“We came in with three workplace pensions and no sense of which pot to touch first. The income map laid out a month-by-month sequence for the first five years of retirement, including when the State Pension would start. I still wish we had brought older statements sooner—the first meeting ran long while we hunted for figures—but the written plan settled arguments we had been having at the kitchen table.”
Client stories
What households remember after the paperwork settles
These notes come from people who booked consultations with us. They mention specific services, constraints, and outcomes—not star ratings or marketplace widgets.
“The portfolio review was blunt about fund charges I had ignored for years. Not every holding needed changing, which I appreciated; they left my ethical ISA alone and focused on the high-cost active funds.”
“After our second child arrived, we needed someone to put numbers on income protection rather than sell us the largest policy. The assessment compared cover against our mortgage and nursery fees, then flagged gaps in workplace death-in-service benefits we had never read.”
“Remortgage timing felt rushed because our fix ended in eight weeks. Thamespoint explained the early repayment charge on a would-be switch and helped us compare total cost, not just the rate. We stayed put for two months longer than I wanted, and that patience saved money.”
Extended note
Three pensions, one kitchen-table argument
Helen and her husband disagreed about whether to crystallise a small SIPP before the State Pension began. After Retirement Income Mapping, they had a month-by-month sequence that kept the SIPP invested for two more years while drawing from a cash ISA bridge. Helen later said the mild frustration of hunting older statements was worth it once the written map existed.
Extended note
Eight weeks left on a fixed rate
Callum nearly switched lenders to chase a lower headline rate. The Mortgage Advice Consultation showed that early repayment charges and product fees outweighed the saving for his remaining term. He stayed on the existing deal two months longer, then remortgaged with a clearer total-cost comparison.
