The classic case
I am on a good pension and I do not live a lavish lifestyle but I have to think twice before I buy anything.
We have heard this so often and we have helped many clients whom are in this situation. Below are the facts of one such client.
We were introduced to a 70 year old spinster, living within a Grade 2 listed building. This client is an active retired head teacher who loves her home but the cost of upkeep doesn't leave her any spare money for life's little luxuries or to pay for a new car. She told us: "I have to think twice before I can buy a coffee or a paperback book".
Income and expenditure - where is the income going?
Firstly we spent sometime with our client investigating her monthly budget and establishing exactly what she needed. The adviser dealing with this case was previously a senior bank manager and she spent a lot of her time on this because it revealed a lot about what the client's money was being spent on, but without passing any judgement. The adviser then went through some 'what if' scenarios and looked at the client's plans for the future. One question that the adviser explored was: "If you are going to trade down for a smaller property in the future, why not do it now?" Once this question was answered and once we had established a budget we moved to the next stage.
Our client said that she normally ask their nephew to help her but his financial adviser wasn't qualified to advise on equity release.
We arranged a meeting with our client and her nephew in order to discuss lifetime mortgages. We then arranged a subsequent meeting with an investment specialist from within our firm. This investment specialist explored the pros and cons of the possibility of taking a larger lump sum of cash than was initially required and investing this money. We then left the client and her nephew to decide themselves upon what they wished to do.
Our client contacted our adviser and said that they wished to have some cash now and then have a facility to draw on further cash when it was required.
We arranged a further visit and we arranged flexible reserve lifetime mortgage with a large drawdown facility, with a recommended provider, which our client can draw down the capital from as and when she needs it. Our client bought new car within 7 days of the initial funds being deposited within her account; then she went on holiday and she is delighted with the outcome.
Is this familiar to you? Would you like to have some capital to draw down as and when you need it? Call us to see if we can help you.
You should think very carefully about this information. If you are at all unsure about which equity release transaction is right for you, then you should ask your adviser to make a recommendation. We also offer advice on home reversion schemes and conventional mortgages, either of these products may be more suitable to your own circumstances.