Wealth Management
At Zen Wealth, we believe that understanding where you are and how you arrived here is critical in helping you get to where you want to go. This enables us to develop a deep understanding of what motivates you and allows us to tailor our advice towards helping you achieve your goals.
"I chose to become a Zen client after discovering Patrick's views and approach to life and wealth planning. I feel that Patrick is interested in me and my life first and foremost. The way he works enables me to see the big picture and to make lifestyle and financial decisions based on proper analysis of my options and the impact of my choices."
Hazel H, Headhunter
Post Education and your Early Career Years
We all need to start somewhere, and this is when we are at the biggest risk of making bad financial decisions.
You are often at risk of spending more than you earn, but we can help guide you in the right direction.
Typical Life Stage Goals:
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Paying for Education
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Buying a car or furnishing your first home
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Building your savings
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Paying off debt
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Building a good credit history
As we move from our Post Education years and into the next phase of our lives, we each face different challenges.
Your finances may have settled down, but we usually find we have increasing responsibilities.
So whether the responsibilities extend to managing your own business, providing security for your family or extending your career, we are here to guide you.
Typical Life Stage Goals:
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Reducing Debt
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Buying/Moving House
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Reducing Taxes
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Growing Wealth
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Pension Planning
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Preparing a Will
Family and Career Building
Your pre-retirement years are likely to see your expenses start to fall and your wealth start to grow. If you have children, they are likely to be starting out on their own financial journey.
You will be starting to look towards retirement, paying off your debts and maybe helping your children start off on their life's journey.
Typical Life Stage Goals:
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Paying off a Mortgage
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Reducing Taxes
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Growing Retirement Wealth
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Starting/ Selling a business
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Planning for retirement
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Helping children in further education
Pre-Retirement
As we approach retirement, we should no longer think of retirement as a single event. Just like during our working life, retirement has stages. These stages, and the decisions we make during them will be deeply personal and unique to you. Not everyone will go through all of them, however, the key to a successful retirement plan is to consider the impact of three key stages in the retirement journey.
Patrick Murphy
Managing Partner
Active retirement occurs in the early years of retirement. For many, this will be between 55 and 75. It can be challenging as we attempt to figure out what we are doing and where we are going with our new found freedom.
You are often still active, and healthy. You may be looking forward to more holidays, spending time with loved ones, and generally enjoying life's most precious commodity, time.
However, this brings challenges and the newfound freedom usually brings with it higher costs of living.
Active Retirements Key Challenges
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Controlling your spending
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Allowing your assets to grow
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Sustaining Cash Flow
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Not overreaching
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Maximizing your new found freedom
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Not leaving things too late
Active Retirement
Passive Retirement
Typically, the slow down will start between ages 75 and 85. The initial 'buzz' experienced in the early years tends to be replaced with a more routine lifestyle. You may find yourself spending more time at home and traveling less.
For many, it's a time to consider downsizing, moving closer to family and friends.
Your cash flow is just as important as ever. However, you probably find that the things that you spend your money on are different to before.
Your attitude toward money may well shift from wanting to achieve growth to preserving what you have.
Passive Retirements Key Challenges
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Do I downsize?
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Are my investments still right for me?
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What happens if I need help and support?
The final stage usually, starts from around age 85 and onwards. Here, life can change in a host of ways. You will probably find that your energy levels are lowering, you may need more help and support.
You may find yourself with more healthcare needs, you may be coping with bereavement.
The decisions we make during the first two phases of retirement can have a significant impact on your own wellbeing.
Key Challenges for Inactive Retirement
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Protecting Wealth
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Covering the costs of care
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Passing on a legacy
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Dealing with Cognitive and Motor decline
Inactive Retirement
While investing can at times seem overwhelming, academic research can be broken down into what we call the Key Concepts to Financial Success.
If you examine your own life, you’ll find that it is often the simpler things that consistently work. Successful investing is no different. However, it is easy to have your attention drawn to the wrong issues. These wrong issues "the noise" can derail your journey.
We will walk through these concepts and then explain how we incorporate each of these concepts into your investment plans.
Our advice process selects from a wide range of different investment offerings with discretionary investment management our preferred solution.
Financial markets today are both fast-moving and complex, so we have chosen providers who have a pro-active, hands-on approach.
Investment
Mangement
“The service is truly personal. I feel that they genuinely want to understand our circumstances, hopes and fears, and all the aspects of our lives that touch on these as the basis for developing an optimum plan. Their advice is objective, sound, well thought through, and motivated by what is right for us, rather than a desire to impress, churn holdings or generate additional fee income. I would happily recommend them.”
John S.
Qualitative Researcher
Qual
You've worked hard for what you have, so ensuring your loved ones can benefit will no doubt be a concern.
There are several ways in which you can legally reduce or entirely mitigate your Inheritance Tax liability. Alternatively you could simply provide for the liability cost effectively, should it not be possible to avoid.
We'll help you build a realistic picture of your financial future, so you can be confident that you can plan to mitigate Inheritance Tax without prejudicing your future financial security.
Estate Planning
We have all experienced life not going to plan, whether that is the loss of a loved one, an unexpected illness preventing you from working, or simply something unexpected happening.
So whilst it may not be as exciting as a new TV, or the latest gadget, Financial protection should form the cornerstone of your financial plans.
As parents, our most basic desire is to keep our loved ones safe, this extends to a roof over their head and food in their stomachs.
Financial protection can take on various forms, tailored to your specific needs. At Zen Wealth we offer a free, impartial, no obligation protection review to ensure you and your loved ones are prepared for the unexpected.
Protecting your Loved Ones
If you are faced with the prospect of finding care for yourself or your loved ones right now, you are probably feeling emotionally drained. We know how difficult it can be, to navigate these issues, because we have had similar, personal experiences.
We have known about the ageing population in the UK for many decades, however, it is only recently that the demands on social care have become more widely understood and publicised.
As families have dispersed, geographically and community / state support has reduced, more responsibility has been placed upon individuals, to look after themselves in later life.
The importance of planning for this eventually is essential. Whether your goal is to leave a legacy, provide for your own care, or to enable you or your partner to stay in your own home, our experts are here to help you navigate the maze.
At Zen Wealth, we have the specialist knowledge required to help guide you through the complex options available.
We work with individuals, families and powers of attorney. We understand your circumstances and tailor our advice to your needs.
Whether you feel that life is slowing down and becoming a struggle, or that you need help around the home or are the point of entering a care home, we can help tailor a plan to suit you.
Funding Care
In most divorce cases involving pensions we are likely to be working alongside a matrimonial solicitor acting for one of the parties to the divorce, and it will usually be prudent to agree on the basis of charging with the solicitor, who will be able to make a judgment as to whether an additional cost can be justified to the client, having regard to the values involved in each individual situation. It is possible that actuaries might also need to be instructed.
Instead of acting in an adversarial capacity for one party, we might be asked to act as a Single Joint Expert, recommending a possible division of assets, for example, to provide equality of income at specific retirement age.
In some cases, after an agreement has been reached between the parties as to the basis on which assets should be divided, it may be possible for us to advise one or both parties on how to maximise their respective pension provision. There are strict rules controlling this within a collaborative settlement, where we may have acted as a financial neutral and can only happen if both parties agree at the end of the process, with either party having the right to veto our ongoing involvement, and there should have been no expectation through the negotiation stages that we would undertake implementation work. It may not be considered possible in a litigation or arbitration case where we may have acted as a Single Joint Expert due to a potential conflict of interest. We could alternatively be called upon to advise scheme trustees as to the effect of a proposed sharing arrangement on the scheme.