Richard Cook. The Investment and Retirement Coach

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Richard Cook. The Investment and Retirement Coach

Putting you in control of your money. Find out more at www.theinvestmentandretirementcoach.co.uk

Richard Cook has been one of the UK's leading Financial Planners for more than 30 years. As well as running his own Practice in Cheltenham , England Richard has delighted financial services audiences in the UK, Ireland ,USA, Canada, Singapore , and elsewhere. He is an acknowledged expert in building and managing client relationships as well as in all aspects of retirement planning . Having recentl

y sold his business Richard now has two new ventures which motivate and excite him. www.advisersuccess.co.uk is the route through which Richard is helping financial advisers throughout the world to add more value to their client relationships and achieve more productive, satisfying lifestyles. The Retirement Team Ltd is dedicated to improving your retirement years, primarily by giving YOU the tools to optimise the income potential of your pension fund and other assets. The eventual aim is to provide support in all areas of retirement including health, diet , exercise, family, travel, etc. For investment and retirement comment and opinion read my blog at: http://theretirementteam.blogspot.co.uk/

15/06/2026

Why are so many of my clients enjoying retirement more than ever?

It’s one of the unexpected consequences of the Government’s decision to bring pension funds into Inheritance Tax calculations from April 2027.

When the announcement was made, the initial reaction from many clients was a mixture of shock and frustration. Years of carefully structured planning had been turned on its head, and what had been a highly effective strategy suddenly looked far less attractive. But after the dust settled, the conversation quickly changed to “What can we do about it?”

For many, leaving large pension funds untouched to grow indefinitely, while simultaneously creating a larger potential IHT bill, no longer made sense.

Many clients with large funds were restricting withdrawals to remain within basic-rate tax bands. Now, given the choice between paying 40% Income Tax and having more money to enjoy, spend, or gift, vs paying 40% Inheritance Tax after death, it’s not surprising which option many are choosing.

The result - more holidays, more meals out, more business-class flights, more financial help for children and grandchildren when they can genuinely benefit from it. And perhaps most importantly, more enjoyment of life.

What I’ve noticed is that these clients seem more relaxed, more confident and more comfortable with their finances than ever before. There is a real sense of satisfaction in knowing that every pound spent on experiences, family, or personal enjoyment is also reducing a future IHT liability.

These are clients who had good levels of pension funds earmarked for a tax-free inheritance, from which they were taking an income whilst seeing their funds retain their value.

Of course, spending more in retirement isn’t the right answer for everyone, but for many, it is proving to be a surprisingly liberating shift in mindset.

One client recently told me that whenever their ISA delivers a particularly strong year, they now make a point of spending the gains. If markets are less kind, they simply skip a holiday or two. A simple philosophy, but one that feels entirely aligned with making the most of retirement.

Naturally, some families will still benefit from more sophisticated IHT planning involving gifting strategies, trusts and other solutions, but the children of the clients I am talking to can still look forward to a substantial inheritance, and they love their parents’ new lifestyle.

If you'd like to explore whether this approach could work for you, let's have a conversation.

08/06/2026

Half of investors are 'mislabelled' by standard risk-profiling

I've been taking income from my drawdown plan for fifteen years.
In that time, I've come to one clear conclusion: the only real risk I need to manage is being forced to sell funds at a loss to meet my income withdrawals.

My solution has been straightforward: keep up to three years of planned income in cash, away from market movements. That lets me invest everything else in a diversified equity portfolio, which has produced returns I wouldn't have seen with a cautious risk profile.
Standard risk profiling wouldn't have got me here. Which is why I wasn't surprised to read recently that more than half of investors may have been placed in a category that's too cautious for their actual situation.

Volatility isn't the risk. It's inevitable if you hold equity funds. The risk is not planning your cash flow well enough and ending up having to sell at the wrong time.

Get that right, and you don't need a low-volatility portfolio. You just need a plan.

I can't give regulated financial advice, but if this sounds familiar to your own situation, feel free to get in touch. I'm happy to talk it through.

28/04/2026

Are you running your business only to end up worse off than your employees?

Three in ten employers don't have a pension, according to recent research by Rathbones.

I sold my own business on good terms after more than 40 years, but a significant part of my retirement income still comes from my pension plans. If you're assuming a future business sale will fund your whole retirement, that is a risky strategy. The future of any business today is harder to predict than ever, and a substantial pension gives you a proper backstop.

Your employees are automatically enrolled in a workplace pension, with contributions of 8% of earnings. If you don't want to end up worse off than they are, that should be your minimum, and based on your total income from the business, not just salary.

Treat it as a compulsory overhead, not an optional one. If you're not at least matching your employees' contributions, something is wrong.

It's also one of the few ways to take money out of your business without paying tax. A company can contribute up to £60,000 a year into your pension as a business expense, no income tax, no corporation tax, no national insurance. The money then sits in a tax-efficient account until you take benefits.

You don't need expensive regulated advice to set this up. Platforms like Hargreaves Lansdown are straightforward to use.

If you'd like some help thinking it through, our coaching and guidance service can point you in the right direction. Do get in touch if that would be useful. https://www.theinvestmentandretirementcoach.co.uk/

24/04/2026

𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟏 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟑? 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮. You may not be aware of the changes to the pension scheme rules that come into effect on 6 April 2028, which move the starting pension age from 55 to 57.

If you were born after 5th April 1973, there is nothing you can do about this, but if you were born between 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟏 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟑, you need to understand the rules and how they apply to you.

If you were born before 6 April 1971, you can choose to access your 25% tax-free cash or start to access your pension at age 55. If, however, you don’t take those benefits by 6 April 2028, you will be locked out until your 57th birthday. And that could be up to two years in some cases.

Is this important? Absolutely!

If you’re aiming to access some tax-free cash at age 55 to reduce mortgages, help the children, start a new business, or even avoid the political threat to the tax-free nature of the payments, you need to start your planning NOW.

If you need some jargon-free, no-nonsense guidance, please feel free to get in touch.

24/03/2026

Markets have been unsettled again over the last few days.
It always feels uncomfortable when values fall, and the news is full of reasons to worry.

What has been reassuring is how calmly most of our clients have responded. Very few have felt the need to check in, which reflects the way their investments have been set up.

From the outset, the intention has been to plan for periods like this — making sure that income does not depend on selling investments at the wrong time.

Even after the recent falls, the client portfolios I’ve looked at remain well ahead of where they were this time last year.

The real protection comes from sensible planning. Keeping an emergency fund and setting aside money for known expenses in stable assets removes much of the stress when markets move around.

As for what happens next, nobody really knows.

In the meantime, it may be no bad thing to enjoy the spring and take a step back from the constant flow of news.

If you are feeling uneasy and would like to talk things through, I’m always happy to help.

25/02/2026

Many self-employed people are building successful businesses — but not always building a retirement.

A recent Fidelity investigation suggested that self-employed workers in the UK risk facing a significantly weaker retirement position than their employed counterparts.

The contrast is stark.

Around 89% of eligible employees now contribute automatically into workplace pensions. Since April 2019, most employees contribute 5% of eligible earnings, with employers adding a further 3%. That’s 8% being invested month after month, almost invisibly.

For the self-employed, the picture is very different.

Only around a quarter are contributing to pensions at all, and many of those contributions are irregular or fixed cash amounts rather than linked to income.

Some people may of course be preparing for retirement in other ways, but the available evidence suggests this is far less common than many assume.

What often surprises me most is how many higher-rate-tax-paying self-employed individuals are still not contributing. With pension contributions attracting up to 40% tax relief, the effective return on day one can be substantial.

I covered this in more detail in a previous post about how higher-rate tax relief can effectively double part of your pension, here is the link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richardcook2_a-reminder-of-what-sensible-investing-and-activity-7426583714471731200-1Olr?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAOCqG4BsXD10Tcs6nlxoN5V8wKIqwPL9Nk

20/02/2026

"1 in 7 parents plan to spend their children’s inheritance.”

That was the headline from a recent Standard Life report.

In practice, what I’m seeing with clients is slightly different.

Much of the current discussion stems from the planned inclusion of unused defined contribution pension funds within Inheritance Tax calculations from April 2027. For many people, this means they may fall into the IHT net for the first time, or see their potential liability increase significantly.

As a result, far more than “1 in 7” are now reviewing their retirement and estate planning arrangements.

That doesn’t mean recklessly “spending the children’s inheritance”. What it usually means is thinking more carefully about how and when money is used. For some, that includes gifting to family (either directly or via trusts). For others, it means feeling more comfortable prioritising their own lifestyle in retirement.

After all, money spent on enjoying life now, whether that’s travelling a little more comfortably or helping family sooner, may simply reduce the amount that would otherwise be lost to tax later.

Of course, any additional spending has to be balanced carefully against future income needs. The priority is always ensuring long-term financial security first. But with proper planning, many people find they have more flexibility than they originally assumed.

Inheritance Tax remains one of the least popular taxes. People work hard to build their assets and naturally want those assets used in the most sensible and beneficial way possible.

One of the most rewarding parts of my work is helping clients feel confident about their options — whether that means spending a little more in the earlier years of retirement, supporting family sooner, or structuring their estate more efficiently.

If this is something you’ve been thinking about, I’m always happy to have a conversation.

12/02/2026

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭.

From April 2027, unused defined contribution pension funds are expected to be included in your estate for Inheritance Tax.

For some families, this could create an IHT bill where none previously existed.

In the past, pension death benefits were often dealt with outside the estate and paid separately from probate assets. The process was generally more straightforward.

Under the new rules, executors and pension providers will need to work together to establish values and ensure any Inheritance Tax is paid within the required timescales. The more pension schemes involved, the more complex the process is likely to become.

Quite apart from investment considerations, simply having multiple small pension arrangements may increase cost and delay for your family at a difficult time.

If you have accumulated several pension pots over the years, now would be a sensible time to review them. Consolidation is not always appropriate, but the forthcoming changes make it worth examining carefully.

If you would like help understanding how these changes may affect you, I’m happy to discuss.

09/02/2026

A reminder of what sensible investing and tax planning can achieve.

I recently reviewed a client’s pension arrangements following a bonus payment they received last year.

They invested £34,000 into their SIPP and, as a higher-rate taxpayer, reclaimed £8,500 in tax relief. The net cost was £25,500.
Less than a year on, the investment is valued at £52,138.

This has been an unusually strong year for markets, but it’s worth remembering the wider context: political uncertainty, ongoing conflicts, and constant unsettling news in the UK.

Results like this should not be expected every year. And they don’t come not from reacting to headlines, but from making sound decisions and sticking with them.

If you’re not sure that you’re making the most of the allowances available to you, or whether your pension contributions still make sense, a review can often provide clarity. Get in touch if you need a review. https://www.theinvestmentandretirementcoach.co.uk/contact

06/02/2026

Uncertainty is leading many people to make poor investment decisions.
And I’m not surprised.

A recent report suggests that most people feel the world is more uncertain than it was five years ago, and that confidence about future finances has fallen sharply. I see the same concern regularly in conversations with clients and prospective clients.

The most common response is to build up cash savings because it feels safe. And for short-term needs, that makes sense. But when fear drives people to hold large amounts of cash for the long term, the risk quietly changes. Cash may feel reassuring, but over time it is unlikely to keep pace with inflation.

If you are looking beyond the short term, real investments like pensions and Stocks and Shares ISAs offer the prospect of maintaining and growing purchasing power.

What concerns me most is that only a small minority of people say they're considering financial advice. Many assume it is either unnecessary or just not for them.

In reality, if your affairs are not complex, full advice may not be needed. A sensible framework, some guidance, and the disciplined use of well-established DIY platforms such as Hargreaves Lansdown or AJ Bell may be enough to help you confidently move forward.

If you recognise yourself in this and would value a steady hand rather than a sales pitch, I’m happy to help.

Address

20 Emerald Place, Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham , Gl527ZA
Glos
GL545PB

Website

http://Www.theinvestmentandretirementcoach.co.uk/

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