Cheltenham financial advisor and former Gloucester Rugby player Gareth Evans breaks down the keys to achieving financial security and reflects on a difficult season for The Cherry and Whites.
Watch the full chat with Gareth below:
I first met Gareth Evans about eight years ago when he was playing for Gloucester Rugby. We got chatting about sport in the sauna at David Lloyd in Brockworth. Fast forward to 2026 and he’s working as a financial planner with Corinthian Wealth Management in Cheltenham.
Recently Gareth helped me locate a pension pot and move it to a more profitable product. In our conversations it’s become apparent that I didn’t know the fundamentals of saving and making money – of growing wealth so I don’t have to work until I’m 80 (I might choose to keep going with Sport and Life, of course!).
I’ve also enjoyed Gareth’s posts on LinkedIn – and let’s face it enjoying LinkedIn is rare – in which he breaks down basic and important financial information.
So, I asked him to put together his Top 5 Money Tips for Sport and Life people. And he kindly agreed to do so.
1) Seek advice: “Not self promotion! Some people I speak to love managing their own money and finances. They’re willing to do the research, spend the time educating themselves to manage it effectively. Most people are busy they don’t have the time, the energy, the inclination to get on top of this stuff. That’s why people like me exist.”
2) Set some goals and targets: “Have a sit down with your loved ones or on your own if it’s a personal thing. Think about why you should be saving. What’s the objective? Work backwards, quantify what you are saving towards. Whether it’s a deposit for a house, holidays, retirement, any of these things.”
3) Cash flow: “Sounds very straight forward but most people don’t know their ins and outs on a monthly basis. If you don’t know that it’s impossible to save on a monthly basis because you don’t know how much you can put away. Are you paying out more than you need to be? Are there subscriptions that may be unused, bills you can reduce? And if there is a disposable amount at the end of the month where’s that going? Because money sat in your account without a purpose gets spent!”
4) Pension basics: “Do you know who your current workplace pension is with? A lot of people don’t. You will have been auto enrolled. You will have some documentation. There’ll be an email sat in your inbox, possibly in your junk. Go and find it. Gain visibility. Find out what you’ve got. Then you’re in a position to do something about it. I’ve spoken to people with nine different pension providers dotted around. And while it might seem like a headache to sort that out now, if you leave it to retirement you then have to speak to all of those different providers to figure out how you’re going to draw income.”
5) Intentional savings: Once you’ve worked out your cash flow, once you understand your goals and targets, save intentionally. There are levels to savings. A rainy day fund, a pot of money you can get immediately. After that it’s about saving or investing in the appropriate way based on the objective you have. If it’s a holiday by the end of the year I wouldn’t recommend investing in the market because volatility happens. It’s about making sure each part has a goal and where that money is going is in alignment with that goal.”
For more detailed info from Gareth, you can contact him on the afore mentioned LinkedIn and on the Corinthian Wealth Management website :
I hope you benefit from these tips. I know I have. Before Gareth clicked off the call I asked him for his rugby reflections on a challenging season for his old club Gloucester. While some may call it an excuse he says the winter injury crisis was always going to make life hard.
“The biggest thing to understand is that it’s such a knife edge. One percent translates to a huge difference on the pitch. Every season involves so much luck. You can’t really do anything about injuries and if you happen to have a season like Gloucester have had, in certain positions as well, you’re always going to struggle.”
Gareth still has his hand in local rugby, spending his spare time coaching Tewksbury RFC. He says if his notifications are anything to go by, his boys are raring to go for 2026/27.
“I’m looking forward to getting back into it. I’ve seen on WhatsApp some of the guys are clearly missing it because they’re trying to get a touch session and a barbecue in. They’re obviously keen to get back in, which is always good from a coach’s perspective.”
