Client Story: Frank and Lisa – In it for the long haul

Frank and Lisa Doyle have been clients of ours for over ten years. But our relationship goes back much further – Kunle and Frank worked together in the investment world. We have been with them since they bought their main family home, supported them as they built up their investment portfolio and are now guiding them through the start of their retirement planning.

Their story is the perfect demonstration of how we like to work here at SK. Financial advice is not just about money, it is about long standing, strong relationships, it’s about really getting to know people and being there to help them achieve their goals at every life stage. In his own words, here’s what Frank had to say about SK:

For me, there has always been a defining memory from my student days and early career. When I was invited to parties or events, I often found myself saying “I’m sorry I can’t come, I just can’t afford it.”

I count myself as being in the very fortunate position of not having had to say that phrase for a very long time, thanks to the jobs I have had. As I approach my 60^th birthday, the plan for retiring is for that to continue. In retirement, I don’t want the reason I say no to something, whether it is travel or a big sporting event, to be because I can’t afford it.

As a result, the conversations with Kunle and the team have now shifted from years of accumulation to retirement planning and getting the relevant investments in place. It’s about making sure that the family is all set for the future and any potential changes in circumstances over the next five years are planned for.  Whether I retire in one year or in ten, I am confident that they have put a strategy in place that means that this is the case.

I’m just not an extravagant person

I don’t have any expensive hobbies, I am not interested in fine wine or fast cars and I really just want to spend my retirement with family and friends – I’m just not an extravagant person, which is a good thing. Yes, travel will come into it but not to far flung places on the other side of the world. I’m thinking more the West coast of Ireland (I am of Irish heritage), maybe with a golf club in one hand and pint of Guinness in the other, or exploring another corner of Ireland or the British Isles.

My one ‘guilty pleasure’, if you can call it that, is having a really decent audio visual set up at home, including a cinema room which does need up-grading every so often. That does need a bit of money. With three sons who love sport as well, we enjoy getting together and watching sport, so this feels like a worthwhile investment in the future, it’s about quality time with family.

All my spare money was spent on servicing the mortgage

I first met Kunle back in the early 2000s when I was working on the Investment Management side of things at Dresdner. Around that time, Lisa and I took a bit of a gamble and bought our family home in Winchester (where we still live today) and we had the substantial mortgage to match. As such, I must have been one of Kunle’s worst clients…..all my spare money was spent on servicing the mortgage.

Over time, however, we built up our portfolio, starting with PEPs and ISAs, which at the time were the most efficient way of investing long term. The focus since then has been on accumulation.

From my perspective, the best compliment that you can give a firm of financial advisers is that there are no surprises. And that has very much been the case for our time with SK. What’s more, whenever I’ve needed admin help – such as for my tax return – the team is always quick to help with the relevant information. So the more everyday tasks work well and are easy. But add to that the advantage of being able to call Kunle for a more strategic and interesting discussions and you have all the support you need under one roof.