How we helped Helen rebuild her life after divorce

Making it possible to create the future you want

Whatever the reason for your divorce, professional wealth planning advice can help you to achieve the best outcome and ensure your financial stability in the long term. We can help you make the arrangements you need for your future comfort, as Helen’s story shows.

Getting to know Helen

When we first met Helen, she was worried about her divorce. Her husband was doing his best to be fair, so legally and financially it was going smoothly. However, Helen was anxious about managing her own finances for the first time. Her daughter Rosie was studying at the London School of Economics, while Ben was in his third year at Durham, but had already lined up a city job after his graduation – so Helen’s main priority was to live in or near London.

Why Helen needed our help

Helen’s financial position was mainly represented by the family’s £2.5m house (on which they had a mortgage of £250,000) and her husband’s self-invested personal pension (SIPP) pot of £1.2m. They also had an ISA each of £250,000 and more than £450,000 in a discretionary portfolio. This account, the pension and the ISAs were all managed together.

Helen was awarded half these assets in the divorce: £1.125m from selling the house, £500,000 from her husband’s pension, £250,000 in an ISA and £225,000 in the discretionary portfolio.

She asked us to help her make the most of these assets to create an income and safeguard her long-term future.

Our Canaccord Wealth solution

After several meetings with Helen, we agreed she would need an income of around £4,000 per month or £48,000 per year, which would reduce once the twins had graduated. After a review for her appetite to risk, we determined that she was a medium-risk investor, looking for a steady income from her investments.

As she was new to investing on her own, Helen initially wanted to keep a small cash float. Her investment portfolio was to be her main income, except for a small regular contribution from her ex-husband.

She found a flat near Clapham Common for £850,000, leaving her with £275,000 from the sale of her old home, which could be added to her £225,000 in the discretionary portfolio. We set up a new SIPP for her, funded with the £500,000 from her husband’s SIPP.

We also decided to combine income generation from her discretionary portfolio and her tax-free ISA, returning a gross yield of 4.5% or £33,750.

What happened next

Helen now has a SIPP of £500,000, an ISA of £250,000, a discretionary portfolio of £500,000 and a flat with no mortgage. The SIPP is essentially a long-term saving vehicle, which Helen has earmarked as an inheritance tax exempt pot for Ben and Rosie.

Every April, we move funds from the discretionary portfolio to Helen’s ISA, to increase the tax-free proportion of her funds.

Keeping in touch

Helen has regular review meetings with her Canaccord Wealth Planner. As part of this process, we review her discretionary portfolio and her pension and IHT arrangements, to make sure they are affordable, tax-efficient and relevant.