The final five-year countdown to retirement marks one of the most significant transition periods in your life. It is a time for deep introspection and detailed preparation, moving from general saving habits to specific withdrawal strategies.
Maximise your pension planning before the end of the 2025/26 tax year
Founder and Financial Advisor
John launched Blackwood Financial Planning Ltd in 2026 with the objective of building a team of advisers and support staff to provide financial advice to individuals throughout the UK. We are called Blackwood because John lives in North Wales his house name is Coed Duon which is Welsh for Blackwood!
John started his career teaching Physics and Maths in Oxford and although he moved into a business role after two years of teaching, he realised that even though people may lack confidence and knowledge in a subject, they can learn complex ideas with the right support.
Ever since moving to the role of financial adviser John has been passionate about financial education in the workplace. He believes in equipping people with knowledge of financial matters so they can make informed decisions to help them plan.
John has 35 years’ experience as a regulated financial adviser and achieved the qualification status of Fellow of the Personal Finance Society. Alongside his Financial Adviser role with Blackwood Financial Planning, John launched Planned Future Wellbeing in 2014 and since then they have delivered hundreds of personal finance training events to employees of Universities, Civil Service Departments, Local Authorities and the Private Sector.
John is a (long suffering!) Man Utd supporter and in his spare time he enjoys motor homing in the UK and Europe.