A client who suffered a devastating car accident shows how DB transfers can change lives for the better, a Chartered Financial Planner says.

Tamsin Caine FPFS has written about her client in Financial Planning Today magazine’s planner casebook feature.

John, in his mid-fifties, and Sarah, in her early fifties (names have been changed), found their lives turned upside down by a road crash.

For full article please see page 17 and 18 of the latest magazine by clicking HERE.

The accident had not been his fault and he was having a long, drawn out battle with the driver who hit him to agree the compensation due to him.

He suffered ongoing pain from driving and his work as a general insurance broker, involving hundreds of miles on the road, was extremely difficult. The household income was heavily reliant on John’s work and the respective income.

Ms Caine, head of Financial Planning at Smart Financial in Altrincham, said: “He had a choice between the agony of driving or the stress of financial shortfalls.

“Whilst they made adjustments to their lifestyle, they found themselves struggling to meet their monthly outgoings. Their savings were depleted and they were not sure how they would finance the time before John’s retirement age, which was 9 years in the future.”

She said John was an example of someone for whom transferring their defined benefit “could be life changing”.

This case was an important example, she said, because the “litigious society we have become has made many planners cautious of recommending that clients transfer for fear of repercussions later on.”

While some clients are better off either leaving the defined benefit pension intact or transferring to a money purchase plan, this was a definite case of a good decision to transfer, Ms Caine said.

Find out why by turning to page 17 and 18 of the latest magazine by clicking HERE.

Other key features in the latest issue include:

• A 5 page Special Report on Financial Planners surprising expectations for 2018
• Cashflow Modelling - is the time right to extend its uses to more clients?
Plus:
• Planner Casebook - Tamsin Caine unravels a topical and complex pension transfer case with inspiring rewards
• Top 10 Client Hunter Tips
• Columns from leading Financial Planner Julie Lord, PFS chief executive Keith Richards, CISI head of Financial Planning Jackie Lockie and other key commentators
• DFM news and listings