The cash also comes at a time when the mortgage is low or non-existent after 25 years of home-owning and many people have inherited cash or property from parents who have just died.

Holmwood, which provides personal accident insurance to 1,700 independent and grant-maintained schools, has now launched a free advice service for teachers wondering how to invest their windfall. Ted Constable says: “With cash from a maturing insurance policy as well, I’ve seen people end up with more than Pounds 100,000. The purpose of our service is to save on the heavy taxation teachers can suffer from unproductive lump sums, without locking the money up.”

Everybody is different, and advice has to be tailored to particular circumstances, he says. “Some people might want security and a regular income, others are more keen to speculate.”

No one has ever told Holmwood they want to blow the lot in one mad post-retirement spree, but many want to spend money on a really special holiday, or visiting relatives abroad, and the firm does nothing to dissuade them - “We tell them to go ahead and enjoy themselves,” Ted Constable says. Many couples arrange to retire together, giving both the opportunity to take a long cruise, he says. Other common desires are a new car, and “white goods” - refrigerators, washing machines and the like.

One move Ted Constable does generally advise against, however, is paying off the mortgage on the family home. “That’s often a difficult one,” he says. “With low interest rates there is a good case at the moment for not paying off mortgages even if you have the money - again it all depends on individual circumstances.”

While no one who accepts Holmwood’s offer of free advice is under any obligation, Mr Constable says, the firm does hope that teachers acting on its suggestions will use its brokerage services.

Holmwood: telephone 0444 458144