Meet Paul Hammond, retirement coach, financial and estate planner, family man and keen wildlife photographer.
From financial consultant at age 22 to Retirement Coach at 50, it’s been quite a journey. I’ve been driven by one common goal; to simplify the world of money and help my clients to focus on the important things, like living the best life possible with the money they have.
I have recently retired from being a regulated financial adviser. Yes, retired, and still working!
My previous role as a financial adviser changed over the 30 years, from advising on products to being a Life Centred Financial Planner. I am proud that I am changing lives for hundreds of clients, helping them to financial freedom. I love talking to clients who say how they are enjoying their retired life and feel in control of their finances.
The biggest change came in the major financial crash of 2008/09, which made me take a hard look at money and the impact it had in the lifestyle of my clients and myself.
The ‘light bulb moment’ came when I realised that it doesn’t matter how much time we spend advising on the product or investment funds, we actually had no control over what had happened. It was bigger than just one thing or person.
Many of my clients were actually OK, and while some had to adjust plans on spending and retirement, many could afford to ride things out.
That’s when I started to provide a new financial forecasting service, allowing clients to see a snapshot of their finances, and forecast their cashflow of income and expenses for the rest of their life.
This raised a fundamental question:
Will I have enough to live the life I want to?
Since then I have enjoyed helping hundreds of people to move successfully from “having to work” to financial freedom beyond work. I was often able to provide the confidence that their dreams of financial freedom could be achieved much earlier than they originally thought. By knowing their financial plan is resilient to outside changes, they can focus on the important stuff.
Our health certainly has the ability to change our best-laid plans. The sad reality is that our own health or that of a loved one can throw up some major challenges.
I knew this from my own family experience. My father-in-law passed away at the age of 57 and mother-in-law passed at age 62. They had many plans for retirement that they never had the chance to see. The same year as she died, my own father passed away aged 83.
In recent years, I have experienced more life changing events that have caused me to re-assess life. These made me realise that there is more to life, and we should make the most of the time we have. Life is not a rehearsal.
Equally, I have noticed something missing in the retirement conversation. The retirement conversations tend to default to money, big dreams of travel and the ever-growing DIY list.
However, it rarely covers the ‘non-financial’ aspect of retirement:
- What you will actually do in retirement day to day, and
- Who you are without your work identity
My purpose is to help people plan for the non-financial aspect of retirement as well as the financial, and have the confidence to live the best life possible.
I have spent much of my time over the years gaining various accreditations, including:
- Certified Retirement Coach – The Retirement Coaching Association.
- Financial Coach Practitioner – Wise Monkey Financial Coaching
- Accreditation – The Academy of Life Planning
- Certified Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
All this enables me to carry on helping people prepare for life beyond work.
Needless to say, I do not plan to put living a great life on hold while I continue to do my work. It will be part of my lifestyle. This is my purpose.
That includes having more time with my wife Hazel, twin daughters Paige and Charlotte, and our Labradoodle Bruno. We are enjoying a new chapter of our lives as the girls are in their mid-20s and independent, so Hazel and I have the freedom to travel more and explore the world. Never fear, I take the iPad and work when I’m off too!
So that’s me. What’s your story? Call to discuss your goals and aspirations for retirement, financial independence or just to check me out as a retirement coach.
