Chris Exley Money Geek

I’ve missed something:

This is as much about what helps you sleep at night than anything else.

Do you worry about the missed opportunity of investing?

Or do you worry more about a banks name being on your title deeds…

This decision needn’t be binary - the answer is often a bit of both.

Use your main life goals as a guide - financial freedom being the big one…

⚠️ This content is not financial advice and should be used for educational purposes only. We recommend you do your own research and consider taking personal advice before making any financial decisions.

How does accessing you pension actually work.

Share this with someone it might help.

Given how often this changes - I’m not sure there’d be much benefit to teaching it in school!

⚠️ This content is not financial advice and should be used for educational purposes only. We recommend you do your own research and consider taking personal advice before making any financial decisions.

I’m afraid to say…

Most people get this wrong.

And I’m using a starting point here. You could take it further.

Downsize, inheritance, variable spending, consulting.

It could all make retirement look rosier than you might think.

But it MUST be modelled individually!

Software coming soon!

⚠️ This content is not financial advice and should be used for educational purposes only. We recommend you do your own research and consider taking personal advice before making any financial decisions.

It’s an aspirational target…

May take longer but this has got to be one of the most efficient ways to build wealth.

Couple running a lean business.

Splitting incomes, tax bands.

Maxing out pensions.

It might only need 5-10 years of this to max out a retirement pot.

Follow along for updates.

⚠️ This content is not financial advice and should be used for educational purposes only. We recommend you do your own research and consider taking personal advice before making any financial decisions.

Taxation can be complex and individual circumstances vary significantly.

Fewer than 50% understand this.

Of those fewer understand the scale of it.

Us getting poorer isn’t just about the cost of living…

It’s fiscal drag.

My personal favourite example - the £3,000 gift exemption - the amount you can give away for it to be immediately outside of your estate for IHT purposes.

That allowance, frozen since...

..wait for it...

1981 - in the same year Charles married Princess Dianna.

Had it risen by inflation it would today be £13,600.

⚠️ This content is not financial advice and should be used for educational purposes only. We recommend you do your own research and consider taking personal advice before making any financial decisions.

The 4% rule doesn’t work…

Would a £1m pension be enough to produce £48k net throughout retirement ?

Let’s find out.

⚠️ This content is not financial advice and should be used for educational purposes only. We recommend you do your own research and consider taking personal advice before making any financial decisions.

Tread carefully…

There are some great trading platforms out there. With unbelievably good apps. Many of the things you’d want from a platform.

But these providers generally make money off trading adjacent activity.

Not long term investing.

So it follows that they’re incentivised to build the platforms in such a way that you’re encouraged into the very activities that run against the grain of long term investing.

Where do you think is the best place to start ?

⚠️ This content is not financial advice and should be used for educational purposes only. We recommend you do your own research and consider taking personal advice before making any financial decisions.

🚨Real Scenario

Will £1.2m give you £6k a month?

Simon & Chris are both 61. £1.2m in pensions, £200k in ISAs and cash, a £1.5m house with no mortgage.

They want £70k a year from 63.

On a straight-line 5% return with 2.5% inflation, the model says they can spend £73k a year — just over £6k a month after tax factoring in state pensions— and not run out until 100.

But fixed returns don’t tell you the whole story.

Backtest that same plan against real historic market sequences and there’s a 25% chance the money runs out before 90.

Same portfolio. Same spending. Different luck on timing.

That’s sequence risk. You’re most exposed in the first few years, when a crash hits the pot you’re actively drawing from.

So yes — they’re broadly on track, and yes, they could go part-time or retire earlier. But the plan needs safeguards:

→ A cash buffer so you’re never forced to sell in a downturn
→ Flexibility to dial spending back in bad years
→ Property equity as a genuine last resort later on

A forecast isn’t a promise. It’s a starting point you stress test.

Want your scenario on the channel? Pop me a DM.

⚠️ This content is not financial advice and should be used for educational purposes only. We recommend you do your own research and consider taking personal advice before making any financial decisions.

It seems to make sense…

But could be a big mistake.

Taking all of your tax-free cash on day one.

Here’s why:

- You might use tax-free cash to replace income that wouldn’t have been taxed anyway because you still have your Personal Allowance.
- Taking it all can mean missing out on future tax-free cash generated by investment growth on uncrystallised funds.
- If you don’t need the money, it often ends up sitting in a savings account because you can’t move it all into an ISA straight away.

Sometimes taking all of your tax-free cash is the right decision.

But don’t assume it’s the best one just because “that’s what everyone does.”

Retirement income planning is about **how** you take your money, not just **how much** you have.

Follow for more retirement planning tips.

⚠️ This content is not financial advice and should be used for educational purposes only. We recommend you do your own research and consider taking personal advice before making any financial decisions.