Case Studies

CASE STUDY 1

Matt, single, permanent full­time teacher, 28 years old

Identifying needs:

● Matt had an immediate goal to buy a house, he had sufficient savings for his deposit and

required advice on how to secure a mortgage. He was also concerned about his ability to

meet the mortgage repayments if he was unable to work.

● Matt’s long term goal was to retire early and wanted to explore all options here.

How ODM Financial helped:

● We guided Matt through the mortgage application process step by step and were successful

in securing a competitive mortgage package.

● As part of his mortgage, Matt needed life cover and home insurance and we were able to

negotiate the most competitive rates for him.

● We also discussed various income protection options and tailored a plan to safeguard his

income in the event of Matt being out of work due to an accident or illness.

● Matt’s immediate priority was to purchase his home therefore we agreed a date in 6 months to

take the necessary time to explore all of his retirement options including buying back years

and AVCs (additional voluntary contributions) which is consistent with the ODM ASPIRE

review process.

CASE STUDY 2

Noel and Sarah married, mid­thirties with two children. Noel is a full­time nurse and Sarah is a

part­time IT consultant.

Identifying needs:

● Noel and Sarah were anxious to safeguard their family in the event of either of them

getting sick or suffering an untimely death and they only had life cover in place on their

mortgage.

● They also wanted a clear long term financial plan including long term educational

savings.

How ODM Financial helped:

● As a married couple with children we agreed that it is vital to ensure Noel and Sarah

protect their family’s lifestyle so we established a suitable life assurance and serious

illness plan that were within their budget.

● As Noel is the higher income earner we felt it more appropriate to protect his income and

therefore recommended a long term income protection plan in the event of him being out

of work due to an accident or sickness while availing of generous tax reliefs.

● Sarah was keen to ensure that they had sufficient savings for their children’s education

therefore we set up a tax efficient savings plan under trust for their children.

● We’ve committed to review their financial plan on an on going basis to ensure it remains

consistent with their goals which is the basis of ODM ASPIRE’s review process.

CASE STUDY 3

David and Catherine married, late forties, three children. David is a medical consultant and

Catherine works in the home.

Identifying needs:

● David and Catherine had various protection, pension and investments plans from

different providers, they were not sure of their benefits or how consistent they are with

their current circumstances. They required a comprehensive review on their existing

personal financial circumstances and guidance to set a plan for their financial future.

How ODM helped:

● We reviewed David’s pension plan and made use of the generous tax reliefs to boost his

income in retirement through his AVCs (additional voluntary contributions). By

researching the market and negotiating a competitive pension package we helped David

make significant savings on the pension cost structure.

● We provided David and Catherine with a structure for their savings and investments

which struck an appropriate balance between low risk deposits and investment

opportunities with a higher growth potential.

● We undertook an analysis of their life cover and serious illness plans to ensure what

they had were appropriate for their needs and competitively priced. We helped them to

gain an understanding of their benefits but no changes were necessary.

CASE STUDY 4

Joe and his partner Lucy jointly own their company and employ six people. They have two

grown children.

Joe and Lucy met with an ODM financial advisor in 2006 with a view to adequately providing for

their retirement. Having undertaken the comprehensive review of both their business and

personal affairs we identified the following needs:

Identifying needs:

● Due to the company’s reliance on Joe as a key employee the company was vulnerable

in the event of Joe’s death or ill health.

● Joe & Lucy had cash built up in their business but had very little pension provision.

● The company had no pension provision in place for their staff.

How ODM helped:

In 2006 we recommended:

● The company take out a key person life assurance and serious illness plan for Joe.

● Start a company pension for both Joe and Lucy to enable to extract cash from their

business in a tax efficient manner.

● We set up a PRSA plan for all employees thus ensuring the company was compliant

with pension and employment legislation.

Last year unfortunately Joe was diagnosed with cancer.During the course of his successful

treatment Joe was out of work for 6 months and was able to claim under his keyman serious

illness policy. This gave the company a substantial cash injection which enabled the company

to continue to trade, pay Joe an income as he took the time to convalesce.

CASE STUDY 5

Joan, a long standing client of ODM, aged 65 and was about to retire from her public sector job.

Joan is a widow whose husband Peter passed away two years ago.

Identifying needs:

● Joan’s principal concern was to ensure that she had adequate income and capital

security so that she could enjoy a comfortable retirement. ODM had set up a life cover

policy a number of years ago which was claimed when Peter passed away. The claim

proceeds were held on deposit. Joan had a pension from the public sector and also had

saved some money via her AVC plan.

How ODM helped:

● ODM Financial & Joan undertook an analysis of Joan’s income needs and likely

expenditure in retirement.

● Having successfully established that Joan’s public sector pension was sufficient to meet

her day to day needs, we then boosted her capital by drawing down her AVC fund into

an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF). This together with her life cover proceeds gave

Joan access to a substantial capital fund. We then advised Joan on the investment of

her life cover proceeds and ARF and ensured that these generated some additional

income to provide an extra cushion to her income. Joan had a very low risk attitude and

we set up a diversified investment portfolio ensuring that her capital was not exposed to

any risk. We also ensured that the investments were liquid so that Joan could dip into

her capital fund at any time.