About Richard Cakans

Independent Financial Adviser. Author. Retirement Commentator.

Hello, I’m Richard Cakans.

I’m a UK Independent Financial Adviser, Chartered Fellow FCSI and author, based in Cumbria.

For more than 20 years, I’ve helped individuals and couples make important financial decisions, with much of my work centred around one of life’s biggest transitions:

Retirement.

Although my office is based in Cumbria, I work with clients throughout the UK.

If you live locally, we can meet face to face. If you’re elsewhere in the country, advice can be provided remotely by Zoom or telephone, so where you live doesn’t need to be a barrier to getting help.

Whether you’re in Carlisle or Cornwall, Newcastle or London, the important thing is understanding where you are now, what you want your retirement to look like and whether your finances can support it.

Retirement Is About More Than Your Pension

One thing more than two decades of advising people has taught me is that retirement is rarely just a financial decision.

I’ve sat with people who are financially able to retire but don’t feel ready.

People who have spent decades saving but suddenly feel uncomfortable spending.

Couples who have completely different ideas about what retirement should look like.

And people who have worked towards retirement for years, only to realise they have thought a lot about what they are retiring from, but very little about what they are retiring to.

That is why my approach to retirement planning looks beyond pensions and investments.

I believe three things need to work together:

Money. Emotions. Lifestyle.

You need to understand what you have and what it can provide.

You need confidence in the decisions you are making.

And you need some idea of the life you actually want your money to support.

When those three areas come together, retirement can feel right not only on paper, but in real life.

How I Help Clients

My work is focused on helping people make clearer decisions about retirement and their wider financial future.

That can include:

• Understanding whether you can afford to retire
• Deciding when to retire or reduce your working hours
• Bringing together different pensions, savings and investments
• Creating a sustainable retirement income
• Understanding how much you can realistically spend
• Making investments work alongside your retirement plans
• Tax-efficient retirement planning
• Planning gifts and inheritance for children or grandchildren
• Using cashflow modelling to see how different choices could affect your future
• Reviewing your plan as retirement progresses

For many people, the real value of financial planning is not simply being told what their pensions are worth.

It is being able to answer questions such as:

“Can I retire now?”

“How much can I afford to spend?”

“What happens if the markets fall?”

“Can we help the children without putting ourselves at risk?”

“What if one of us lives much longer than expected?”

And perhaps most importantly:

“Are we actually going to be okay?”

My role is to help turn those questions into a clear, practical plan.

Based in Cumbria. Advising Across the UK.

My office is based in Wigton, near Carlisle in Cumbria, and I work with clients locally as well as throughout the rest of the UK.

Modern financial planning doesn’t require you to live close to your adviser.

Many of my client meetings are carried out by Zoom or telephone, with documents and information shared securely, meaning I can provide the same planning process whether you live ten minutes from my office or hundreds of miles away.

So if you are approaching retirement and like the way I think about planning, your postcode shouldn’t stop us having a conversation.

Why I Write About Retirement

For years, retirement planning has tended to focus heavily on pensions, investment returns, tax and how much money somebody needs.

Those things matter enormously.

But they are only part of the picture.

Retirement can also change your identity, routine, relationships, confidence and sense of purpose.

That is why my writing looks at retirement through the same three connected areas I use when talking to clients:

Money. Emotions. Lifestyle.

My aim is to make retirement easier to understand, without unnecessary jargon, and to talk about some of the things people genuinely think and feel — including the things that do not always make it onto a financial spreadsheet.

I don’t believe there is one perfect retirement or one right age at which everyone should stop working.

Retirement is personal.

And good planning should start with the person, not just the pension.

The Retirement: It’s… Series

My first book, Retirement: It’s Personal – A Practical Guide to Aligning Your Money, Emotions and Lifestyle, was written to help people look at retirement as a whole rather than simply as a financial event.

It went on to become an Amazon No.1 bestseller in Pensions.

My next book, Retirement: It’s Emotional – The Emotional Journey Before, During and After Retirement, takes a much deeper look at what retirement can actually feel like.

It explores subjects including:

• Fear and doubt before retirement
• Identity after work
• Feeling financially ready but not emotionally ready
• The first quiet weeks after finishing work
• Anxiety when the monthly salary stops
• Relationships and changing routines
• Spending after a lifetime of saving
• Finding structure and purpose without recreating work

It forms part of the wider Retirement: It’s… series, exploring retirement from different perspectives.

I’m also a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (FCSI), and I take pride in explaining things in a way that makes people feel at ease — because good decisions are easier when you’re not stressed.

I also regularly contribute to the wider conversation around retirement, personal finance and financial planning.

BBC Radio Cumbria

I have appeared on BBC Radio Cumbria on several occasions, discussing retirement, inheritance, spending, family finances and the emotional side of financial planning.

in-Cumbria Business Magazine

I also feature for in-Cumbria Business Magazine, with articles aimed particularly at business owners.

Topics have included the importance of building personal wealth outside the business, planning an eventual exit and asking what would happen financially if illness or injury suddenly meant you could no longer work.

Press and Media

My work and writing have also featured in national, regional and business media, including The Daily Telegraph, alongside interviews and features discussing retirement planning and the decisions people face as they approach later life.

VIEW MEDIA & ARTICLES

More Than Numbers

Being a financial adviser has taught me plenty about pensions, investments and tax.

But it has taught me even more about people.

Money decisions are rarely completely rational.

Fear matters.

Confidence matters.

Family matters.

Health matters.

And time matters.

That is why one of the questions I increasingly encourage people approaching retirement to consider is not simply:

“Have I got enough?”

It is also:

“What am I building all of this for?”

That question sits at the heart of both my financial planning work and my writing.

A Little About Me

I’m based in Cumbria and, when I’m not advising clients or writing, family takes up most of my time.

I’m also a football supporter, enjoy cars, travelling and getting out and about in Cumbria.

Despite spending a large part of my professional life talking about retirement, I’m not planning mine just yet.

There’s still plenty I want to do first.

Thinking About Retirement?

If you’re approaching retirement and would like to understand whether your finances can support the life you want, I offer an initial no-obligation, complimentary conversation to see whether I can help.

You don’t need to live in Cumbria.

I advise clients throughout the UK, with meetings available face to face locally, or remotely by Zoom or telephone.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK A COMPLIMENTARY 30-MINUTE CHAT 

Or call my office on 016973 25852.