Legacy Without Sacrifice: Enjoying Your Wealth Today While Planning for Tomorrow

Chris Broome – Chartered Financial Planner

Retirement is more than just the end of a career, it’s the start of a new chapter.

For many people, this stage of life is about striking the right balance: enjoying the fruits of decades of hard work, while ensuring family and favourite causes are cared for long into the future.

So how can you achieve that balance, living well today, while creating a legacy that lasts?

Defining Your Legacy

Legacy doesn’t have to mean making headlines or leaving behind an empire. For many, it’s about ensuring loved ones are supported, family values endure, and favourite causes continue to thrive.

One of the biggest questions people face is how to spend comfortably in retirement without feeling they’re neglecting the future. The answer lies in intentional planning.

  • Clarify Your Priorities: Take a fresh look at your day-to-day lifestyle and ask what truly brings you joy, travel, hobbies, family gatherings, or simply having the freedom to choose how you spend your days.
  • Create a Flexible Spending Plan: Work with a financial adviser to design a retirement spending plan that matches your lifestyle. In the UK, drawing income from ISAs before pensions can help you reduce taxes in the early years (Gov.uk Pension Guidance).

Future-Proof Your Wealth

Enjoying retirement means knowing you’re also protected against life’s uncertainties.

  • Test Different Scenarios: Use financial planning software to explore how your assets would hold up in various situations, from market dips to unexpected health costs.
  • Plan for Longevity: Longer lives are a gift, but they also mean extra costs. Healthcare, home maintenance and even small luxuries like travel need to be built into your long-term plan (Age UK, 2024).

Thoughtful Gifting and Family Support

Many people want to help family members while still living well themselves. UK gifting rules allow you to pass on up to £3,000 each tax year without inheritance tax concerns, plus small gifts of up to £250 each (HMRC, 2024).

Charitable giving can also be part of your legacy. Donor-advised funds and charitable trusts can support causes you care about while potentially reducing future inheritance tax bills.

Privacy and Control

For those who value discretion, structures like trusts can be powerful tools. Trusts aren’t just for the ultra-wealthy, they’re practical ways to manage how assets are shared, protect them for future generations, and avoid making your affairs part of the public probate record (STEP UK, 2024).

Bringing it All Together

Ultimately, balancing enjoyment today with legacy planning isn’t about compromise, it’s about clarity and confidence. It’s about:

✔️ Living well and making the most of every day
✔️ Protecting what you’ve built for loved ones and causes that matter
✔️ Feeling secure that your financial plan supports both your life now and your vision for the future

As you move into retirement, ask yourself: What kind of impact do I want to leave behind? Start there. From that foundation, the practical steps, financial structures, gifting, tax planning, can follow. After all, true legacy isn’t measured by numbers alone; it’s the quiet echo of a life lived well, in every way.

Next steps

If you’d like to review your financial plan or simply want to talk things through, we’re just a call away.

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Please note: This blog is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.