This winter, we put out a call for local businesses to sponsor the vital care that we provide over the festive season. We asked our business community to consider taking part in our 12 Days of Care by sponsoring a 12 or 24 hour period of care in the lead-up to Christmas. 22 amazing local businesses signed up to make the difference of a lifetime to local families facing terminal illness.
Here, Pieter Burger, Director at William Highbourne, tells us why they answered the call to take part in our 12 Days of Care.
At William Highbourne, we’re delighted to be able to continue our support of Hospiscare through the 12 Days of Care initiative. Readers of this blog may not be familiar with our name, but we’ve been supporting Hospiscare in Exmouth for five years under the Raymond James brand.
A bit about us
At social or networking events we are often asked what we do. The short answer to that is that we help people maintain their standard of living in retirement and help transition their life savings to their next generation.
That is a little bit of an oversimplification of all the things that we do; but describes the outcome of personalised planning and management of our client’s assets for life’s uncertainties in retirement.
Answering questions about older age and retirement
There are many uncertainties as we become older. The period leading to retirement makes many of us start to think and ask questions such as: When will I retire? Can I afford to retire? What happens if one of us became ill or dies? And who is going to manage our savings when we can’t anymore? Those are some of the questions we are asked, but there are many more!
We can answer some of the questions quite early on in our relationships with our clients. For some questions it will take time to build an understanding. Perhaps more importantly, a belief that we will be there for them to steer their family through unexpected market turmoil caused by major events such as the Coronavirus.
Building relationships
We build relationships over time through regular reviews of our clients’ financial assets and consider obstacles they may need to overcome. Regular meetings help our clients monitor our performance. This builds the trust needed to answer the more complex questions and allows us to serve you and your family at the time when you are most vulnerable.
Some people associate vulnerability with being old or frail. That really is not the case. A sudden event, a bereavement, a partner going into care or being diagnosed with serious illness will affect most people’s ability to make good decisions. That does not mean that you should not make any decisions at all. Come in and see us or give us a call. We often work with our clients’ solicitors and Power of Attorney and Trustees.
A local company for local people
Technology is becoming increasingly important. In our office we research investments from across the globe, use products from many of the leading financial providers, but recognise that not everyone wants to be contacted via Zoom or log into one portal or another.
We are based in Rolle street, Exmouth and serve people across East Devon. Some of our clients are further afield as they have moved away to be closer to their families across the UK in places from Ilkley Moor to Kings Lynn to St Ives in Cornwall. Having an office in the heart of the community means that people, regardless if they are clients, can pop in to ask questions about the things that worry them about their financial future and allow us to support the local people. Supporting events such as the 12 Days of Care is just another small way to give back to the community.
Wishing you all a happy holiday
Merry Christmas from all of us at William Highbourne and please feel free to call us on 01395 207350 if this blog has raised any questions.
