With proper steering, a client can avoid making knee-jerk financial decisions or delaying investing their pension pot in a suitable and diversified investment portfolio, simply because of short-term fears.
He says: "They are fortunate that their businesses are well established and have a loyal customer base who have continued to support them.
"Of the newer ones, they have seen a good start to their investment journey.
"One client in particular who invested at the end of the last tax year has now been thanking me for convincing him not to delay his investment, even though at the time it 'appeared the money was disappearing', according to him. This is where an understanding of pound-cost averaging comes in extremely useful."
Where to now?
The pandemic is far from over and, for people aged 55 or more, the uncertainty will continue for some time yet. Plans made pre-2020 to leave full-time work at 55 and perhaps go into decumulation, take a long holiday in the sunshine or spend more time with the grandkids have had to be put on hold.
Those considering setting up their own business later on in life may hold off a while, if their current employment is secure. Others may be facing unexpected redundancy, or considering working part-time for a few more years, rather than head straight into retirement.
Still, others may be bringing plans forward now, whether because they do not like the new world order of home working, or because they need to provide childcare support for their children.
But as LV's Mr Bolton says: "Early retirement is expensive. Stopping work five years early means five years’ fewer contributions into a pension, five years’ fewer compounding of returns on your retirement fund and an additional five years withdrawing money from your pension.
“People who want to retire early and enjoy the retirement lifestyle they want need to do three things: review, plan and save. They need to check how much they have saved, plan when they want to retire and save enough to enjoy a comfortable retirement."
He urges people considering bringing their retirement forward to consult a qualified financial adviser. "It is a complicated financial decision and people need to understand the pros and cons," he adds.
Even if clients are still on track financially to meet their longer-term goals, Mr Morris says Covid-19 has undoubtedly changed people's perception.
He says: "The world will be quite different in terms of the way many people perceive it and how they behave. They say old habits die hard, yet that may already have happened and new habits have been formed.
