YOUR PORTFOLIO
Mike Stimpson
Saltus
Divorce
Mike Stimpson , partner at Saltus , advised a couple in their 40s who seemed to have it all . One was a banker , the other a surgeon , they had two children they wanted to send to private school , and the husband was expecting to retire in the next five to 10 years . Then the wife met someone else , the couple divorced while she was on maternity leave , and she decided not to go back to work . “ Suddenly , everything changed quite dramatically , from having two significant incomes to one , and the husband having to support two households and pay maintenance ,” says Stimpson . “ It was a total reshaping of expectations . He now didn ’ t know how long he was going to be working for or where the school fees would come from . In this situation , you become part financial planner and part counsellor .” The adviser told him to stay calm
and focus on what was important , such as having a functioning relationship with his ex-wife for their children ’ s sake . “ In the short term , he had to reduce his pension savings ,” Stimpson says . “ Once the divorce was finalised , he knew whose assets were where and how the pension-sharing order was going to work . “ Then it was about starting again , deciding where he wanted to be and building a new plan .”
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