We think of good financial planning as a shared journey. We’re here to plan and signpost, and we’ll even come along with you – but ultimately, it’s your destination we’re heading towards, and an equal amount of effort and energy will come from you.
Our work is a process, not a transaction. It’s interactive, engaging, challenging and empowering. We strive to make the process feel comfortable, natural, and even fun; where we can, we’ll always choose a conversation over tick-box exercises.
For us, collaboration is less about how much money you have, and far more about how much we think you’ll get out of it. You don’t need to be conventionally “wealthy”; if you have goals for your future, we’re interested in helping you get there.
Our approach
The Jacksons journey can be divided into three main stages:
- Planning (a five-step process we call GUIDE)
- Implementation of our recommendations
- Ongoing care, hopefully for decades!
At some points, you’ll be heavily involved and helping to move things forward. At other times, we’ll take the lead. But it’s worth remembering that both life and finance never really stand still: elements are always in motion. As things change, we’ll be here to check, guide and flex as you do.
You'll notice from the graphic above that we offer a one-off consultation service, where we build a financial plan for you, but you implement it yourself. We only offer this where we are happy that clients have the ability to do this, and there are limitations to what this one-off consultation includes. For more information, read on!
How We Add Value
We focus our work around four core principles:
Simplicity - We help reduce complexity, bring everything together, and make your finances easier to understand — and easier to live with.
Care - We take time to listen, move at the right pace, and support you through the human side of financial decisions.
Perspective - We help you step back, see the bigger picture, and make decisions that support the life you want — not just the numbers.
Empowerment - We aim to help you feel more confident, informed, and in control of your financial future.
We may not be right for you if:
- You’re mainly looking for the cheapest or fastest solution
- You want someone to simply implement instructions without discussion
- You want advice on a single financial issue, rather than holistic planning
- You already feel fully confident, organised, and clear about your financial direction
- You see financial advice as purely technical, rather than a people-centred thing
There’s nothing wrong with any of the above — it just means our approach may not be the best fit.
GUIDE
Our Financial Planning Process
Our five-step financial planning process is designed to give you confidence and clarity as you step forward in your financial life.
Each of the five steps are outlined below (click each step to expand):
Here, we have an initial Gateway meeting, either in person or via video call. We'll briefly introduce ourselves and how we work, but the majority of our time together is spent finding out about your outline financial situation and your goals, both for the financial planning journey and for your life.
We want to scope our advice so that we know what we need to deliver to make you happy. Towards the end of the call, we'll talk briefly about the tools we use and how the process works from here.
Following the call, we will send an email we call Next Steps which outlines your reasons for seeking advice, what you want to get out of the process, and the costs you can expect to incur. (More on that here). Hopefully then you have everything you need to make a decision about working with us.
Here's a two minute video about what to expect on the Gateway call:
If you’re keen to get started, we’ll begin exploring your world. This is one of the most important elements of what we do, as we begin understanding you, your motivations, and your aspirations.
And because you’re always too close to your own situation, we’ll lightly challenge and question to achieve perspective and focus on what really matters. We’ll get to grips with your goals, fears, hopes and hang-ups. Together, we’ll consider both the uncomfortable (what happens when I die?) and the exciting (what could I do when I retire?).
Alongside this, there’s the fact-finding. We’ll introduce you to our portal so that you can input all the facts and figures we need in order to give you the best advice. We’ll also get the paperwork sorted, obtaining ID and signing agreements and letters of authority.
This step is dedicated to research, planning and cashflow modelling. It’s the point at which our team takes a step away to talk to pension and investment providers at great depth. We’ll find out about the current policies you have, and what these mean for your life plans. Getting responses can often take a while (as much as eight weeks) – but rest assured, it’s all in motion behind the scenes.
We’ll also take this time to build and test different scenarios. For example, what happens if you choose to retire five years early, or if you need to stop working? This provides a framework for good financial decision-making and allows us to see if you’re on track to meet your goals.
We’ll deliver this cashflow planning live, either face-to-face or over video call for remote clients. It’s often a lightbulb moment, bringing reassurance if all is well or clear action steps if you’re not quite on target. If you’ve never seen your financial situation visualised, this is the point where it stops being abstract and gets very real.
Then, we’ll present any action steps that underpin our recommendations. We’ll have a conversation that’s honest and genuinely exciting; often, we can tell clients they can spend more or retire earlier. It’s where everything drops into place and you can see – literally – where all your hard work has led you. It’s what the process is all about, and for this reason, it’s one of our favourite moments.
Once we’ve agreed on a way forward, we’ll move on to the final stage of the planning: your Big Picture report.
This is a true group effort, drawing together the individual and collective expertise of our team. We’ll work together on the best approach, creating a personalised report that plays back everything we’ve already learned and explored with you.
This will confirm your objectives, meet your specific needs, and ultimately give you all the power. From here, you’ll be on the path to financial freedom. Perhaps for the first time, you’ll be able to see clearly; something that’s often tricky to achieve where the many threads of finance and maths such as inflation are involved. You’ll also know the direction you’re going in. Not only will the “right track” be set ahead of you, but you’ll also be able to judge when you’re on it, and how you can realign if needed.
We’ve seen this planning process have a huge impact on clients. For one couple, it meant that both could retire immediately, on the same day, rather than waiting up to five years. For another, it meant having the confidence to share money with their family, and see their enjoyment of it, while knowing they had enough kept back for their own comfort.
In a small number of cases, the delivered plan is enough to make change happen. If you’re confidently in control of your own finances, our recommendations might be all you need. We don’t tie clients in, so we’re more than happy for you to take these away and act on them independently. (Please keep reading for some important information about limitations to the one-off consultation process.)
For most clients, however, the best option is for us to implement these recommendations on your behalf. This final stage of the process will empower you to make the right decision for your unique circumstances.
Here's a quick video explaining the GUIDE process in more detail:
Your two options for working with us
Because of our long-standing education efforts over at Meaningful Money, we tend to attract enquiries from people who have managed their own finances for years.
Understandably, some of these folks do not want to hand everything over to an advice firm to manage for the long term, but would benefit from a professional eye on their own plans without committing to a long-term relationship.
For these people we offer a one-off consultation. It is important that you understand that there are some limitations to this process, which are imposed upon us by the regulatory system here in the UK.
Here is what is included in the GUIDE Report, depending on which option you choose:
One-off consultation - what we expect from you
If we are to work on a one-off consultation basis with you, we will assume you have a high level of experience and understanding. At the very least:
- You should be willing and able to choose your own providers for your various accounts
- You should be experienced in building and maintaining a portfolio of funds
- You should understand the tax treatment of the various accounts such as pensions, GIAs, ISAs etc, including how withdrawals are treated. For example, you should know the difference between UFPLS and Flexi-Access Drawdown from a pension.
- You should have a clear handle on your current and desired spending levels
- You should have a grasp of any workplace benefits you receive
A one-off consultation means that you will be responsible for implementing any recommendations yourself, and if we are unsure as to whether you would be able to do this, we may decline to work this way with you. Our initial Gateway call will cover this, and will help us to decide if a one-off consultation is a good option for you.
IMPLEMENTATION
Where we put your financial plan into action!
Implementing your financial plan
If you agree with our recommendations, we can then implement them for you. This involves lots of to-ing and fro-ing, co-ordinating providers, monitoring transfers, and chasing things down. This is mostly handled by our incredible Client Relationship Management team, who generally know exactly who to call to get things moving.
We'll keep you posted as things progress, but sometimes this process takes a while.
Once the implementation is complete and all is as it should be, you will likely have a call with your adviser to answer any questions and set expectations for our ongoing relationship.
Beyond The Numbers
Our ongoing relationship
Reviewing things regularly
We like to build long-term relationships with our clients – often over many decades – meaning that our process is circular, rather than linear.
Either annually or biannually, depending on your needs, we’ll hold a formal planning review meeting to look at how things have moved forward in line with your plan. We’ll also consider if anything has changed in your life, or in the financial world, before making any updates that might be needed.
We call our review process Beyond The Numbers because this isn't about investment performance. Rather it is about what's really important: your life, your goals, your changing priorities - it focuses on the things we can control, not macroeconomics or political changes.
If we do need to make changes to anything, we’ll circle back around to exploring your needs before working through to create an evolved plan. Everything always comes back to the plan. It is a living, evolving document that moves through life with you.
When we’re needed, we’re also here for those you care about most. We work with many families over multiple generations, so we’re able to provide the peace of mind that comes from knowing things will be in hand for your loved ones, even beyond your time with them. At this point, our team will be in place to help with the admin around transferring your finances, to make the process simple and straightforward.
And because things can change for you at any time, we’re always here as your first point of contact for any questions or updates you might have.
Hope that helps!
Thank you for making it this far down a long page! We feel it is important that you truly understand how we work because there are elements of our process that are rare, if not unique in the financial planning profession.
Click the links below to see sample client and fee agreements.
As for the likely costs of working with us - here's the info you need.
Ready to move forward with your financial planning with us?
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I really look forward to the regular reviews with my advisor and the fact that all of my financial plans and communication can be seen in one online system is brilliant.
Toby has been amazing from start to finish. Friendly and informative on every aspect of finance.
It feels like Chas and his team look after me as if I was a member of their own family, a rare thing in these modern corporate times. Having Jacksons look after my future was probably one of my best decisions in life.
When my husband died suddenly 21 months ago, Pete's support and help has been incredible, and I certainly could not have managed without him and his great team.
Chas has looked after my financial interests now for over a decade and during that time I found it to be a very thorough, thoughtful and reassuring process.
At all times I feel regarded as a person, not merely a client, and would not even consider transferring the management of my affairs to any other company.
If you think we can help you, but have a burning question first, get in touch!