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GETTING ON THE PROPERTY LADDER

TODAY’S BLOG

GETTING YOUR FOOT ON (AND OFF) THE PROPERTY LADDER…

Despite various Government initiatives – the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme; stamp duty land tax relief; reduced deposit requirements etc – getting on the property ladder still proves to be a difficult task for the majority of young adults in the UK; and can feel almost unattainable for some.

This sometimes means that couples move in together (often prematurely) and/or live with parents for longer in order to start saving for a house deposit. There are a variety of things that can be done to help build a deposit for first time buyers under the age of 40, but the truth is that this is very marginal. In spite of what some celebratory estate agents may suggest, cutting back on trips to Starbucks is a drop in the ocean when we see property prices galloping off into the distance and out of range of anyone earning less than £80,000. Yes, rates are low, mortgage terms are longer, but often the bank of Mum and Dad or an inheritance has to save the day!

In this country, our laws generally protect the landlord as opposed to the tenant, making buying all the more desirable; yet it is almost out of reach for millennials.  The average age of first time buyers in the UK is now 34 years old which is an alarming statistic (it’s 37 if you live in London).

You know that buying a house is of course an investment, but it also represents so much more than that – a home, a stable environment, your sanctuary. Most of us would also concede that we have done relatively little to increase the value of our homes, most of the rise has been due to the demand, which is fuelled by a lack of housing stock. Most of us have actually been quite lucky rather than particularly savvy about property.

At Solomon’s, we work towards enabling our clients to achieve financial freedom. Usually that means paying off your mortgage long before you retire.  A huge milestone for anyone … effectively liberating your salary and giving you the opportunity to spend your hard-earned income on other things.

We aren’t only about helping you to invest your money (although this is obviously a large part of what we do) – on many occasions, Dominic has had to tell clients that they have reached a point where they can start spending it! (You might be surprised to hear that people are sometimes reluctant to do this; having been shackled by mortgage payments for so many years).

It is not that we are giving clients permission to spend their money (such permission is not ours to give or withhold!), rather it’s simply about reminding them of their autonomy and the power to make ‘informed choices’.

We have been told many times in the past that one of the things clients like about our service is the guidance and ‘reassurance’ we provide.  And this is indeed one of the most enjoyable parts of what we do – financial freedom is our main aim for clients and we derive great pleasure from seeing this happen.

Abigail Liddicott
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email [email protected]

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected] 
Call – 020 8542 8084

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Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected]    Call – 020 8542 8084

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GETTING ON THE PROPERTY LADDER2023-12-01T12:12:55+00:00

STORIES IN DISASTERS

TODAY’S BLOG

DISASTERS…

At the risk of sounding a little odd, I admit that I have been interested in the stories of natural and manmade disasters since I was a youngster. It wasn’t a morbid fascination for me; it was a genuine curiosity about the causes of tragic accidents and incidents. I wanted to understand how these catastrophes occurred. I wanted to learn about the ‘anatomy of disaster’

As I got a little older, other aspects of these types of events started to reveal to me how important they are in our collective history.  Time and again we see humanity triumphing over adversity and becoming stronger, better and wiser for it.

In more recent years, I have found that individual stories of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances have really resonated with me and inspired me. I have read many autobiographies from the survivors of these disasters and often the small details they remember serve to preserve not just the factual history of the event, but the human perception of the experience (it’s always about suffering but often accompanied by hope and joy).

My interest ranges from natural disasters (earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami) through to engineering and technological incidents (so-called ‘manmade’ disasters) – aircraft crashes, bridge collapses, mining cave-ins, explosions on oil rigs.

Very recently I visited the Titanic exhibition at Dock X, Canada Water and was overwhelmed by some of the artefacts on display. Not the big pieces of furniture or the heavy watertight doors from Titanic’s sister ship Olympic (impressive as they were to see!); but the tiny trinket of a victim; the shoes of a small child who had survived; the cuff links of one of the crew; the postcards that had been sent by passengers (such poignancy in the fact that the postcards arrived home, but some of the authors didn’t); the simple jewellery of a third-class woman who had ended up in the water but had been hauled into a lifeboat – she sadly died of hypothermia before the Carpathia was able to reach them.

As excited as I had been to see the exhibits, I was hit by a very illuminating thought as we made our way around the displays … it wasn’t the ‘things’ that fascinated me. It was the ‘stories’.

The personal effects preserved in this and various other exhibitions and museums around the globe are all simple symbols of lived lives and they stand alone – each piece a part of ‘the humanity of disaster’

I continue to read autobiographical work – Jim Lovell of Apollo 13 fame, Chesley Sullenberger – the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549 (the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’) and Violet Jessop (a stewardess on the Titanic) to name a few.

The stories of these lived lives never fail to inspire me and the ‘stories’ of our clients often have the same impact. I love reading the articles written by our clients and showcased in Spotlight (our client magazine) as we learn a little more about what matters to them and the things they care about. Their stories. (By the way – if Jemima has been in contact with you asking you to contribute to our next edition, I would encourage you to share ‘your story’ … each one of us has our own and they are all unique and precious).

As for the Titanic exhibition – it’s running until 20th March 2022 and is well worth a visit.

Debbie Harris
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on our blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to us about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email [email protected]

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected] 
Call – 020 8542 8084

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GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected]    Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

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STORIES IN DISASTERS2023-12-01T12:12:55+00:00

VEGANUARY

TODAY’S BLOG

VEGANUARY

Food is such an integral part of life. I have many nostalgic memories of meals shared with friends and family, filled with laughter and storytelling. My Father was a particularly impressive cook, always experimenting with new flavours; he loved impressing people with unique dishes using unusual fruits and vegetables. When I went to university, meals at home became sacred. My favourite meal upon my return was beef stew, usually accompanied by a glass of red … the ultimate in Winter comfort food.

A few years ago I got sick and after much research looking for things that could ‘heal’ me, a lot of data suggested a vegan diet. My deep love of charcuterie boards, roast beef, steak, lasagna, cheese would make it hard to cut out – but I was also desperate to feel well again. I’d reached a place where it was difficult to work, difficult to eat and was often in and out of hospitals and doctors’ surgeries – so I took the plunge.

Following a vegan diet means not eating meat, fish, dairy or animal biproducts such as eggs, honey or gelatine. I seem to have inherited my Dad’s love of cooking, so the creative side of trying new dishes was fun, but I felt like I had to keep reading research papers to convince myself I was doing the right thing. Not eating a meal made up of meat, carbs and vegetables on the side, felt wrong, as though I would somehow be weakening my body, not strengthening it.

One thing that is important if you give up meat (vegetarians listen up!), is to take a daily B12 supplement (in liquid form) as it is an important part of helping the nerves work and without it can lead to nerve damage. I have to plan meals thoughtfully to ensure that I’m getting the right nutrients from the food I eat but, after several months of experimenting with new vegan dishes, I began to feel better. I’m not ‘healed’, but I was able to return to work, eat solid food again, and even start weaning off some of the medication I’d been put on. I’ve found new favourite meals and enjoyed taste-testing lots of different products to find replacements for the foods I ‘miss’ the most.

In all honesty I don’t think I expected changing my diet to improve my health this drastically, but here I am almost a year later with no desire to revert back. Food should be nourishing and delicious and that is very achievable on a vegan diet.

So what does this have to do with financial planning, you might well ask!?  Well, if you try and compare being physically unwell and being financially unwell (lots of debt perhaps; no clear direction; no idea what the best path is; no idea where to start; how and when should I invest…) then the analogy begins to reveal itself!

Depending on what financial problems you have, a personal plan is crucial.  A financial plan is different for everyone (although just as with physical health … there are some recurring themes).  As with physical problems, the relief from financial ‘pain’ isn’t instant – you aren’t ‘healed’ just because you have a treatment/lifestyle plan. It can take quite some time for the plan to take effect and for you to feel the benefits. As with treatments for physical ailments, sometimes you have to tweak your financial plan to ensure that you remain on track. As time goes by and the ‘treatment’ becomes habitual, you don’t even really have to work that hard at it.  In the beginning, there can feel like a long road to travel and a lot of learning to do, but once you’re on your way … it’s liberating and empowering.

This is why we do what we do (and why we love doing it!) – financial freedom and financial wellbeing are absolutely our goals for all of our clients, whatever their financial ‘ailments’ may be.

Abigail Liddicott
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on our blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to us about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email [email protected]

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected] 
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY  |  DATA PROTECTION

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected]    Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY  |  DATA PROTECTION

VEGANUARY2023-12-01T12:12:56+00:00

Slow and steady…

Jemima Thomas
Jan 2022  •  3 min read

Slow and steady…

You would think (given that I work for a financial planning firm!) that I would be great at handling my finances.  Unfortunately, this is not something I have totally figured out…

I am a 20-something woman, living in and galivanting around London.  I like to keep myself busy with events and activities – I love the buzz and vitality of ‘city life’.  Whilst I am thoroughly enjoying my time and having some fabulous experiences, I also know that I need to say no sometimes to try and save for my future endeavours … right?

“YOU’RE YOUNG; YOU HAVE SO MUCH TIME; JUST ENJOY IT”

I am constantly torn between living ‘in the moment’, enjoying London whilst I’m here, and also saving for my future lifestyle (my needs and dreams are sure to alter as I get older).  I am frequently reminded by anyone remotely older than me, that I am ‘’SO YOUNG, you can do anything, you have no real responsibilities!” – which to me sounds like code for – you have no children or a mortgage so HAVE ALL THE FUN.  Which on the one hand makes a great deal of sense, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that living in the moment is all well in good, but thinking about my future is something I mustn’t avoid.  Whilst I enjoy hearing from others that I am in a period of my life where being young and free needs to be enjoyed, I still often hear people reflecting saying they wished they’d saved more when they were younger or they wished they had done xyz as well.  Hindsight is 20/20 vision of course.

In the last few years, I have started to see friends of roughly my age buying their first home, getting engaged or having children.  Whilst of course this is all a matter of perspective based on our individual choices, circumstances, income etc; I can’t help but feel I am now in a hurry to get on and do everything, as well as ‘save’ for ‘future me’.  I am told that I have all the time in the world, and yet I feel like I am starting to run out of it at the same time!

MY WISE OLD MANAGER …

As I was beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed trying to compartmentalise my financial life whilst enjoying life in the city, my lovely manager Debbie brilliantly guided me to a realisation that saving little by little was possible, and that I needn’t worry about saving huge chunks (I was never able to save huge chunks, but little chunks didn’t seem to be enough in my mind!).  She told me that every evening after having whatever fun I was having, I should move money into my savings account so that each night my account balance was left at a round number.  I remember laughing and saying that this would make no difference – moving 50p here, £3.80 there … what a long-winded approach!  And yet …  she was completely right.  Soon after starting to do this, I realised that each month I was actually saving!  And I was also made to be more mindful at the same time.  It didn’t hurt or stop me going out, it was done so subtly that it was easily doable.

It’s taken some time, and I still have moments of forgetting and missing a few days, but I feel I am finally at a place where I can feel comfortable and confident about putting away ‘a little something’.

And already in the new year, I’ve managed to keep saving.  Admittedly it’s not a lot – but it’s a start, and I’m proud of what I’ve managed to achieve.  It’s a reminder that it doesn’t matter how much it is, slowly I am beginning to create a little pot of gold for my future.

And in much the same way, it is incredibly satisfying for us to see the differences for our clients (which can be phenomenal) that a planned approach (even if ’slow but small’) can bring about … ultimately enabling choice and financial freedom.

Slow and steady…2025-02-17T16:04:13+00:00

TOOLS TO HELP YOU GET STUFF DONE

TODAY’S BLOG

TOOLS TO GET STUFF DONE

As soon as the turkey is finished, attentions are drawn to the New Year. For most, the experience of resolutions can be quite off-putting when contemplating the year ahead. The plethora of adverts for holidays provides some indication about what most of us choose to plan for, though in pandemics the task is somewhat harder, with more “ifs and buts”.

There is an entire industry that is dedicated to setting goals and managing your time and actions to achieve them. The new page is the potential for so much, yet can feel rather overwhelming, in the context of human history we have never had so much choice. I wonder though if most of us suffer from something like writer’s block when it comes to planning what we want from the future.

TOOLS TO GET STUFF DONE

FORMING GOOD HABITS

I’ve been trying to design a notebook to help clients formulate some goals and good habits for money management. Ironically, it’s been a difficult task to complete, not to get it done, but whether it’s something that is helpful in an already overcrowded space. I suspect like me you use a calendar on your phone and computer, the challenge often being how to ensure that the personal and professional are shared appropriately with those impacted. For me there is something powerful about a pen and paper that a keyboard doesn’t capture (I’m well aware that there are tablets and stylus options).

As I plan my year ahead there is always the tension between experience and optimism. Perhaps its not even that, a sense of larger goals that seem plainly unrealistic based on the past, yet not beyond the realm of possibility. In a professional context that’s about growing the business, attracting and serving more clients as well as improving what we already do. Increasing value and demonstrating it more clearly. The latest 10-year business plan is about to enter its second year, the clock is ticking and we want to “up our game”.

I wonder if I could ask you if you’d let me know if a paper-based notebook designed to help you keep in mind the bigger goals and the steps to achieving them would be helpful to you. Please email me.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email [email protected]

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected] 
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY  |  DATA PROTECTION

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected]    Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

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TOOLS TO HELP YOU GET STUFF DONE2023-12-01T12:12:57+00:00

CHRISTMAS BUDGETING

TODAY’S BLOG

SO, WHAT WAS YOUR BUDGET FOR CHRISTMAS? DID YOU EVEN HAVE ONE? AND HAVE YOU KEPT TO IT?…

I have to confess … I’ve gone over mine ever so slightly. I always forget how expensive the ‘treat foods’ are … not just the turkey and all the trimmings, but the nibbles you tend to leave dotted around the place in the run up to the big day; the spare bottle of bubbly (just in case); the oversized tin of Quality Street – that seems to be devoid of toffee pennies within minutes of opening (I always feel a bit sorry for the strawberry creams that get thrown away in the New Year when I’m sick of the sight of the tin loitering on the kitchen worktop!); don’t even get me started on Turkish Delight (about which I find not one delightful thing!)

This year I congratulated myself for managing to stay within my budget for ‘gifts’, but then I chastised myself because I failed miserably (as every other year) to budget for wrapping paper, ribbons, tags, tape etc.  (Anyone who has ever received a gift from me will tell you that I take the presentation of gifts quite seriously, so this is a rookie oversight on my part!)

What does all this boil down to in the context of what we do at Solomon’s? Simple answer … contingency planning (you knew the P-word was coming surely?!).

It’s about knowing that you are never going to remember every little cost. And planning accordingly. Giving yourself wiggle room. It’s something that every builder on the planet will tell you to do. Every project manager. Every business executive. We all KNOW this. But knowing what is good for us is the easy part. It’s the following through on that knowledge that is the tricky bit!

When we talk about ‘budgeting’ in general here at Solomon’s – we are encouraging our clients to be realistic and to err on the side of ‘over-estimating costs’ … thereby giving that wiggle room to the numbers.

We recently had some new clients who put together a really detailed and carefully considered analysis of their ‘normal’ spending. The numbers revealed that they potentially have a considerable sum ‘left over’ each month. When we presented this to them, they were stunned as this was not a fair reflection of their lived experience. So they had to look again and see where they were spending and not accounting for things. It was a revelatory experience … for them and for us!  It was a really good reminder that this is an incredibly difficult but vital component of the financial planning process.

If you haven’t updated your expenditure figures for us recently – we would encourage you to be brave and have a go at this in 2022 (but maybe don’t use your December transactions as a reflection of your ‘normal monthly spending’!!)

If you need a template to work from – please click here or you can have a go at using our portal to record your numbers. Or you can just let us have your own budget/bank statements and we’ll do the legwork for you.

However you choose to do it; please just have a go. After all – it is the foundation stone of the framework that is your financial plan and it’s vital that we place it in the correct position for you, so that it can bear the weight of whatever needs to go on top.

Debbie Harris
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email [email protected]

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected] 
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY  |  DATA PROTECTION

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected]    Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY  |  DATA PROTECTION

CHRISTMAS BUDGETING2023-12-01T12:12:58+00:00

A VERY BRITISH SCANDAL

TODAY’S BLOG

A VERY BRITISH SCANDAL

There is no Downton Abbey Christmas special, but if you enjoy a period drama vaguely based on events then Boxing Day offers up A Very British Scandal. Obviously, I have not seen the production, it has some top-drawer stars and is likely to be a hit for the BBC. So what has a period drama got to do with your financial planning? Well, it’s a story that has some useful messages. If I were a betting man (I’m not) I imagine that the focus will be on sex and power with a nod to things that have changed and some that have not.

I’m curious to learn if we ever witness the end of the story, or more accurately the end of Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll who died in 1993 at the age of 80 and buried not many miles away in Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey. She would have been 109 this month!

Foy & Bettany - BBC A Very British Scandal

HIGH SOCIETY SCANDALS

However the story is retold by Sarah Phelps, it would be fair to say that the Duchess was a very wealthy individual, one whose life was full of high society life and celebrity. She was born to Scottish millionaire George Wigham who was Chairman of Celanese Corporation, still listed on the NYSE and possibly held in your portfolio (a tiny fraction). Her first marriage at the age of twenty was to American Investment Banker Charles Sweeny (23) whose family had a home locally in Wimbledon. Sweeny later went on to form the Eagle Squadrons of American pilots volunteering to fight in the RAF. It is alleged that the wedding dress designed by Streatham born Norman Hartnell caused such a stir in Knightsbridge that the traffic of the day was gridlocked for 3 hours. The couple divorced in 1947.

Her second and last marriage in 1951, aged 38 was to twice divorced Ian Douglas Campbell, the 10th Duke of Argyll and 9 years her senior (casting improved its actor age gap to 13 years).  Suspicious of her infidelity the story unfolds in a scandalous divorce in 1963.

It will be interesting to see how the story is retold given its previous framing by men in power, many of whom it is alleged knew the Duchess very intimately. A decade or so later her memoirs “Forget Not” were published. Quite what happened thereafter is significant as the Duchess mismanaged her investments and finances (or someone did) and in 1978 at the age of 65 she had to sell her Mayfair home and elected to move into a suite at the Grosvenor House Suites. Unable to pay her bills, aged 78 she was evicted in 1990.

PENURY – CASHFLOW EXHAUSTED

Whatever one’s view of the Duchess and the blatant hypocrisy of various powerful men, there are obvious lessons about choices and financial management that need to be remembered. Appearance is often not reality. How people say they live and how they actually live are often rather different. This is a familiar story, as old as storytelling itself. Your financial plan needs to be robust enough for changes in your circumstances, but a great financial plan has considered and will continue to address the issue of an affordable lifestyle.

Claire Foy and Paul Bettany star in the BBC’s “A Very British Scandal” a 3-part drama starting on Boxing Day 2021 at 9pm. It will be shown on consecutive nights, but all three as a “box set” are also available via the BBC i-player from 9pm on Boxing Day. Here is the official BBC trailer.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email [email protected]

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected] 
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY  |  DATA PROTECTION


GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected]    Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY  |  DATA PROTECTION

A VERY BRITISH SCANDAL2023-12-01T12:12:58+00:00

NOWHERE SPECIAL

TODAY’S BLOG

NOWHERE SPECIAL

The backdrop of a constant flow of awful news, was given some temporary relief through film. “Nowhere Special” is a marvellous little film from Director Uberto Pasolini and I think it’s quite an important one. There is some wonderful acting and storytelling. Uplifting, because against this tide of awfulness, there is the ability to see a different life, to walk in the shoes of someone else. Yet it is most definitely a tale of sadness.

In a nutshell, John (James Norton) is a single parent, raising his primary-school aged son Michael. John has a terminal illness and is attempting to find a family that will adopt his son.Certainly, it’s a horrible situation, one in which I am reminded that life gets turned upside down by changes to health. The only good thing about cancer is the opportunity it usually provides to prepare for death in a way that most of us do not.

Toby, (one of my closest friends) died from cancer in 2006. That’s already fifteen years ago! He was 37. His original diagnosis was in 1996, it was rare – multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN). We were both grateful that I’d persuaded him at just 26 to take out some financial protection which mercifully paid out once he was diagnosed. It wasn’t anything like “enough” in my view, but at the age we were at the time, neither of us really expected the array of problems that come with poor health and the impact on family finances. We simply didn’t know better. There were many difficulties and awful experiences, as well as many wonderful ones. It doesn’t seem 15 years ago.

NOWHERE SPECIAL

HOW WILL WE BE REMEMBERED?

A topic of conversation was regularly how his two children would remember him. He created a memory box for each of them, wrote journals and placed important mementos into their boxes (something that John does in the film too). To my mind it was a valuable use of his time, despite his sapping energy levels. I was reminded of this experience watching the film. Michael, (the son) is younger than either of Toby’s two children at the time, though both they and mine lived through the experience of regularly wondering when the end may arrive. Unlike Michael, Toby was married and not alone in raising his children or facing cancer. It became clear to me that whilst he had the diagnosis, cancer was a daily reality for them all.

This is not an attempt to get you to take out insurance. To be blunt, I’m more concerned that you (and I) have good relationships with those we care about and, if I may, encourage you to leave some form of memory box of who you are. I know life is a journey, that we change and evolve over time, but as Chirstmas time is upon us, take a moment to ponder how those closest to you might remember you. Perhaps a memory box should be a work in progress – a reminder of who we are and who we are becoming. Christmas is of course a time for good cheer, but its also a milestone in all our lives (however we feel or whatever we believe about it). It acts as another measure of time and the direction in which we find ourselves.

I don’t think it too bold an assumption to presume that you have had difficulties in your life, that you have known loss and grief. As a financial planner, it is a regular part of my work and over the last 3 decades I have seen and felt the impact. We plan for these awful events but experiencing them is usually rather more emotional. That’s why I urge you to get your Will done, your Power of Attorney in place and a suitable amount of protection. I hope it’s something you don’t have to experience for a very long time, but death eventually comes to us all.

Life can change very suddenly, as your planner I help you prepare for the worst whilst hoping for the best. As for today, live it as fully as you are able, make good memories.

Anyway, here is the trailer. It’s worth your ticket price and some. 9/10. I think it’s rather special. Its certainly available via Curzon and I hope other platforms too.

Get in touch to talk over any issues that this raises for you. For clarity I have had permission to from Toby’s widow to relate this story. If you know anyone with MEN, there is a very good charity (AMEND) that has much more information.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email [email protected]

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected] 
Call – 020 8542 8084

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NOWHERE SPECIAL2025-01-23T10:52:06+00:00

BROWN PAPER PACKAGES

TODAY’S BLOG

BROWN PAPER PACKAGES…

It’s that time of year when the parcels arrive in brown paper packages, tied up with strings and yes I’m sorry I cannot help but fill in “these are a few of my favourite things” such is the embedding of “The Sound of Music” in my psyche having raised a family that love musicals and Julie Andrews in particular!

I was struck by something I saw online – “Is there anything more saccharine than The Sound of Music”. Red flag, hold the phone, don’t overreact! I know musicals aren’t to everyone’s liking, and yes, it’s not Tolstoy, it is the Hollywood version of a true story, so some sugar and spice (or lack of) are part of the package. I didn’t think it was quite “fair”. This is after all, a story about the repressed being oppressed and finding a way to liberate themselves in more ways than simply crossing the alps to Switzerland, but perhaps I should try to see the other point of view.

It did get me thinking about the actual story, which is a little more real-life gritty. So perhaps a bit more background is necessary.  Firstly, Georg Von Trapp (31) married his first wife Agathe Whitehead (20) on 14 January 1911.  Agathe was the daughter of Robert Whitehead a highly successful engineer who designed the Whitehead torpedo. Her mother was part of the Austro-Hungarian nobility and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and outbreak of war resulted in the family assets being frozen and forbidden from leaving the country. Georg was a naval officer having followed his family vocation that had resulted in elevation through the social ranks to nobility. He became an early submariner commanding the SM U-5 and was decorated for the sinking of various British, French, Italian and Greek vessels. Their first child Rupert was born in November 1911, over the next 10 years they had six further children. As we live with covid, 100 years ago scarlet fever was much more common and in Christmas 1921 five of the children suffered from scarlet fever during an epidemic, including Agathe who eventually died as a result at the age of just 31 in 1922.

The Sound of Music (1965)

HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA?

In 1926 Von Trapp hired a novice from the local Abbey in Salzburg, Maria Kutschera. Maria’s own mother died when she was 2 and her father left her with his cousin to care for her whilst he travelled the world to manage his grief and died when she was 9. Despite a difficult childhood she completed school with good grades and eventually received a scholarship to the State Teacher’s College in Vienna from which she graduated in 1923. At age 19 she entered Nonnberg Abbey intending to become a nun.

Within a few months of her position at the von Trapp home, Georg asked her to marry him and according to Maria she returned to the Abbey to seek advice from the abbess. They married in November 2027, Georg being 25 years older unlike Julie Andrews who was just 6 years younger than Christopher Plummer (unusual for Hollywood). Maria wrote that she was really marrying the children, that she wanted to be a nun, she liked Georg but did not love him. They had their first of three children in 1929.

FINANCIAL RUIN

The Whitehead family wealth was largely held in England, but by 1935 with growing tensions in the now land-locked Austria from a hostile Germany, Georg transferred the savings into an Austrian Bank which unfortunately collapsed, resulting in the loss of most of the family fortune. The family had to discharge most of their servants and lived on the top floor of their home whilst renting rooms to others.

One tenant was a newly graduated young catholic priest, Franz Wasner who taught the children music. German soprano Lotte Lehmann heard them sing and suggested they perform paid concerts with Wasner as musical Director. Germany took over Austria in 1938 and Georg was offered a commission in the German Navy, he declined and it is also alleged that he declined an invitation for the family to sing at Hitler’s birthday. Later that year the family left Austria by train initially to Italy and headed for the US via London. They returned for a singing tour of Europe in 1939 avoiding the Third Reich but by September made their way back to the safety of the US, where they lived for the remainder of their lives. Georg died in May 1947 from lung cancer. Maria eventually died in March 1987.

On reflection, perhaps The Sound of Music is rather saccharine, by comparison to the difficulties that the von Trapp family experienced. The basic skeleton of story is there, but many of the traumatic, life shaping experiences are glossed over. What is interesting from a financial planning perspective is how quickly fortunes can alter. Within no more than two decades the Von Trapp’s had lost their wealth, their status, their home, their country. They took on a new vocation, touring as a family singing group.

CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN

Unlike the Von Trapp family, with good financial planning, assuming that your lifestyle doesn’t become significantly more elaborate than it is, we work together to ensure that funds survive you and that you provide a legacy for those you wish to. Whilst we can never know the future (fortunately) we can prepare for it as well as possible, doing our best.

One of the main advantages of a global stock market is the ability to diversify assets around the world, reducing risk of permanent loss considerably. Your portfolio now has between 16,000 and 30,000 securities – that’s an enormous amount of diversification around the world.

Anyway, as the year draws to a close, perhaps Julie Andrews will be on screen again. Wherever you are this Christmastime I do hope that you receive some packages, some perhaps in brown paper tied up with string.

So long, farewell…

The Sound of Music (1965) Directed by Robert Wise

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email [email protected]

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected] 
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY  |  DATA PROTECTION

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected]    Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY  |  DATA PROTECTION

BROWN PAPER PACKAGES2025-01-28T10:05:57+00:00

STATUS AND HEALTH

TODAY’S BLOG

STATUS AND HEALTH

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I have always underestimated how important it is to listen to your body. Your body is there to protect and serve you. Cues for hunger, tiredness, pain etc … are all important messages that your body needs you to pay attention to (your body is after all just doing its job).

Unfortunately, more often than not, we lead busy lives where something else or someone else’s needs come first and unfortunately in my case, this pattern of behaviour of ignoring pain and tiredness has led to me to becoming quite unwell.

We live in a society where our status is very much dependent on how busy we are (or are perceived to be). We are often ‘rewarded’ for putting our bodies second to our jobs, to our social lives, to our families … but persistently neglecting our own health ultimately impacts our jobs, social lives and our families, so it is in fact an important truth that we must look after ourselves first (in much the same way as in an emergency on board an airplane, parents are encouraged to put on their own mask before helping their children with theirs).

At the moment, I am trying to find the right balance of work, physical activity, rest and food that my body can tolerate, but maybe if I had paid more attention to what my body needed sooner, then maybe I wouldn’t be in quite the position I am now.

There is a clear analogy to be drawn here with financial planning in general and with the services we provide at Solomon’s in particular.

Your financial health and well-being is important and needs to have attention given to it … you cannot ignore the ‘niggles’ otherwise they become chronic.  In much the same way as compounding interest creates huge gains over time; compounding your ‘problem areas’ creates the opposite effect – amplified and worsened by virtue of being neglected (or fed!).

Encouraging introspection in the world of financial ‘stuff’ can often be uncomfortable (and sometimes downright painful); but just like good physio, there is a huge benefit to be had in the process.

Improving ‘financial behaviour’ is one of the most challenging elements of the work that we do for our clients … we often find that propensity for certain behaviour traits is ingrained and can take many years to overcome … that is why we are ‘in it for the long haul’ with you … we will encourage and support whenever we need to and as some of our clients will attest, Dominic can be ‘firm and assertive’ when called for to ensure that a client doesn’t make a costly financial mistake!

We are not just about ‘the numbers’ here – your financial wellbeing is our concern … it needs to be looked after and monitored; reviewed and adjusted as time goes by since the ‘niggles’ change over time.

Abigail Liddicott and Debbie Harris
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email [email protected]

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected] 
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY  |  DATA PROTECTION

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected]    Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY  |  DATA PROTECTION

STATUS AND HEALTH2023-12-01T12:13:00+00:00

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