“If anything happened to one of us, we would know that we could call Clarus and they would know everything about us, which at what could be very stressful times in our lives would be so important. They are a critical friend on the journey through the forest.”
Our Client Case Studies
Our clients range across a spectrum of stages of their life/career, and no one situation is exactly the same. The common thread that links each of our clients to us is that they want to act to take control of their financial future and make sure they and those most important to them are well looked after, both during their working years and well into their retirement and beyond.
Read below to find out how we have partnered with our clients in the range of case studies below to give them confidence about their financial future.*
Contact us here if you would like to find out how we can help you with your journey
Client Story – Julie
Age: 58
A bit about Julie: Loves eating out with friends and going to the theatre, enjoys reading and visiting family in the West Country.
Trigger Point for Contacting Us: Julie was becoming increasingly unhappy at work and claustrophobic in her London apartment. She sought refuge in her visits to her family in the West Country and wished that she was able to move closer. She had accumulated various pensions over her working life, but didn’t really know what they were doing for her, or what they meant. But she felt she didn’t have enough to be able to stop working, despite being so unhappy. Julie contacted us after speaking to her friend about her situation, who referred her to us.
How we Helped: As part of our process we want to find out all about you; what your values are, your life goals, what’s important to you and where you are heading, or trying to get to. Providing a safe environment where Julie was able to open up and express all her concerns, explore her dreams and discuss her fears was an incredibly releasing process. We then reviewed all her existing pensions and investments and provided a clear and understandable explanation as to what Julie’s financial position actually was. Using various software and tools, we were able to model different scenarios to help evaluate the options available to Julie. Because we got to know her and explore her values and priorities together, we were able to work through a solution which facilitated Julie being able to leave her job and move to the West Country with the knowledge of where she stood financially and the releasing comfort of knowing she could afford to do this; something she had no idea of before working with us.
Client Outcome: Through our conversations and expertise, our client was empowered to make the decision to leave her place of work where she was so unhappy and move to the area she had longed to live, confident that she now understood her financial situation and the choices available to her.
Client Story – Frank & Claire
Age: 50 & 52
A bit about Frank & Claire: Love writing, reading, spending time in the garden, tinkering with any form of gadget or mechanical item and holidaying with the young adult children.
Trigger Point for Contacting Us: Both Frank and Claire had been married previously and each been successful financially in their own right. Amidst the joy and excitement of their marriage, the intricacies of joining 2 financially successful households not only emotionally and practically, but also financially, was something they recognised they needed professional guidance with.
How we Helped: Through our discussions we were able to get to the heart of their future aspirations together, understand together their concerns for each of their children’s future security and what being ‘fair’ meant for each other when it came to merging their finances.
Each partner had accrued significant assets and designing an investment portfolio across suitable tax wrappers brought consistency in approach, clarity and understanding to their investments and how they would serve them now and their children in the future.
We brought in trusted professionals to create appropriate Family Trusts and update Wills to reflect each partner’s current wishes and provide protection for each individual and their own children.
Client Outcome: Through our conversations and expertise, our clients had the stress of financial uncertainty removed and were confident that they were able to move forward as a new combined family unit, with cohesion across their family wealth and peace of mind that their wishes were accurately reflected for the direction of their assets in the future.
Client Story – Mark & June
Age: 65 & 60
A bit about Mark & June: run a highly successful manufacturing firm together, which has taken every minute of every day of their waking and sleeping hours. Whilst they may have once upon a time had various hobbies, it has been so long since there was any form of life outside of work that it is not easy to answer this question.
Trigger Point for Contacting Us: Having worked themselves almost into the ground, an opportunity arose for the sale of the business and Mark and June realised they needed guidance in the process of selling effectively and working out a financial plan for their future.
How we Helped: Following the successful sale of the business, we together explored what their future might look like and what that meant in terms of financial security. We built a portfolio of investments to provide their target income almost entirely without tax implications, prioritising assets from within their estate to reduce the potential IHT burden, whilst further building assets outside of their estate.
Client Outcome: Following our initial work, Mark and June found they had complete peace of mind that they were able to start their retirement financially secure and knowing that this was being managed for them. Areas that would have been a further burden to navigate alone, such as minimising tax liabilities and trying to understand the suitability of investments were taken care of, allowing Mark & June to really embrace their hard-earned retirement.
Client Story -Simon & Lauren
Age: 40 & 38
A bit about S&L: Simon has worked hard, progressing to Chief Finance Officer for a city firm. He has a passion for life and so plays hard too, enjoying cycling and spending time with his family and friends at the weekend. With 3 growing children, Lauren’s initial focus was on bringing up the family and running everyone’s busy diaries of activities and logistical juggling. As the children are growing, Lauren is enjoying using her skills in various voluntary roles, making a significant impact to her local community.
Trigger Point for Contacting Us: Despite earning well, Simon and Lauren were living hand-to-mouth, using bonus payments for large home projects. They knew they could do more and also wanted to start saving for their childrens’ futures, but didn’t know what or how to do this in the best way.
How we Helped: Reviewing their current position, we were able to identify when and how they could direct their income to start building savings pots for the children. Furthermore, due to Simon’s high income, we created some planning around his tax position, reducing this effectively and redirecting funds that were not being utilised to their fullest extent for their future. They had some significant gaps in their protection, which meant that if Simon passed away prematurely, the family would likely have had to give up their family home and change their lifestyle significantly. Modelling this empowered Simon and Lauren to make an informed decision about the level of protection they felt comfortable with as a family to protect their futures should the unexpected happen.
Client Outcome: Following our work, Simon and Lauren had complete peace of mind that their family was well protected and that they were now on track to achieve their goals, making their finances work as hard as possible for them.
* To protect the privacy of our clients, images, names and some financial details have been changed.
What our clients say
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The Financial Vulnerability Taskforce
The Financial Vulnerability Taskforce is a newly created independent representative body covering the Personal Finance Sector whose ultimate purpose is to promote greater UNDERSTANDING, encourage appropriate BEHAVIOURS and establish GOOD PRACTICE in respect of consumer vulnerability. It will act as an informed source of positive influence on both policy makers, professionals and the general public alike. In doing so, we hope that professionals working across the Personal Finance Sector are increasingly seen as a ‘safe pair of hands’, especially by those who find themselves in vulnerable circumstances.