“With Steven’s help we now
have the financial awareness to
control of our future”
David & Susan Bush
I come from a family of cabinet makers, inheriting a love of working
with wood. After 20 years mastering this craft my wife Susan and I set up
our own joinery and cabinet making business. We don’t regard what
we do as work. Every day we have the privilege to serve our customers
and create beautiful furniture.
In need of a financial plan and
feeling out of our depth
Our early experience of getting financial advice was helpful because
we arranged life cover for our mortgage and I started a small pension.
The meetings were important but more transactional and left
no time to discuss anything else.
“We had no understanding of investing other
than feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing.”
By the time we reached our mid-thirties our circumstances
had changed. Our son William was aged 7 and Thomas had just arrived.
So, we wanted to know if what we had was enough.
My pension bothered me. It seemed from the annual statements
the money was going backwards. We had no understanding
of investing other than feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing.
We had ambitions to be in business for ourselves and for our longer
term financial security – but we felt adrift when it came
to working out how to achieve this.
How Steven got us on the right track
We were introduced to Steven 20 years ago by my employer.
He was, as expected, well qualified, professional and friendly.
But what made him different was the way he took a genuine interest
in our lives and in us as a family.
“Steven tackled the issues head on and showed
us easily understandable solutions to our
problems that were right for us.”
What surprised us was during the first meetings no mention
was made of products or investing. The conversations were meaningful,
in the sense that he discussed things in terms that we could
understand and related them to our personal situation.
Steven tackled the issues head on and showed us easily understandable
solutions to our problems that were right for us.
Why we love our financial plan
It’s not all about boring numbers and spreadsheets.
It is visual and we instantly see our true financial position now as well
what it will be like in the years ahead. Most important of all it revealed
how vulnerable we were back then should the unexpected have happened.
The plan provides a complete picture, broken down into measurable
goals – giving us a clear sense of direction and a timeframe.
This is priceless.
Protecting the family and
growing our wealth
Steven deals with reality and is not afraid to tackle the issues
very directly. If we lost our income, for any reason, the mortgage
company would be paid but the family wouldn’t have the money
to continue living in our home. With the help of the cashflow financial
plan we could see the amount of capital and income required to ensure,
whatever happens, we would be financially secure.
“The changes Steven made had an immediate
profitable impact on the value of my pension
and this has continued up until this day.”
My pension left me baffled. I was putting money in,
but the value seemed to be going backwards. It turned out that
it was invested in a way that was entirely unsuitable for my situation
and age. The changes Steven made had an immediate profitable
impact on the value of my pension and this has continued
up until this day.
Taking some of the worry out
of starting in business
Going from paid employment to running your own business
is exciting and at the same time unnerving. Steven explained how
a new business usually needs a couple of years to become established.
The cashflow modelling helped us have a vision of the amount
of money we would need, with a deadline to start our business
and to ensure we had a safety net if things didn’t go to plan.
Investing isn’t complicated
Steven has a way of cutting out the complexity and confusion
about investing money. He gets you to focus on just 5 basic concepts
which make investing clear and understandable.
“Thanks to Steven we can control and set
limits, enjoy excellent returns in the good times
and are completely relaxed when the financial
world goes through one of its regular
rough patches.”
He did this in a way that made perfect sense, by relating
it to timber – the way the particular quality of a wood makes it more
suitable to certain applications, whether that be making kitchen
cabinets or a staircase.
By matching the different types of wood to asset classes
we began to understand what asset classes we should include,
why that was the case, how they behave in good times and bad.
We also realised which we should avoid because the risk
was unacceptable and the benefit to us was negligible.
Thanks to Steven we can control and set limits, enjoy excellent
returns in the good times and are completely relaxed
when the financial world goes through one of its regular rough
patches. What could be simpler to a carpenter? I was amazed
at how quickly I picked it up. So much so that I can even
explain it to others!
How Steven helps with our business
Quite simply he understands business. Rather than a backward
view, Steven takes a forward view that’s totally holistic. We talk through
our trading figures and he shows us how to improve our profits.
Not by charging more but being more efficient. He helps us use our
profits to save tax and add it to our capital. And most of all, he encourages
us to regularly take time out to enjoy the things we like to do.
Why we would recommend
Steven and Operii
Steven is interested in us as individuals and as a family,
providing a high level of personal service. He looks after us and we feel
safe with him. Our meetings are exciting.
“We not only have 24 hour access to that data
for 365 days of the year, but thanks to Steven
we now understand it!”
We don’t spend long looking back over how our investments
have performed because we already know that – we not only have
24 hour access to that data for 365 days of the year, but thanks to Steven
we now understand it! Most of our time in the meeting is spent
looking at what adjustments we can make to keep our plans on track.
He acts ethically and our trust in his knowledge and care is complete.
In other words, he and Operii provide us with a complete service.
Oh, we almost forgot. We pay Operii a fixed fee – and it is
worth every penny.
“With Steven’s help we now have the financial awareness to control of our future”
David & Susan Bush
I come from a family of cabinet makers, inheriting a love of working with wood. After 20 years mastering this craft my wife Susan and I set up our own joinery and cabinet making business. We don’t regard what we do as work. Every day we have the privilege to serve our customers and create beautiful furniture.
In need of a financial plan and
feeling out of our depth
Our early experience of getting financial advice was helpful because we arranged life cover for our mortgage and I started a small pension. The meetings were important but more transactional and left no time to discuss anything else.
“We had no understanding of investing other than feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing.”
“We had no understanding of investing other than feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing.”
By the time we reached our mid-thirties our circumstances had changed. Our son William was aged 7 and Thomas had just arrived. So, we wanted to know if what we had was enough. My pension bothered me. It seemed from the annual statements the money was going backwards. We had no understanding of investing other than feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing. We had ambitions to be in business for ourselves and for our longer term financial security – but we felt adrift when it came to working out how to achieve this.
How Steven got us on the right track
We were introduced to Steven 20 years ago by my employer. He was, as expected, well qualified, professional and friendly. But what made him different was the way he took a genuine interest in our lives and in us as a family.
“Steven tackled the issues head on and showed us easily understandable solutions to our problems that were right for us.”
What surprised us was during the first meetings no mention was made of products or investing. The conversations were meaningful, in the sense that he discussed things in terms that we could understand and related them to our personal situation. Steven tackled the issues head on and showed us easily understandable solutions to our problems that were right for us.
Why we love our financial plan
It’s not all about boring numbers and spreadsheets. It is visual and we instantly see our true financial position now as well what it will be like in the years ahead. Most important of all it revealed how vulnerable we were back then should the unexpected have happened. The plan provides a complete picture, broken down into measurable goals – giving us a clear sense of direction and a timeframe. This is priceless.
Protecting the family and growing our wealth
Steven deals with reality and is not afraid to tackle the issues very directly. If we lost our income, for any reason, the mortgage company would be paid but the family wouldn’t have the money to continue living in our home. With the help of the cashflow financial plan we could see the amount of capital and income required to ensure, whatever happens, we would be financially secure.
“The changes Steven made had an immediate profitable impact on the value of my pension and this has continued up until this day.”
My pension left me baffled. I was putting money in, but the value seemed to be going backwards. It turned out that it was invested in a way that was entirely unsuitable for my situation and age. The changes Steven made had an immediate profitable impact on the value of my pension and this has continued up until this day.
Taking some of the worry out of starting in business
Going from paid employment to running your own business is exciting and at the same time unnerving. Steven explained how a new business usually needs a couple of years to become established. The cashflow modelling helped us have a vision of the amount of money we would need, with a deadline to start our business and to ensure we had a safety net if things didn’t go to plan.
Investing isn’t complicated
Steven has a way of cutting out the complexity and confusion about investing money. He gets you to focus on just 5 basic concepts which make investing clear and understandable.
“Thanks to Steven we can control and set limits, enjoy excellent returns in the good times and are completely relaxed when the financial world goes through one of its regular rough patches.”
He did this in a way that made perfect sense, by relating it to timber – the way the particular quality of a wood makes it more suitable to certain applications, whether that be making kitchen cabinets or a staircase.
By matching the different types of wood to asset classes we began to understand what asset classes we should include, why that was the case, how they behave in good times and bad. We also realised which we should avoid because the risk was unacceptable and the benefit to us was negligible. Thanks to Steven we can control and set limits, enjoy excellent returns in the good times and are completely relaxed when the financial world goes through one of its regular rough patches. What could be simpler to a carpenter? I was amazed at how quickly I picked it up. So much so that I can even explain it to others!
How Steven helps with our business
Quite simply he understands business. Rather than a backward view, Steven takes a forward view that’s totally holistic. We talk through our trading figures and he shows us how to improve our profits. Not by charging more but being more efficient. He helps us use our profits to save tax and add it to our capital. And most of all, he encourages us to regularly take time out to enjoy the things we like to do.
Why we would recommend Steven and Operii
Steven is interested in us as individuals and as a family, providing a high level of personal service. He looks after us and we feel safe with him. Our meetings are exciting.
“We not only have 24 hour access to that data for 365 days of the year, but thanks to Steven we now understand it!”
We don’t spend long looking back over how our investments have performed because we already know that – we not only have 24 hour access to that data for 365 days of the year, but thanks to Steven we now understand it! Most of our time in the meeting is spent looking at what adjustments we can make to keep our plans on track. He acts ethically and our trust in his knowledge and care is complete. In other words, he and Operii provide us with a complete service. Oh, we almost forgot. We pay Operii a fixed fee – and it is worth every penny.
Approval for this testimonial given on 18/1/2025
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