Get to know your customers

Hi, I'm Mike, I'm 46 years old and I'm married to Deirdre
We've two kids, both still in school
I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it but things are actually ok for us.

My sector wasn't hit too badly by the crash and I may be even due a promotion soon.
Deirdre spends a lot of time looking after her parents which leaves me as the main bread winner in the family.

I'm very conscious of that so I've started exercising more. I want to stay healthy

What do I love?
I love spending time with the family, emm
I have to travel a lot so em it's nice to hang out with them when I'm home.

The kids are great, John's a handy little footballer and Kate's at that strange phase now where she wants to make her own clothes.

Now I can barely kick a ball let alone handle a scissors.
But em, we have common ground in cycling. We like to head out every Sunday afternoon
and go for long spins.

Financially, we're ok. I mean...
We don't have as much money to play around with as we used to but, we dodged a
bullet. We didn't buy a second home or anything during the boom.

The mortgage is almost clear and now I'm starting to put more into our retirement
plan. I'm still a bit wary though, I mean I don't trust financial services as much as I used to.

I shop around for independent advice especially since it’s very difficult to understand some of these things em.

I sound very negative but I suppose what I really want to do is keep things simple.
I know things will level out eventually, so I'm looking for the best long term plan.

I want to make sure my money is in the right places and I want to understand how it's performing em, I don't want to gamble.

I suppose, I really want to know where I stand.

Hi, I'm Mike, I'm 46 years old and I'm married to Deirdre
We've two kids, both still in school
I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it but things are actually ok for us.

My sector wasn't hit too badly by the crash and I may be even due a promotion soon.
Deirdre spends a lot of time looking after her parents which leaves me as the main bread winner in the family.

I'm very conscious of that so I've started exercising more. I want to stay healthy

What do I love?
I love spending time with the family, emm
I have to travel a lot so em it's nice to hang out with them when I'm home.

The kids are great, John's a handy little footballer and Kate's at that strange phase now where she wants to make her own clothes.

Now I can barely kick a ball let alone handle a scissors.
But em, we have common ground in cycling. We like to head out every Sunday afternoon
and go for long spins.

Financially, we're ok. I mean...
We don't have as much money to play around with as we used to but, we dodged a
bullet. We didn't buy a second home or anything during the boom.

The mortgage is almost clear and now I'm starting to put more into our retirement
plan. I'm still a bit wary though, I mean I don't trust financial services as much as I used to.

I shop around for independent advice especially since it’s very difficult to understand some of these things em.

I sound very negative but I suppose what I really want to do is keep things simple.
I know things will level out eventually, so I'm looking for the best long term plan.

I want to make sure my money is in the right places and I want to understand how it's performing em, I don't want to gamble.

I suppose, I really want to know where I stand.

Yeah, I’m Frank, I’m… well… I was a farmer.

Mostly retired. It’s quiet enough around the place now, it’s just myself and Mary.
Kids are all grown. Lorraine and Kevin, they’ve kids of their own now, and Colm is
off in Australia. None of them wanted to go into farming.

So… sold off most of the land. Theres a bit left, just to give me something to do.
I’d miss it, you know, if it was all gone. Still, there’s loads of stuff to keep us going.

We’d be in Spain now, a couple of times a year. Going to Morocco next year.
At home, at home yeah I help out with the younger farmers, mentoring sort of thing.
Gives me a chance to share a few tricks. God knows they can use all the help they can
get.

Mary and I, we have no stress, thank God. We have a few pound put away and
hopefully it’ll be enough to see us out.

Not that we’re living like millionaires or anything.
We’ve a few quid for things like holidays and helping out you know, with the kids
and for the grandkids, you know, when they need it.

And a few new golf clubs. I was lucky with the money, yes, I was lucky I suppose
because I didn’t make any silly mistakes, you know.
And emmm, I’ve had the same broker for years and never steered me wrong.
We want to hold onto it now.

There’s no more coming in, and emm, can’t afford to lose it.
You never know when an emergency will arise. What I want, well, I want to know
what’s going on.

I want to know what’s happening with my money, what the various things are costing
me. I also want access. You know, like I was saying, an emergency can arise and there’s
no point if it’s all locked away.

As long as we have enough to keep us comfortable, and if there’s a few quid there to
help out, that’s plenty. Not forgetting to leave something behind us as well, you know.

My name is Richard. I was laid off 2 years ago after 20 years working for the same
company. It was a kick to be honest.
It was very tough for a while.

Two of our girls are still in school and we were really struggling to keep our heads
above water.

My wife Sinead, she was unbelievable. She held us all together.

Things are gradually getting better, I do a bit of consulting, not as much as I’d like
but it’s bringing a bit of money in and it’s something to keep me busy.

For a while I just sat around moping, and I felt awful.
Then I started to do a bit more work around the house, making dinners… just… keep
busy, you know.

In regards to the money, well, it’s not great.

Sinead is gone back to work and we are totally preoccupied with the day to day.
We don’t have a long term plan at the moment, but we need one.

It’s a catch 22 situation. We don’t have time for slow, safe investments.
And I don’t want to take a big risk either.

So really I’m just trying to balance it out.

Our big priority is to get the kids fully launched and through college.

I definitely want to take more control from now on. I used to just pay the broker and pay into the pension
and then leave it to the broker.

Not anymore. Now I want to be able to see what’s going on with it. I want to know that I’ve got the best
I can with what I have.

That helps me to sleep at night. I’ve come to terms with a lot of things though.
No more trips to Cardiff for the rugby.

I’m just happy if Sinead and I can get out for a meal.
Our retirement plan is on hold, naturally, for the moment. I’m going to be working for
a long time yet.

Hi, I’m Derek, I’m 36 years old, married to the beautiful Lorna we have 3 kids.
They’re 8, 5 and 2. Can’t believe they’re 8, 5 and
2.

I’m a solicitor, self-employed, Lorna works in office admin. Yeah, we’re definitely feeling squeezed.
There’s not much work right now. We’re swimming in bills. It’s hard.

And we are argue a lot, which isn’t fun either. There’s a lot of pressure to meet the
payments too. I bought a second apartment a few years ago, great
investment.
Now I can’t sell it, and the mortgage is bleeding me dry. At the same time my clients
are finding it harder and harder to pay me.
 
It’s a vicious circle.  All in all it’s not great,
but, we do what we can, Lorna and I.
 
Holidays are spent in the mobile home in Wexford, it’s not exactly the Algarve but 
it’s fun, the kids love it and it’s really really nice to spend time away from all the
stress.

Emmm, what’s the plan... We have to get our debts under control first and foremost.
Stop reacting to things and start planning. I want
to start seeing what I can do for the
future.

Problem is I haven’t a clue where to start. I mean I thought I had a handle on our
finances.
 
But you can see where that landed me. I could really do with some good advice on re-building.
 
Still, I’m young yet, and I think now is the time to take some risks and try and catch
the market as it rebounds and I’m open to suggestions.
 
First priority for us would be the kids college fund.

It’s ten years away but, that will not be long passing I can assure you.

Once that’s in good shape, I’d like to start thinking about our pensions.