Case Studies

A client approached LHW Financial Planning looking for greater clarity around their overall financial position and how their existing investments could support their longer-term goals. They had accumulated savings and investments across several accounts but had never reviewed them as one complete portfolio.

LHW carried out a comprehensive review of the client’s assets, investment strategy, risk profile and future objectives. This highlighted areas where investments could be better aligned with their time horizons and where existing arrangements could be consolidated or restructured to create a clearer overall strategy.

Working together, LHW developed a long-term wealth management plan focused on balancing growth, diversification and accessibility while keeping the client’s wider financial goals at the centre of the advice.

The process gave the client a much clearer understanding of where their wealth was positioned and how each part of their portfolio contributed towards their future plans. Regular reviews were also put in place to ensure the strategy could adapt as their circumstances and objectives evolved.

A client living and working in Ireland approached LHW Financial Planning with a pension they had accumulated during previous employment in the UK. With the client now permanently based in Ireland, they wanted to understand their options and whether their existing pension remained appropriate for their long-term retirement plans.

LHW reviewed the existing pension arrangement, the client’s retirement objectives and the wider implications of managing a UK pension while resident in Ireland. The review helped clarify the options available and highlighted the importance of considering the pension alongside the client’s Irish investments and other retirement assets.

Rather than treating the UK pension in isolation, LHW helped the client understand how it fitted into their overall retirement strategy. This provided greater clarity around future income requirements, investment objectives and the decisions that would need to be considered as retirement approached.

The result was a more joined-up retirement plan, giving the client greater confidence that their UK pension and Irish financial arrangements were being considered as part of the same long-term picture.

A business owner approached LHW Financial Planning several years before a planned sale of their company. While the business itself was performing strongly, much of the client’s personal wealth remained tied up in the company, creating uncertainty around what their financial position would look like after the sale.

LHW worked with the client to establish a clear picture of their personal financial objectives, including the income they wanted to maintain, their future lifestyle plans and the level of wealth required to support them beyond the business.

The planning process helped identify the financial steps that could be taken ahead of a potential sale, including reviewing existing investments, pension arrangements and personal protection. By starting the planning process early, the client was able to make decisions with a clearer understanding of how the eventual proceeds could support their longer-term objectives.

When the time came to progress the business sale, the client had a much clearer framework for what they wanted their post-sale financial position to look like. The key lesson was that effective exit planning begins well before a transaction takes place.

An HR Director approached LHW Financial Planning after recognising that their company’s existing pension scheme was no longer delivering the level of engagement and value expected by employees. Participation and understanding varied across the workforce, while employees were often unclear about how their pension could support their retirement objectives.

LHW carried out a review of the existing corporate pension arrangement, looking at the scheme structure, employee engagement, contribution levels and the way benefits were communicated across the organisation.

Rather than focusing solely on the pension provider or investment options, LHW took a broader approach to employee communication and education. The objective was to make the scheme easier for employees to understand and encourage greater engagement with their retirement planning.

The review resulted in a clearer pension structure and a more effective communication strategy, helping employees better understand the value of the benefit being provided by their employer.

For the HR Director, the process also provided greater confidence that the company’s pension offering was supporting both employee needs and the organisation’s wider benefits strategy.

Cara met a 55-year-old sales professional during an annual employee pension review. He had set a new target retirement age of 61, was contributing 5% of his salary to his company pension scheme with a matching employer contribution, and held a fund valued at around €400,000 at the outset.

His initial focus was on fund selection. Cara gently reframed the conversation around retirement outcomes and whether his current strategy would get him where he wanted to be. Together, they agreed a target retirement fund of €600,000 and shifted the approach toward maximising contributions – with the client beginning Additional Voluntary Contributions of up to 35% of salary, making full use of the available tax relief.

By age 61, with the benefit of disciplined contributions and supportive market conditions, his fund had grown to €750,000 – well beyond the original target. The clearest lesson from this case is that contribution strategy often matters more than fund selection.

A client came to LHW Financial Planning with broader concerns about their financial position. As part of a comprehensive review, our team carried out a detailed analysis of their pension contributions and tax treatment over previous years. While LHW does not provide tax advice, the review surfaced a number of pension reliefs that had not been fully utilised.

Working in close collaboration with the client’s tax advisor, these findings were used to identify opportunities to address past filings. As a result, the client was able to recover substantial tax refunds that might otherwise have gone unclaimed.

Beyond the immediate financial benefit, the process also led to stronger structures being put in place for the future – improving tax efficiency and reducing the likelihood of similar issues arising again. A thorough review of your financial arrangements can often reveal more opportunity than you might expect.