My name is Peter Kay and I’ve known Neil Flint for approximately 20 years. I’ve been working with Neil through his company Alexandra’s Financial Services.

When I first met Neil, I had a basic pension, a private pension with one of the standard companies. I felt that really wasn’t what I needed. I was getting an annual statement telling me how much I paid in, what I might expect when I retired, and not a lot more than that. When I met Neil, I found his approach a lot more refreshing. He was looking at where I was, at that particular time, where I wanted to be when I retired, and what things needed to be put in place to get me where I wanted to be on retirement.

What I found different working with Neil was that we were looking at lifetime cash flow planning, which went on to inheritance as well, which was important for me. That really was the driver that made me work with him.

I’m a Mechanical Engineer so I like to see things written down; I like to be able to analyse things. What Neal was able to provide to me was an analysis of where we were, and where we were going. We could look at it, it was a plan, and we were able to modify it as we went along to make sure we were still in line with our requirements. When I retired in 2014, I actually retired a couple of years before I was going to. I was 64 at the time. And things have been good.

As a result of working with Neil, I found myself in a position where I could retire a little bit earlier than I was anticipating. Since retirement, we’ve had a comfortable retirement, and I’ve also been able to buy a property in Florida, which is something that was not in the original plans but I found that I did have enough investment to be able to do that. We’ve been able to enjoy four or five months of every year since I purchased that property over in Florida.

Without Neil’s help, I certainly wouldn’t have been able to retire early. I certainly don’t think I would have been able to afford to have bought the property in Florida.

The three words I’d use to describe Neil are professional, approachable and available.

I will recommend Neil and Alexandra’s Financial Services to other people. Don’t be afraid if you don’t understand the investments. That’s what Neil’s there to talk to you about.