Nigel Barlow

My name is Nigel. I’ve been with DS Howell for about 12 months, and the advisor that looks after me so well is a gentleman called Richard Madden.

I was a member of a defined benefit pension, which wouldn’t allow me to draw those benefits until I was 65. I wanted the opportunity to finish work earlier, and enjoy the benefits now.

Several colleagues at work had gone through the same process. I suppose everybody’s been very cautious with regards to financial services. We’ve all heard some horror stories. But when a colleague of mine had already gone through the process with Richard, it was an easy decision for me to make and to follow in his footsteps.

I’m very relaxed with working with DS Howell – it’s enabled me to retire early and start to enjoy life at what I consider a fortunate age of 55. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to enjoying life. It’s enabled us to change our home and move to the coast. It’s been quite life-enhancing.

Now I am working with DS Howell, I feel very comfortable about the financial future, not only for myself, but also for my dependents. Again, it’s reassuring to know that if anything unfortunate happened, then DS Howell will look after the family.

The three words I’d use to describe my experience of working with DS Howell are confidence, reassurance, and guidance, that is, the guidance I’m being given with my investments and the route they’ve taken.

The best thing about working with DS Howell is the consultant I’m working with; I feel very relaxed with Richard. And any time I need to speak to him, he’ll either pick up the phone straight away or return my call later. To be fair, that’s even included times when he’s been on holiday. If he has been genuinely unreachable, he will just drop me a text to say he’ll get back to me as soon as he can.

The best piece of advice has been on the choice of investment funds. Again, with the volatility of the pandemic over the last 18 months, I’m happy with the guidance on the fund choices we’ve made.

The benefit from working with DS Howell is that it’s enabled us to retire early. We’ve been able to relocate and move to the coast, which has proven to be a very enjoyable place to be. If we hadn’t made those decisions or choices, we could be in a completely different situation to where we are and what we have achieved.

I would have no problem at all in recommending DS Howell. We are in our current position because of DS Howell and their financial advice. Indeed, I have recommended DS Howell to three colleagues, who have also chosen to go with them and follow the same path as myself.