I have been advising for over 20 years and has a wealth of experience in all areas of personal financial advice and planning. My approach is to build long term relationships and understanding of your situation and needs in a relaxed and patient manner. A combination of a traditional personal face to face approach complimented with the use of modern technology helps to bring clarity and understanding to the planning. It is enjoyable to be able to help people and provide solutions for them. One of the most rewarding parts of the role is to see the successful outcomes and the happiness, sometimes relief! that it provides people. This can be as simple as arranging a mortgage for a first home or several years of planning to achieve an early retirement aim.

No two people are the same or have the same needs or desires. Every plan created is unique to the individual. That variety is an interesting and challenging part of my role and there is never a ‘one size’ fits all approach. In financial services the conversation is all too often focussed on the wrong thing, ‘financial products. The discussion starts around pensions, ISAs, life assurance, investments and savings accounts, when in fact these should be the last thing we focus on.

These ‘products’ are just the tools to be used to meet your needs and aims. Of course, having the ‘right tools’ is important but until we know what those aims and needs are, we can’t decide what ‘tools’ are needed.

The conversation needs to start with the things that are important to you. What do you want to achieve? What are your concerns? How do you feel about your situation currently? Why are these things important to you? Why do things concern you?

A meaningful discussion about your story so far and what you want for the future, will help us work out how close you are to achieving those things and create a plan for the future to work toward those aims and tackle any fears. Only then can we move on to looking at what products are needed.