Maureen Byrne

Josh keeps everything simple; he doesn’t use financial jargon.

Hi, my name is Maureen Byrne. I have been a client of The Orchard Practice for I believe, coming up to six years. Josh Gerstler is my financial planner and adviser, whom I’m very happy with.

Josh came to our business – it’s a law firm – to give advice on stakeholder pensions and general pensions. He came to the practice for business reasons. I approached him separately to give me some personal advice for my own personal circumstances. So, I made a consultation with him. That’s how I met Josh.

I wanted somebody who had an objective view of my financial affairs, somebody who would give me clarity on, you know, what I had, what I owed, mortgages, etc. And somebody to create a plan for the future. I’m not an expert in finances. I do what I do very well. But I wanted somebody who had experience and professionalism in pensions and future planning.

I found Josh very approachable.

In my first consultation with Josh, he asked me all various details and to write a list of my assets, and to be completely honest with him. He asked me what I realistically could live on in the future. From there, we created a master plan – he created a master plan – knowing all the full details of my financial affairs. 
So, over the years, we’ve tailored that a bit. You know, what I want in the future has slightly changed. But we were able to dovetail that and put it into my plan.

Josh keeps everything simple; he doesn’t blow you away with all this financial jargon. He keeps it simple. He says it as it is. No matter when I call him, if he’s not free to speak to me immediately, I always get a callback or an email back. Sometimes you need somebody outside of yourself to look at your circumstances and to literally plan for you because you’re too emotionally and personally involved to do that for yourself.

I feel quite happy and satisfied that I know that I can live on what we planned for. We haven’t been unrealistic. Josh has asked me what is the minimum I could live on and what ideally I could live on. I’m quite satisfied, then, that I have a decent plan; that I can live a happy and comfortable life with what we’ve decided on.

The three words I would describe Josh as, is personable, professional, and approachable.

The best thing is that people’s lives change and you need your financial adviser to be as adaptable and flexible as your life may be. So, at various times, I’ve had to change my life plans because my life has changed. So, the best thing is he is very quickly able to absorb your new circumstances and work around that and work that into your master plan, giving you that comfort you need about moving forward into the next stage of your life.

I absolutely would recommend The Orchard Practice. Why? They’re very accessible. In the early days, I used to go down to their offices in Borehamwood, but now I have my meetings online. So, no matter where you live, it doesn’t matter. You can have your consultation on Zoom, online.

And I would [recommend Josh], because he is very realistic and I know during the recent pandemic, I was saving a monthly amount and I panicked when I had the pandemic. So I stopped my savings. I emailed Josh, I said I’m going to stop saving as I’m not sure if I still have a job, but he quickly reassured me. He said, ”Please don’t do that. Now is the time that your money can buy you more”. So, you know, he encouraged me not to react to events immediately. And he was absolutely right and I’m so pleased that I didn’t follow my own instinct and gut feeling and panic. Yes, I absolutely would. He’s worked wonders for me.