Jean and Ria are both retired after enjoying great careers as a manager and an executive assistant. Their asset management is run through KBC Brussels and takes both their future and that of their son and his family into account.

Ria and Jean retired a few years ago. Their pension pot was supplemented by a generous and unexpected premium from their former employers in recognition of their many years of service. They were very well prepared, but they still made an appointment with their relationship manager at KBC Brussels.

'Of course you look forward to retiring, but once you actually get to that point you still feel a little afraid of all those changes,' explains Jean. 'We both still have plenty of plans, and our son is also building his own business. So we wanted to make sure that the money was invested sensibly and that enough of it was also still accessible for any unforeseen problems.'

As a relationship manager and investment specialist at KBC Brussels, Marc has been monitoring and managing Jean and Ria's capital for many years now. He started with a 360° analysis of their assets. That was no minor undertaking, as Ria recalls: 'It definitely wasn't a superficial conversation. Marc asked all kinds of questions about our plans and concerns in order to gain a clear view of our short-term and long-term goals.'

Their situation was then evaluated and adjusted at regular intervals. The question of inheritance planning also arose - an issue that Ria takes very seriously: 'We worked hard over the years, but we also had a lot of good luck. We wanted to make sure that as much of that as possible can be passed on to our son and his family.'

Jean adds: 'Our son is now 35 and is starting his own business. However, the situation now is very different to when I started working. There are a lot more rules, and the real estate prices are unbelievably high.' When Jean discussed this with Marc at KBC Brussels, he put him in touch with a business adviser. 'He worked with me and my son to consider the best way to offer financial support to my son's business, and also to set up a systematic savings and investment plan for him. It definitely doesn't hurt to start early with these things!'