“I knew people were making money out of property so my first step was to learn as much as I could about property and speak to other people who had taken a similar path.” That led to attending PIN meetings and Paul’s first encounter with Simon King, Senior SSAS Pension Advisor at TLPI.

Paul’s first project was to use some of his savings to loan to another investor, as part of a joint venture, in return for an overview on their process and ‘a real-life education’. That move afforded him favour later on when, having invested in his own single let property, he found he needed a reciprocal loan to refurbish the property and prepare it for letting.

“Investing in my first property was truly exciting” …but Paul reveals, “I quickly realised that if I was to achieve my longer-term goals, I needed to look to more than one-off, single lets.”  This led back to Simon King, whose words had resonated with Paul at the PIN. “I remembered how amazed I had been when Simon talked about taking control and starting a SSAS.” Paul realised that moving to a SSAS pension, even though he wasn’t yet 55, would give him access to the funds to make his own decisions and invest them in property.

Having spent his working life in banking, Paul had the traditional view that you should put your money and your trust in banks and pension companies, believing they would tirelessly look after it and make the right decisions for you. It had very quickly become clear to Paul that his goal of a comfortable retirement and financial freedom was not going to be achieved if he held onto these traditional notions. That wasn’t Paul’s only concern; “What if I died, just after I retired?” he began to ask himself. Paul was not prepared for his hard-earned pension money to just disappear. “To know that my pension would not then go to my family is unthinkable.”

“Moving my pension to a SSAS has been absolutely pivotal to achieving my goals.”

Paul had two goals; 1, to give himself choices and opportunities and 2,  to ensure his family would benefit, should he die; “I wanted to build a legacy.” Not only has he achieved this in under 8 years, but there are the added tax benefits, which again, are totally unique to the SSAS pension.

So what advice would Paul give to someone starting to look at their own property investment future?

1. “Be clear and honest about your goals and timescales, before you start looking at how to achieve them.”
2. “Look at your skills, and choose a route that you enjoy, can understand and that suits your skills.”
3. “Education and advice are essential. Speak to the experts. Property is not just about buildings, it is about people and choices; TLPI were the key for me.”