Client stories

Peter

Richard helped us plan not just our finances, but the life we wanted to live

My name is Peter Richardson. I have been with Betterment Wealth since its inception. More importantly, I’ve been with Richard Fearn, my adviser, for more than 12 years now.

My wife and I contacted Richard and sought advice to establish how quickly and whether it was possible for us to retire as early as we wanted to and how we could combine savings, pensions, and potential future earnings to make that dream of early retirement come true.

I knew Richard socially, but I didn’t know what he did until we just sat down and got chatting. His general demeanour, personality, and calmness made it easy to talk to him about what we were trying to achieve. It became obvious to both my wife and me that we could trust someone like Richard to provide the advice and information we needed.

We have been retired for nearly nine years now. My wife is a couple of years younger than I am, but at 56, to be able to stop working and enjoy the lifestyle that we have has been amazing, and Rich has been at the cornerstone of that with the advice he’s given. It’s been easy for us to stay with him because we’ve been so successful and confident with how we’ve approached things and the decisions that we’ve taken.

Richard helped with the transition from working and getting paid to work to being almost paid not to work and being retired with some very simple advice. He asked, “What kind of lifestyle do you want? What kind of expenditure do you expect? How much tax do you want to pay? And what are your future plans – where do you want to see yourself in the next five or ten years? What do you want to do for holidays with the family and with future grandchildren?” His advice has been holistic in terms of how best to enjoy those things, but at the same time, keep secure the investments that you have, therefore giving you that security to enjoy that lifestyle and not thinking, “Well, it’s going to run out at some point.”

Three words I would choose to describe Richard would be, firstly, trustworthy; secondly, extremely professional; and lastly, very competent.

I would happily recommend Richard and Betterment Wealth based on the fact that after 12 years of working with Richard and having him as our adviser, we’ve achieved all that we wanted to achieve, and a little bit more. We sit here now, my wife and I, confident about the future financially; we’re more than secure, we have a fantastic lifestyle, and Richard has been a part of making that happen.

Real experiences

Trusted by our clients

Our survey results show how people feel about working with us.

100%

of clients believe that working with us has helped or will help them achieve their financial goals

100%

of clients would recommend us to their friends, family, or colleagues

53.57%

of clients have recommended us in the last 12 months alone

Ian Valvona

Richard and his team provide a great service, in my case over several years around mortgage brokering. What makes Richard, in particular, different from other professionals in this area is how much time he will spend in properly understanding both your circumstances but also what you and your family are trying to achieve into the future. He then brings the right products into discussion without ever suggesting one or the other product is 'right' or "better', rather allowing you to come to that conclusion yourself with further advice from him and his team as and when needed. It also helps that Richard, who I've known for years now, is a really lovely person! I unhesitatingly recommend him and his company's services! Ian Valvona - September 2025.

Carina Eriksson

We have used Betterment Wealth twice now. They've been incredibly helpful, efficient, thorough and honest throughout the process. We felt we were in safe hands, getting the best mortgage offer for us, and would have been a bit lost without them. Cannot recommend them enough.

Chris Holden

Jamie was great from start to finish arranging the mortgage. A non standard set of circumstances that required additional work to resolve. Throughout Jamie was great. Highly recommend for mortgage advice, application and follow through to a successful mortgage offer and finally exchange and completion.

Michael Shields

Exemplary service from everyone at Betterment Wealth - I had a great, personalised, service from Richard and Laila and have dealt with Richard before for previous remortgages etc. Despite my slightly unusual pay structure, the team were able to package things up and present the complexity neatly to lenders, making the process effortless from my point of view. Highly recommend and will be using Richard and the team for future remortgages and other financial input.

Samuel Matthey

We cannot recommend Betterment Wealth highly enough. They were with us every step of the way during our first property purchase, offering excellent advice, efficient paperwork/admin processes and helpful, personable staff. Special mention must be given to Jamie Panter, who was our main point of contact through the process and was always willing to talk and offer support and advice, as well as being very understanding of our personal circumstances. Additionally, Laila Hatcher offered excellent support during the latter stages of the purchase. I’m very glad that we selected Betterment Wealth. Would recommend to anyone.

Mel Walker

I have followed Richard over to Betterment Wealth as he has been a God Send to my finances. He has enabled me to have 2 properties and sorted out my pension so I have NO money worries even though I am freelance. Everybody needs a Richard, he simplifies everything makes sure you understand and I am SO pleased I met him!