We were always aware of how important it was to have a relationship with both her and her husband and now our role is simply to look after Violet and consider her plans for her estate.
Violet has just turned 76, she is in fair health, but her days of travelling extensively are behind her. For Violet, she is comfortable in her garden and spending time with her family. The income she receives from her husband’s company pension and the State means that she has little requirement for any further income from her investments and her biggest concern is Long Term Care.
As a result, when we had her latest review shortly after her 76th birthday, the conversation wasn’t about increasing her wealth or discussing different product propositions, it was all about her quality of life and how she could support her two children and especially her five grandchildren who were all between the ages of 20 and 30. For her, the value of our advice was the difference we could make to her own circumstances and that of the people who mattered most to her.
The discussion was around gifting money to grandchildren, provision for Long Term Care, mitigation of Inheritance Tax and her own future income requirements.
The relationship we have with Violet is a life planning relationship.
Our personal and individual advice affects what she does, not how much money she has or what products she owns. So the conversation we had wasn’t about finding a cheaper proposition or a better performing investment, it was about improving the quality of life for her and her family. That was where the value lay.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that financial products and investment performance don’t matter, or that we don’t care about Tax mitigation and tax efficient investing – we will always do our best to obtain the best performance for your money (although investment performance cannot be guaranteed and the value of investments and the income from them can rise and fall).
