Client Profile: Perry and Tia Jacobs

How professional retirement planning empowered Perry and Tia to “Live the dream”

For many, retirement is an opportunity to slow down after dedicating time and energy to a fulfilling career.

It offers the chance to enjoy a more settled and reflective lifestyle; whether that’s in the pursuit of a new hobby, travelling the world, or simply spending time with family and friends.

For Attivo clients Perry and Tia Jacobs, relaxing into retirement was the ultimate goal.

Perry, a native Canadian, met Tia in the UK in 1959, and the couple were married in 1976. By 1977, Perry and Tia had moved to Canada, knowing (when they moved back to the UK in 1981) that it would be where they would live out their retirement.

That plan was supported by tailored and timely financial planning advice from Attivo.

“We first met Stephen Harper (founder of Attivo) in the early 1990s,” explains Tia. “Stephen advised us when we were selling our business just before the financial crash of 2005, and he helped Perry to be set up financially so that he could retire at 50.”

The view from Perry and Tia’s window in their Nova Scotia house

With Stephen’s advice and the plan set in motion, Perry was able to retire in 2006.

It was Perry and Tia’s subsequent discovery of Nova Scotia that persuaded them that the time had come to move back to Canada.

“It’s impossible not to fall in love with Nova Scotia,” says Perry. “We’d been looking for a waterfront property when our friends Barb and Howard found a piece of land. Barb actually wanted it for herself, but Howard wasn’t keen, so when we stayed with them, they showed us the spot. We then met the landowner, and we shook hands within 10 minutes! The house took a year to build, and I designed it with our architect using a timber frame based on the Canadian style.”

Perry and Tia’s waterfront home has five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a powder room, a huge double garage, a wood store and an upper level “man cave”, and is surrounded by vineyards, lobster restaurants and the most glorious countryside. Alongside a neighbouring white spruce tree – so tall that it almost reaches the top of their three-storey house – Perry and Tia’s abode overlooks the Bay of Fundy, famed for having some of the highest tides in the world at up to 50ft in the winter.

Unsurprisingly, Barb and Howard regretted not buying the land for themselves. “They ended up building a home half a mile up the street instead!” Perry laughs.

However, Perry and Tia’s retirement didn’t last long.

Just one short year into retirement, Perry received a phone call from a dear family friend, Helen Flook, who said: “Perry – I need you to come out of retirement; I’ve got a project for you.”

“Helen is like a daughter to us, and her kids are our godchildren,” says Perry. “Her husband Piers had started a candle company in his dad’s garage called Marmalade of London, which had really taken off back in the UK.

“They wanted to sell the candles in North America,” he continues, “so we created a distribution company – Pebble Cove Distributors Ltd, named after our Nova Scotia house – and became shareholders.

“We started distribution in North America on the East Coast in 2017, then a year later, we launched Marmalade US. The candles have been hugely popular, and it’s wonderful to see Helen and Piers’ success. They are such great friends, and it has been lovely to enjoy this new chapter with them.”

Tia adds: “We don’t have children, so Helen is a surrogate daughter to us, and we adore her and Piers. Watching their success is such a proud moment for Perry and I. It’s so lovely to see their business grow and get the recognition it deserves.”

The quiet life wasn’t to last for long. A year after retiring in 2006, Perry took a call from a dear family friend, Helen Flook. Perry says: ‘Helen is like a daughter to us, and her kids are our godchildren. She said, “Perry – I need you to come out of retirement; I’ve got a project for you.”

Perry, proudly showcasing Marmalade of London Candles

“Attivo has steered us very wisely so that we can enjoy the lovely life that we have today.”

Whilst Tia always says that “we live a charmed life”, she notes that it has taken years of hard work, and a second career, combined with some savvy lifestyle financial planning advice from Attivo, that has led them to this point.

‘We didn’t go to university, we only made it to secondary school,” explains Tia. “But Perry is incredibly good at what he does, and Attivo has steered us very wisely so that we can enjoy the lovely life that we have today.”

“You need the right people doing the right job to make a success of things. It’s the same for financial advice.”

Perry and Tia’s relationship with Attivo is as strong as ever.

Perry and Tia made a visit to the Attivo head office in Cheltenham in 2025 for a catch up with Attivo founder Stephen Harper, and Ben Sheward, their current Financial Planner.

“I’ve personally known Tia and Perry Jacobs for 27 years, originally as their Financial Planner,” says Stephen. “When I stepped back from providing Financial Planning advice, I had complete confidence in entrusting them to our Financial Planning team, and Ben Sheward now looks after them brilliantly. It’s always a pleasure to see long-standing relationships continue to thrive under the care of our team.”

Perry and Tia, pictured with Ben Sheward and Stephen Harper

“I was so humbled to hear Perry and Tia say that the best thing that ever happened to them was taking professional Financial Planning advice from us, and that it has enabled them to live the life they have now.”

Words by Maddy Bidulph