How a client lost his retirement savings to a business partner

Sumit Tiwari · Certified Estate Planner (EPPL) · July 2026 · four‑minute read

Earlier this year, a client I first met five years ago sent me this message:

Still going through a lot of financial pressures recently. Thanks for your service all this while. Too bad couldn't do a proper financial planning for myself. Bad luck, and too trusting of friends. Wish you all the best for your future.

When we first met, he had paid off his home, was running more than one successful business and had no debts. His children were grown up and settled.

I told him that although his finances were in good order, he had no plan for passing on his assets. In my experience, disagreements in a family often start when an estate is divided. I recommended that he make a will and set up the appropriate structures.

He made a Lasting Power of Attorney and decided to stop there. He told me that his children were close and would not fight.

He did agree to set aside a sum for his retirement, so that he would not depend on his businesses for his living expenses. His 30 years in business had shown him how uncertain business income can be.

Some time later, one of his businesses made heavy losses. He called me because he wanted to use his retirement savings to cover them. I told him, as firmly as I could to a man 20 years older than me, that I did not think he should. The funds were meant to support him and his wife, and if the business failed anyway, they would have nothing left. He listened, and found another way to cover the losses.

A year later, his business partner proposed a high-risk venture that promised large returns. My client invested a seven-figure sum. It turned out that the venture did not exist, and his partner had used the money to repay his own debts.

The loss left him in debt to the banks. To repay them, he had to use what he had, including the savings he had set aside for retirement.

He was an experienced and careful businessman, and he was still defrauded. Retirees who are known to have money are often approached with investments, sometimes by people they trust, and it is hard to tell good offers from bad ones.

Some arrangements, such as certain trusts, cannot easily be cashed in, and that can protect money meant for retirement from this kind of pressure.

This account is based on a real client. Identifying details, including the nature of the businesses and the sums involved, have been changed to protect him and his family.

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