Unleashing inspiring client stories

As we publish the tenth issue of the Goodmans magazine, Unleashed, we look at how it showcases the inspiring ways our clients make the most of time in retirement.

Why do we have a client magazine?

We’re often inspired (and sometimes surprised!) by the varied things our clients get up to. Their rich and interesting experiences illustrate that our job as Financial Planners is about so much more than pounds and pence – it’s about unlocking the time and freedom to do what you love with the people that matter. So, back in 2022, we decided to share some of those client stories with our wider community.

Before Unleashed, we sent out printed summaries of our quarterly Investment Committee meetings to keep clients informed about how we’re investing their money. But, as important as investment updates are, they can be a bit ‘dry’! While we still send this info out, now it sits alongside client stories, team news and other features in our magazine, hopefully providing something of interest for every client.

Whether it’s through being informed, entertained or inspired, the feedback from our client community about Unleashed has been really positive. Our older clients in particular tell us they enjoy reading about the exploits of our more active clients. Others have been inspired to take on similar adventures and many have made connections at our client get-togethers.

Why is it called ‘Unleashed’?

We’ll let Andrew Moore, our Managing Director, field this one:

“Most of us spend much of our lives constrained in some way – by working commitments, finances and often a duty towards children and elderly relatives. Retirement is a time when those leashes loosen – employers become a thing of the past, you’ve built up a stack of savings and pension benefits, hopefully paid off the mortgage, and the kids get to an age where they can sort themselves out. This is the time to unleash yourselves and focus on your life and getting the most out of what you have”.

As the magazine (literally!) illustrates, Goodmans clients get up to all kinds of adventures when unleashed.

Clients unleashed

Since our first issue three years ago, we’ve featured 20 client stories. From our very first – Norm and his love of rock festivals – we’ve featured clients immersing themselves in hobbies, learning new skills, improving their community, taking on adventures, making art, travelling (lots of travelling!) and spending time with family and friends.

Although they’re often very different activities, they’re always about meaningful experiences and connections – what we consider to be genuine ‘wealth’. Everyone has their own version of ‘unleashed’; it’s our job to help our clients achieve (and maintain) it through good financial planning.

Scroll through below to see some of our clients unleashed.

1. Anything but the norm 
Our very first Client Unleashed, Norm works a few days each month on his own terms, enjoying the freedom to hitch up his caravan and head off to rock festivals whenever he wants (Unleashed #1, Summer 2022).

2. The good life
After long, demanding careers, David and Christine welcomed early retirement. Now there's more time to focus on family, travel adventures, hiking on Dartmoor and growing organic fruit and veg on their allotment (Unleashed #2, Autumn 2022).

3. A fine-tuned retirement 
Retiring almost a decade earlier than planned, Anthony has all the time he wants to make music and play gigs with his band throughout the South West (Unleashed #3, Winter 2022).

4. Loving #VanLife 
Unexpected redundancy prompted an early retirement for Greg. Now he enjoys the potential for an adventure every day, exploring the outdoors in his VW camper and taking a daily wild swim (or three!) (Unleashed #4, Spring 2023).

5. Time to make a difference 
Since retiring in 2021, Andrew and Christine have been able to ramp up their charitable work just as it was needed most, including helping to collect and load truckloads of supplies for families in Ukraine and Moldova (Unleashed #5, Summer 2023).

6. Going the distance
For semi-retired Helen, work is on her own terms and never interferes with her beloved riding. She loves the freedom to spend time with her horses, from trotting around Dartmoor to endurance riding competitions of up to 80km in the South West and beyond (Unleashed #6, Autumn 2023).

7. A labour of (puppy) love 
For the past two decades, Sheelagh and Barry have been 'puppy raisers', helping to improve the lives of visually impaired people by providing the foundation training for 21 guide dogs (Unleashed #7, Winter 2023).

8. Taking retirement to go 
After almost 50 years of working in property, Nick wasted no time in starting retirement as he meant to go on, taking his motorhome on a three-month tour of Europe (Unleashed #7, Winter 2023).

9. Bowled over by Kenya 
Ernie took his passions on tour with a unique Africa trip that combined bowling competitions, wildlife safaris and seeing community development in action (Unleashed #8, Spring 2024).

10. The art of retirement
After a long teaching career empowering others to be creative, Keith is learning new tricks and pushing his own artistic limits through a newfound passion for woodturning and sculpting (Unleashed #8, Spring 2024).

11. A ride to remember
Jamie drove his lovingly restored WWII jeep across the channel for the fourth time, joining over 350 other UK military vehicles to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy (Unleashed #9, Autumn 2024).

12. Wild at heart
Fulfilling a goal set three decades ago, Glyn and Helen are embarking on a long-term rewilding project to restore a 16-acre slice of Devon back to nature (Unleashed #9, Autumn 2024).

13. On the right track
When Jean discovered running later in life she found it boosted her wellbeing in more ways than one. Now she competes in 10k Masters races around the world for Team GB (Unleashed #10, Spring 2025).

If you like the sound of unleashing your time to do more of what you love, get in touch with us for a no-obligation chat. 

If you want to learn more about Goodmans and how we help to unleash our clients, you can subscribe to Unleashed magazine for free. Just fill in the form below and the next issue will be on its way to you.

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