A pensioner who was forced to delay his retirement when Equitable Life collapsed has now structured his finances to safeguard his future.

Julian Ives, 76, a retired solicitor, lost over £60,000 around 25 years ago when the insurance firm went bust, forcing him to push back his plans to retire at 61.

He told Express.co.uk: “The message that came to me from that was keep diversified, but also keep some kind of cash balance within your pension fund generally, to cater for disasters.”

Fortunately, he was able to recoup his losses by staying on in full-time work for another five years, and he stepped back from full-time work about 10 years ago.

Now he has fully retired, he gets most of his income from his state pension and from a SIPP (self-invested personal pension), which is invested in equities as well as in some fixed interest funds.

He also has a cash buffer in deposit accounts and in cash ISAs, to provide six months’ income as a “last resort” fund if needed. He also dips into these funds to pay for holidays or for emergency repairs.

The grandad-of-five, from Neston in Cheshire, had some help with a free coaching session with Bestinvest, to discuss his plans and long term goals.

Mr Ives said this was helpful to talk over the need for diversification within his investments to spread risk, including the risk inherent in the investments and his personal ability to absorb risk.

Mr Ives leads an active life; he has been a keen rower for most of his life, starting when he was just 15 and still rowing twice a week.

Since retiring, he also completed a creative writing course at Cambridge, and he now writes short stories, which he sometimes shares with his family.

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