.

The pension freedoms had just been introduced, and Paul was interested in seeing how he could take advantage of them to improve his retirement prospects.

Struggling to Find a Suitable Adviser…

“I started looking for some help on Unbiased, but had no success with three or four potential advisers,” recalls Paul. “One of my defined contribution schemes from Clerical Medical was complicated as it contained guarantees, which meant the scheme itself wouldn’t entertain a transfer unless I sought advice. However, many of the advisers I spoke to weren’t sure where to start with it!”

It was then Paul came across Drewberry and Neil, who specialises in the type of pension Paul had from Clerical Medical.

Speaking to Neil Adams at Drewberry

“Neil was clear in his understanding and open and honest from the start. With the other advisers I tried, a couple flat out didn’t phone me back, while others had larger fees or didn’t adequately explain their fee structure to me. That wasn’t the case with Neil – everything was clear from the outset.”

Consolidate to Decumulate

Paul agreed. “The guaranteed regular income coming in from my final salary pensions is perfect for me, as it’s enough so I don’t need to worry about using my other assets to pay the bills.”

Consolidating those defined contribution pensions…

With the three defined contribution schemes, Neil worked to get them all consolidated into a single arrangement – including that tricky Clerical Medical scheme.

Paul’s new consolidated pension scheme was under Old Mutual, where Neil could provide oversight and from which pension drawdown was possible when Paul stopped working.

After Paul appointed me, I got to work looking at both his defined benefit and defined contribution schemes, weighing up the pros and cons of transferring them. In the end, it seemed like the final salary schemes were best left where they were to provide Paul with a secure income in retirement.

Neil Adams
Financial Planner at Drewberry

Paul’s got peace of mind…

Now 61, former IT project manager Paul has retired and has taken advice from Neil on how to draw down a small amount from his new consolidated pension pot for maximum tax efficiency.

“Between my savings, final salary schemes and drawdown fund I’m really happy with the mix of income I have now. I feel well-diversified,” says Paul, who is also using Drewberry’s ongoing service to manage his assets going forward. “I’d much rather have someone looking over my financial situation than manage it myself.

Using Drewberry ongoing…

“Previously I’d get pension statements year by year and I’d look at them and think everything seemed to be going along nicely, but I’m not an expert. Managing your finances yourself takes a lot of time and effort and there are better things to do in retirement than be a bean counter!”

“While I’d done some fund switches myself in the past and they seemed to have done okay, that was more luck than judgement! After I spoke to Neil, I actually found out that some of the choices I’d made put me in a higher risk category than I ideally wanted to be in, so it was really valuable to do that risk assessment as part of my review.”

Drewberry Listened to Who I Was

“Overall, I’m glad I found Drewberry,” says Paul. “I’ve been able to get all my pensions sorted, letting me retire before state pension age, which is great for me. Plus, Neil has put together a tax-efficient model for drawing down my pension so I don’t pay more tax than I have to.”

“Neil was able to explain quite complex things in ways I could understand and seemed to have a genuine interest in what I wanted. I didn’t want someone who was going to oversell to me – with Neil, I found someone who would listen to the kind of person I was.”

Your Financial Plan – Build A Better Future

A good financial plan can help you make the right decisions when it comes to your finances. Make the right decisions today to build a more prosperous future.

Good financial planning with clear goals can increase your retirement income by as much as 53%. Old Mutual Redefining Retirement Survey

Why Speak to Us…

We started Drewberry because we were tired of being treated like a number and not getting the service we all deserve when it comes to things as important as planning our finances. Below are just a few reasons why it makes sense to let us help.

• See your financial future
  We use sophisticated financial modelling technology to visually show you your financial future. A living financial plan where you can clearly see what you can achieve depending on the decisions you make – read more
• Achieve the retirement you deserve
  Can afford that dream round-the-world trip? Can you help your children onto the property ladder? We’ll model your goals and build your financial plan to help you achieve them.
• Our expertise saves you time and provides peace of mind
  Organising your pensions, investing your assets, managing risk and making the most of your tax allowances is all taken care of as part of your financial plan.
• We’ve got bargaining power on our side
  This allows us to negotiate better rates for you than dealing with providers yourself.
• You’ll speak to a dedicated expert from start to finish
  You will speak to a named expert with a direct telephone and email. No more automated machines and no more being sent from pillar to post – you’ll have someone to speak to who knows you.
• Benefit from our 5-star service
  We pride ourselves on providing a 5-star service, as can be seen from our 2386 and growing independent client reviews rating us at 4.92 / 5.
• Gain the protection of regulated advice
  You are protected. Where we provide a regulated advice service we are responsible for the decisions we help you make. Doing it yourself or going direct to a provider won’t provide this protection, so you won’t benefit from these securities.