61ear-old David Wright and his wife, Marie, 60, live in Redditch and decide to release some of the value in their home, as they want to maintain their lifestyle and carry out some home improvements.

With their property worth 200,000, they could take out 40,000 straightaway with a Cash Lump Sum Plan. However, as they don't need all of the money in one go, they choose the Drawdown Plan Option, which also allows them to take advantage of the reserve facility that will be available to them over the life of the plan.

They want to add a kitchen extension onto their home of 30 years, to accommodate their growing family when they come to visit. The bill for the kitchen extension comes in at 15,000, and they want another 5,000 for a holiday with their grandchildren. Mr and Mrs Wright therefore release an initial 20,000 to complete their home improvements, and spend a wonderful two weeks with their family in Spain. In fact they enjoy their time away so much they treat their family to a holiday in Florida five years later, by releasing another 10,000.

Then when Mr Wright reaches 70, the couple decides to replace their existing car by releasing a further 10,000. By releasing their money as and when they need it, not only are the Wrights still the proud owners of a beautiful home (not to mention a collection of great photos of their family holidays), they could also end up paying less interest on the loan, and so their estate may be worth more than with other plans. The Wrights are also completely aware of the amount of interest they owe having drawn money from the scheme, and have been careful to release the right amount of cash for their needs over the years.