IBB Wealth – a Q&A with Graeme Cowie

What is IBB Wealth and what do you do?
We are the financial planning and wealth management arm of IBB. We work across the firm supporting clients with their pension, investment, inheritance tax and insurance protection needs.

Tell me a little bit about the IBB wealth team – any interesting facts about the team?
Well most of the team have known and worked with each other for more years than we would all care to remember. Stuart, Dave and Kellie for example have worked with each other for more than 30 years!

One area that really helps us stand out is Graeme and Stuart are both Registered Life Planners. There are only around 200 advisers with this accreditation in the UK so this really allows us to help clients join the dots between their financial realities and the lives they long to live.

What are your top tips for anyone looking to plan for their financial future?
Well the starting point for any financial plan is twofold. Firstly, take the time to really think about your future, what do you want to do, where do you want to be, when would you like to stop working, what is most important to you? Secondly, make sure you are working with an adviser you really feel comfortable with. Financial Planning isn’t a one off, you are very likely to be working with your adviser over many years, do you like them, do you trust them?

What are the things that people often overlook that could impact their future financial health (and their families)?
Well, this is really simple. The Plan. Start with your financial plan! There are many areas of our lives where we would build a plan, for example If you run a business then you would sensibly have a plan on how to build and grow that business. However how many of us have a plan for our financial future? Building a financial plan is the single most important aspect of the work we do. Establishing the job that the ‘money’ has to do and then implementing a strategy to achieve this.

What are the things that people worry about most?
People worry about the unknown. In a financial sense it may be things like when will I be able to retire or what would happen to my family if I had an issue with my health? In life we are faced with making decisions all the time and yet may be unsure about the implications of the choices or decisions we are faced with.

Our favourite quote is from Alice in Wonderland, when Alice meets the Cheshire cat at a crossroads and asks which road to take. ‘Where do you want to go?’ asks the cat, ‘I don’t know’, answers Alice. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter’.

What is the best thing about working for IBB Wealth?
Well we love what we do! Being able to spend time with our clients, get to know them and their families, working with them regularly over many years, is a real privilege. We’re lucky in that our clients are varied and interesting people. We’re there to help at all stages of our clients lives, saving for retirement or starting, building or selling a business. To be able to help people in this way is hugely rewarding, can even be great fun and we get to call it work!

Contact our wealth management experts today

For more information please contact  Kellie Lewis, Client Relationship Manager, on 01895 544001 or kellie@ibbwealth.co.uk or Graeme Cowie, Director, on 01895 544001 or graeme@ibbwealth.co.uk. Alternatively please visit  www.ibbwealth.co.uk