Plan to buy time for music and wine

Peter Schmidt is a 34-year-old business analyst who owns his own company, and would like to be financially independent within the next 10 years. To achieve this he needs to pay off the £160,000 mortgage on his home and retain enough money to enable a monthly retirement spend of £3,000.

On their own with money to spend

Henry and Mary Collins are public sector employees with modest outgoings who have an unusual desire to die “effectively destitute”.

Putting their trust in efficient wills

Robert and Sue Thompson are a retired couple with three adult children who wish to minimise their potential inheritance tax liability without altering their current comfortable standard of living.

A case of too much, too young

Hazel Parkes, a 25-year-old teacher and her divorced partner, project manager Christopher Ewing, 35, feel constrained by their heavy monthly outgoings and high debt. The couple want to organise their debts and spending so they can put some money aside to get married, start a family and do some travelling.

Playing it safer after a risky start

After a career disposing of explosive devices, Brian Chapel has had his fill of risk-taking. The 54-year-old former army officer who now works as a civil servant, wants to build an investment portfolio based around “safe” investments to generate pension income without having to buy an annuity.

Green shoots appear after nursery sale

Caroline Spencer takes the view that money is for spending, not investing. Any surplus income from her £50,000 annual salary goes on her passion for collecting antiques. But as she is now 10 years away from her target retirement date, she realises she has to put some money aside and she is willing to take a high level of risk to maximise returns.

A conservationist approach to wealth

Jennifer and Piers Williams recently received an unexpected offer for the software company they had built up over the past 15 years. They sold the business for £2.1m cash earlier this year and now have to restructure their investments to provide sufficient income to see them through a potentially long retirement.

From trading floor to pensions ceiling

City worker Maxwell Brown is planning an early departure from the trading floor as he hopes this year’s relaxation of pension rules should enable him to build sufficient funds to retire in around five years’ time.

Cash funds will be her saving grace

Marketing director Isabel Thomas is the first to admit that she has scant knowledge of financial markets and investments. But she has recently been thinking that she should be investing more sensibly if she is to have a chance of meeting her goals. Ideally the 26-year-old would like to retire at 50.

New financial tactics will help couple score

Quality of the cloth will define her coat

Map of discovery for the Gold Coast

Right recipe for a tasty retirement

Way to avoid the Revenue roller

Gnawing doubts on use of cash pile

No match between income and spend

Self-prescription to use windfall well

Training hard for an education in saving

Don’t let yourself get sold a pup