LIFE AND MONEY REFLECTIONS Archives - Page 6 of 22

What is a bias when you have an ology?

Dominic Thomas
July 2024 • 3 min read

What is bias when you have an ology?

As ever, there are reminders and new lessons to be learned from any relocation. One of those that stays with me is our telecoms story. As you will appreciate, our business is heavily reliant upon the internet, or more accurately a fast broadband connection. This was a feature of the initial requirements for any new premises and in truth is probably true of most residential requirements as well.

Initial confirmation from the estate agent suggested that the broadband at The Old Mill was “fine”, after all the previous tenants had run their business successfully. When we checked this with the provider formerly known as Buzby or Beatie, I was rather alarmed to see pretty much the slowest speed available, the equivalent of a carrier pigeon in the modern age. This was verified online and over the phone. After numerous attempts, Debbie managed to track down someone a little more helpful who suggested that we read the serial number on the existing box. This suggested, rather contradictorily that we would be able to have a fast fibre connection.

Anyway, as you will likely have experienced, we were sent a boxed box with too many cables, which we dutifully plugged in and hey presto… nada! Not a thing. The lights were on but nobody home (yes, we did follow the instructions properly). So a somewhat exasperated Debbie calls our contact and after some trials and tests, concludes that there is a fault and an engineer is sent to investigate and hopefully resolve.

Our preparations were made in advance of moving in, thanks to what I hope is a good landlord relationship. On the Saturday morning that the engineer arrived, (promptly to his credit) my assumptions about what keys were needed we found wanting and I apologised for my faux pas and for wasting his time. In conversation he asked about the problem and suggested that it may be as simple as having the connecting cable in the wrong (cancelled) port (socket). I asked if it were that simple, why wouldn’t the team on the phone have suggested that to us. Rightly or wrongly, he told me that due to regulation from OFCOM, his company formerly known as BT Openreach were thought to be biased towards BT customers and that was why they are now known as Openreach. He said that he suspects that due to concerns about being construed as biased towards any of the different tech providers that make the boxes, handsets and hubs they steer clear of resolving specific problems to do with the hardware or expressing a view, for fear of being deemed biased.

I have no idea if this is really the case, but on the one hand it doesn’t matter if it is or isn’t accurate, as this is the perceived experience. As a result, an engineer will be dispatched to resolve a problem that could probably be fixed much more quickly over the phone, or at least, if not fixed, attempted and ruled out.

When I regained access to the new office, I did as he had instructed me and lo, there was light… purple light and a high-speed connection. In fact, our IT guy says that it’s the fastest he has seen.

The irony is that privatisation of Beatie was meant to usher in competition. Whilst at home you might have a few choices about your broadband, in practice a bloke with a typewriter could have tendered for our new office telecoms as BT were the only practical option for a high-speed connection. Has privatisation of telecoms really worked? I know we are all spending a lot on mobile phones and broadband along with all the associated apps and subscriptions, but there are many times when I am not convinced that we have a more competitive market are you?

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What is a bias when you have an ology?Jemima Thomas2024-07-14T13:50:01+01:00

New client surge?

Dominic Thomas
June 2024 • 3 min read

New client surge?

We are expecting and ready to meet with lots of new clients. Our premises in Cobham are perfect for quiet, confidential and tranquil client meetings. There is ample parking and decent coffee!

This is perhaps just as well since a recent report by Investec Wealth has revealed that nearly 60% of investors are looking to get advice. This is for a variety of reasons, but nearly 30% are expecting to do so within the next 12 months and a significant proportion have over £250,000 of investments.

By and large, most are seeking advice about retirement, but a not-so-insignificant 20% reported that they simply don’t have time to manage their own investments. Whilst I welcome the opportunity to meet with them, I fear that many will be expecting to find a magician rather than a financial adviser as they may have left good planning somewhat late in the day.

Of late, I have growing experience and awareness of the problems that many face as they age. Memory isn’t quite what it was and we are seeing more people with concerns about Alzheimer’s. Many of us will have some experience of this already and sadly many will do so in the future. There are considerable issues for your finances and ensuring that you have your ‘ducks in a row’ is of key importance. As is having the right team around you; providing what you need.

As we age, we invariably become increasingly aware of the importance of relationships, much more so than anything else; but these are loaded with a lifetime of baggage. Spending time on the things that are important (what you actually want and value) rather than attempting to impress people with your brilliance at managing your own money; is something that I would actively encourage. Managing investments, tax and regulations is a time-consuming exercise and not one that most people would want to waste their most valuable resource on (time). I suspect and believe that you have better things to do with yours.

We are here, ready to begin your journey with us and towards financial freedom – or maintaining it.

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New client surge?Jemima Thomas2025-01-27T15:37:51+00:00

Massaoke

Debbie Harris
June 2024 • 2 min read

Massaoke

In a concerted effort for 2024, I am trying to ‘do things’ that are outside of my comfort zone (or at least … things I’ve never done before).

I am aiming to try one new thing each month and last month’s adventure was a trip to the Rose Theatre in Kingston for an event called ‘Massaoke’. The concept is basically ‘group karaoke’. I didn’t really know what to expect (although I had an inkling), but I rather enjoyed it!

There was a live band, a big screen (for the lyrics) and 1,000+ people all in fine voice and high spirits!

As is the way of the majority of sound technicians (in my experience), the music was a smidgen too loud and I was sadly unable to tell whether I was sitting next to the next Ariana Grande or whether the man behind me was the next Luther Vandross (which was a shame – I was rather looking forward to that aspect of it).

But the lasting memory of this event for me is the sound of a 1,000 voices singing the chorus of Phantom of the Opera one minute and those same voices singing songs the next minute from the musical Oliver – complete with full cockney twang!

It was a reminder that Aristotle was right … “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”

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MassaokeJemima Thomas2024-06-21T14:00:16+01:00

What’s the most visible legacy of Covid in everyday life?

Ben Hutton (Business Development Manager for 7IM)
June 2024 • 5 min read

What’s the most visible legacy of Covid in everyday life?

The odd mask still being worn on public transport? A faded sign explaining, in intense detail, how to wash your hands? A Perspex screen somewhere it really doesn’t need to be?

I think it’s something else. Office fashion.

In fact, in the UK, men’s suits were taken out of the ‘representative’ inflation basket in 2022* – if no one’s buying them, they aren’t representative!

Loaded question: imagine I’d given you perfect foresight on this trend towards casual and away from formal back in 2022. Armed with this information, if you had to buy the shares in athleisure super-brand Lululemon or ‘stuffy’ Marks & Spencer, who would you have backed?

Prepare to be as shocked as someone seeing the price tag of a pair of premium-brand leggings for the first time.

In the past couple of years, Lululemon’s stock has basically gone sideways, while M&S’s share price has doubled.

The thing is, even if you know exactly what the world is going to look like, it doesn’t always translate to share price performance.

There are lots of specific reasons Lululemon has struggled – there’s only so much money you can spend on tracksuit bottoms, clothes wear out less quickly at home, other brands have emerged to grab a slice of the market.

But the more interesting case is why M&S has thrived. As a business, it does something we think investors can learn from. It diversifies.

From food to clothing, to homeware, and even finance. So as their formalwear struggled, the rest of the business kept going, giving the fashion side time to adjust, ditch the formalwear, and evolve.

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What’s the most visible legacy of Covid in everyday life?Jemima Thomas2024-06-20T12:22:12+01:00

Rainy Days

Debbie Harris
May 2024 • 2 min read

Can anything good come of the cost of living crisis?

Writers block hit me hard today.

Any of you who have ever communicated with me will know, I rarely struggle with this!

So I did what any self-respecting chatterbox would do … I took to the internet!

My working title for this blog post was ‘has anything positive come out of the cost of living crisis?’ and despite a very specific search, ‘the Google’ had nothing positive to say about the cost of living crisis whatsoever.

As an aside – I got distracted and went down the proverbial rabbit hole and happened upon ‘the 100 most googled questions’ – THAT deserves a blog post all of its own to be perfectly honest; but for now, the answer to the question “why were chainsaws invented?” will have to wait. (FYI – more than 200,000 people a month on average google that question worldwide!)

So anyway … I had to return to my own thoughts and reflections about the cost of living crisis and (as an eternal optimist who can find a silver lining in most grey clouds) try to figure out why I even thought this working title would give me ‘stuff’ to talk about!

And after much deliberation I am pleased to tell you that from my own personal experience of the cost of living crisis (which I do realise isn’t quite over just yet); there are indeed some positives (if you look hard enough for them!)

So here goes – my list:

An increased awareness of my own spending (and waste)
Re-evaluation of my priorities and those things I class as ‘essential’ (fewer ‘things’ than you might think … although ‘coffee’ stays!)
Finding creative ways to save a few pennies – ‘rainy days’ is my latest exercise … I shift £5 to my savings account every day it rains … since the beginning of this year alone, I have set aside more than £200 (which says more about climate change than my saving-savviness I think!)
Being resourceful in finding costs to cut and ways to cut them
Fixing things rather than replacing them – less waste; better for the planet; a little self-righteousness (how clever I am to glue/stitch/tape this xyz back together!)
An appreciation for all the things we DO have
An attitude of gratitude to be in gainful honest employment (doing a job I love by the way!)
A genuine mindfulness and concern for others who have been hit much harder than me by the cost of living crisis and a commitment to help friends and family whenever I can
A sense of community and connection with others in a shared experience.

If you can think of any others, we’d love to hear from you!

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Rainy DaysJemima Thomas2024-05-24T15:40:51+01:00

Elon Musk is going to end me

Dominic Thomas
May 2024 • 3 min read

Elon Musk is going to end me

We have all marvelled at the advances made in technology and scientific breakthroughs. Most of us will have seen at least a handful of dystopian films about the end of humanity as we know it as the robots rise to power. Our screens and media in all forms are predictably full of alarm, after all – nothing grabs attention quite as well as fear.

Mr Musk or let’s just call him Mr X, a reductionist term that he appears to enjoy. It is hard to ignore the fact that he aspires to be a rival for a Bond villain with his odd sense of over importance and world domination. Anyway, Mr X thinks that financial advisers need to be worried about the threat of AI. There are many in my field who agree.

I am mindful of not wanting to take the Kodak approach to life, ignoring the rapid changes in consumer demands as technology improves and changes the landscape. Indeed I welcome it, from improvements to efficient data gathering and report writing, to better and clearer understanding of issues and options. To reduced operating costs and greater transparency. I am all in favour.

So am I to believe that a series of prompts from a cyborg will replace me? Well I suspect that s/he will be better looking, be able to perform some tasks much more quickly, but in terms of time spent with you and for you, that remains to be seen. I struggle to believe that empathy is little more than coding.

I am not fool enough to believe that change is not coming (some is already here) but I would like to remind you of some basic truths that, despite our enormous advances in technology, continue to frustrate and make life worse rather than better.

I wonder if you have tried to pay for a parking permit with a London Borough lately? Or attempted to get the NHS appointment system to operate? Tried to call a telecom company to discuss the problems with your line or change an error on your pre-flight check-in? To have had your mobile phone lost or locked and successfully restored all your data and applications, especially the authenticator. To book tickets online for an event in the milliseconds after they go on sale or simply try to check your National Insurance number when your surname or suffix has altered and are shocked to realise that you do not exist, perhaps we are living in the Matrix after all. Perhaps you have an old-style pension with an old-style pension company and you simply cannot obtain the right information, or you are an employee trying to retire and your employer’s pension scheme administration is, well… stuck in what seems to resemble something out of spoof BBC series from the 1980s Allo, Allo.

The commonality with these examples is that they are instances where technology has been deployed and is utterly hopeless – and they are all very common experiences. Your call definitely is not as important as you are being told, otherwise someone senior would have done something about it. As for the virtual assistants on most banking sites, well forgive me if I scream and wish for the mortal failure of swathes of the Banking sector. Yet these are all rather straightforward instances where simple technology really ought to be delivering the changes promised by the Consultants that sold them for multimillion sums, yet fail every single day.

The basics of scheduling, such as a routine, repeat order (anything from pet medication to your wine club) really should not be quite so hard to amend. A refund from the DVLA who collect your road tax each month from your bank account by direct debit yet insist on sending an oversized cheque that your banking app cannot cope with, so you have the joys of finding a local branch of your bank to deposit it the ‘old-fashioned way’. Perhaps that train ticket that you bought online is wrong and it’s too onerous to change or you now struggle with touch screens due to a medical condition that you cannot even book a ticket without joining the queue at the ticket desk now operated by someone who clearly thinks that online capability means there is now no requirement for the excesses of any human interaction.

When Amazon manage to master packaging an item into an appropriately sized box or when the next DPD driver asks if you are over 18 and if you could provide your date of birth (why?). When your washing machine, fridge, doorbell, health tech all are savvy enough to appreciate that you really couldn’t care less if they have finished their task and can dispense with the notification of the mundane. When the weather forecast is right or indeed the economic one, or a politician says what they mean rather than what they believe you want to hear.

I imagine that you assume that we use technology here at Solomon’s, and that we do so with thought and regard. I know it isn’t perfect and we all get fed up repeating some of the exercises. I also assume that you want to speak to a human who can help you grapple with sometimes dull, sometimes painful, sometimes stressful, sometimes embarrassing (really?) and sometimes joyful elements of helping you figure out how to make the most of your time and money and the relationship between them.

Whilst I do agree technology offers the possibility of enormous benefits, I respectfully remain unconvinced that either utopia or dystopia are arriving anytime soon.

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Elon Musk is going to end meJemima Thomas2025-01-21T16:40:42+00:00

Anti social media

Dominic Thomas
April 2024 • 4 min read

Anti-social media

Confession, I am a hypocrite. As with most things, nuance is often lost in the polarity of opinion. My ability to pontificate is at least as good as yours, so I start with an apology and an admission … that I am far from perfect.

Social media is something I enjoy and loathe. In reality, it is designed for precisely this experience, to push your buttons of joy and despair. I used to be a regular Twitter user but as it became increasingly incendiary, I gave up the habit. Some things lost, but mainly time gained. I kept my Facebook and Instagram accounts open, which I largely use to share images that are born from a love of photography, you can see these if you wish.

Judging by most people’s terrible profile pictures, it would seem that many people use their phone’s camera much like they used their film camera, apparently unaware of the tools to edit or help. In short, the art of re-presentation. We are all aware of this idealisation towards perfection, it’s nothing new and whilst many think of glossy magazines and advertising, perhaps the foundations lie in early religious art, the Renaissance and the hundreds of portraits of the ruling classes.

In many respects, social media is nothing new. Ancient frescos are the Facebook of their day. More time was spent in their crafting, so arguably more deliberate with their nuanced messaging.

Scroll forward to the present day and we have opinion offered as fact by people who have little (if any) training or qualification in their chosen subject. ‘Finfluencers’ are the group that garner my attention. Those who talk about money whilst evidently unqualified to do so. We can of course pass this off with a “so what, I’m not mug enough” which may be true; maybe. To my mind it’s the speed of the message and lack of processing that is done; accepting as true without challenge. Life is too short, but I wonder what the long-term impact is on those less able to distinguish … after all, the impact is already a problem in politics.

By way of example, recently I saw a video post about building a deposit for a house and how saving £40 a day would enable you to buy a house in the north-east of England after 12 months. This is aimed at those aged under 35. £40 a day saved over a year is £14,600. If we assume this is for a 10% deposit for a house. That would imply a 90% mortgage of £131,400 and an income of £37,542 to borrow that amount.

Someone earning £37,542 (which is above the national full time median wage £35,464*) should have a personal allowance of £12,570 but would pay income tax, national insurance and pension payments. At best, opting out of the workplace pension and having no student loan, the net (after tax and NI) take home monthly income would be £2,504 (£2,323 if you have a student loan and 5% auto-enrolment pension). If you save £40 a day that’s £1,216 a month, leaving £1,288 (or £1,107) to live on each month.

Of course to earn £37,542 you need to work (and get to work) which means to retain your employed position, be healthy, rested and clothed and for any sense of a balanced life you probably have a holiday, buy presents for loved ones and perhaps attend a celebratory event, maybe the wedding of a friend. I am sure that it is possible to do all this on £297 a week, but it isn’t easy and if you happen to live in the South East it’s probably impossible unless you are living rent-free somewhere.

It’s also a challenge to find a home, flat or garage to buy for £131,400 but more possible in the North East. I ran a search on property for sale in Surrey, excluding buying schemes (which are a false economy at best, scam at worst, don’t get me started on leasehold v freehold) these started with listing a £175,000 which is basically a static home (shed). The cheapest listed terraced house £400,000, bungalow £315,000 and semi-detached £395,000. As ever, location is all and context is everything.

Even if you can buy for say £350,000 you would need a £35,000 deposit and a mortgage of £315,000 requiring an income of £90,000. Heck let’s try £200,000, you would still need a mortgage of £180,000 and income of £51,428. The deposit is only part of the problem, the other is your income to justify (qualify for) the loan. A smaller deposit simply means a larger mortgage, which needs a higher income to justify it. Of course this is much easier for a couple who both earn than someone who’s single. The entire housing market then relies on properties rising in value (as well as increased incomes) to ‘move up the ladder’, making it even harder for the next tranche of first time buyers.

Money provides choices, the lack of it limits options considerably. Yes it is possible to save £40 a day and build a deposit of £14,600 over 12 months or £29,200 over 24. Short-term pain can be bearable, but is it realistic when we all know that food and energy inflation are much higher than stated by Government figures. This requires the sort of discipline that few of us actually possess (even fewer in Government!). Spending money is easy, saving it is really quite hard.

*Median UK wage April 2023 data, based on earned income ages 16-State Pension Age – reference HERE

You can follow me on Instagram here

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Anti social mediaJemima Thomas2024-04-13T15:18:01+01:00

Klopp it

Dominic Thomas
April 2024 • 4 min read

Klopp it

Klopp’s kids beat a Chelsea team that cost a billion to win the League Cup final, confirming belief that Jurgen Klopp is a marvellous manager, one that Liverpool should not let go. I think you would agree that this probably fairly reflects the sentiment across most media platforms following Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Chelsea.

If you don’t like football, like Ted Lasso, this is not really about football. Stay with me.

Any manager has to select players from his/her squad from those available (not injured). Jurgen Klopp selected a team based on his own criteria, but suffice to say not all the regular stars were available due to injury. As a result, he had to look beyond the familiar, to the rising stars, untested for a big occasion. By the end of the match which predictably went into extra time, there were five Liverpool players under the age of 20 on the pitch bringing the average age of the 11 on the pitch to under 22.

There has been much praise for this bold approach and the legacy that the departing manager will have provided, a future that looks exceedingly bright. Credit where it is due, it was indeed an impressive result, though I think it fair to say that Chelsea are not at their best. However, the ages of players, cost and who won are not the issues here.

The tendency of the media is to move towards extremes, failing to retain a level head, seemingly stuck in an adolescent state of black or white. Much is being made of the success of Liverpool’s youngsters with euphoric sentiments about the future.

It is perfectly possible that Liverpool’s young players go on to have very successful (trophy winning) careers, but it also depends on undeniable luck. Skill as an athlete is the entry price, but luck will often feature. I mean luck in avoiding injury, having sufficient stability, opportunity to play. Typically players retire at around 35. James Milner is currently 38 and playing for Brighton, having moved from Liverpool at the end of the last season. He is one of the oldest and most successful premier league players. He was born in 1986 and his six minute Boxing Day debut for Leeds made him the second youngest premier league debutant, just nine days before his 17^th birthday. Milner has won lots and has the second highest number of Premier League appearances and is closing in on the record of 653.

Milner, like most athletes, does what he can to ensure he stays fit and skilled, but he has also been lucky with his fitness that has enabled him to continue playing and moving between teams that have a real prospect of winning (Manchester City and Liverpool since 2010).

Football pundits and commentators tend to forget luck, they forget survivor bias and often make statements with such a degree of certainty as a voice of authority, that many or perhaps most assume them correct. In the end they may be, but it’s unknown and bluntly, unlikely.

Investing is the same. We all see charts on billboards, newspapers or the internet showing how wonderful a particular investor is. There is no guarantee at all that this will continue or be repeated. Certainly they may have a good succession program in place, or assistants making the results more collaborative, but the truth is that we simply don’t know how much was luck and good health (investment managers also get ill, cancer, stroke, mental health issues and so on). Many or most investors elect for the belief that it is possible to consistently beat the market … denial of reality is a thing.

When James Milner made his debut at Leeds in 2002, Liverpool’s most successful period was already in decline, indeed they had never won the Premier League in his entire career until he helped them do so in 2020 some 30 years since their last League win (a record that their arch rivals Manchester United hope they do not match, but are now approaching halfway).

Sport is fickle, so is investing. As much as we would prefer not to acknowledge it, preferring to believe that we make our own luck – or where opportunity meets preparedness. Luck is part of the reality.

That’s why we avoid costly investment strategies that rely on the luck of a Manager. Over a reasonable time, one that is the real experience of investors like you, only about 5% of managers beat the market. So are you willing to bet your family’s wealth in 2024 on who they will be by 2044?… and pay a hefty premium for the privilege?

No, neither are we. At this point I cannot even tell you who will win this season’s Premier League which is over halfway through and concluding this Summer …

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Klopp itJemima Thomas2024-04-04T15:15:37+01:00

When the boot’s on the other foot…

Debbie Harris
March 2024 • 3 min read

When the boot’s on the other foot…

I had reason to reflect recently on the fact that those of us who work in the financial services sector tend to have relatively little real-life experience of being on the receiving end of working with people in the financial services sector!

Much of the protection I have in place personally and of course my workplace pension have all been arranged by the team here at Solomon’s.

We rarely get to experience the adviser & client type relationships for ourselves from the opposite perspective. We work very hard at Solomon’s to build excellent relationships with our clients … and we have the luxury of time, since we take on clients (and their families) with an expectation of a relationship that will potentially span decades (and ultimately … generations!).

So I was intrigued to get some personal insight recently as a result of a property transaction. I was very lucky indeed to have been able to use the services of a firm called London Money (a mortgage brokerage that we recommend liberally to our clients looking for mortgage advice).

After about six months of communicating by phone and email with a lovely lady there by the name of Cathy, it occurred to me that we had built a really strong connection and although it was a short-term one; it felt very open and authentic. I was impressed by Cathy on a myriad of levels. And I have since tried to understand how she achieved this balance between professionalism and warmth; to see if there was anything I could learn from her. She was responsive, articulate, supportive, positive, efficient – there was most definitely an ‘X Factor’ there. I can’t put my finger on it entirely and that’s the beauty and mystery of human relationships and interactions isn’t it?

She had empathy. She gave me her time and energy. She was patient. And yet – that ‘extra something’ isn’t really definable. Because sometimes people just connect and you never really know why. Either way – she was a marvellous person to have on my side as the mortgage process trundled on and she made it painless and stress-free. We already recommend London Money; but I can now add my personal recommendation into the mix … if you need mortgage advice – definitely give them a call and be sure to let them know that we sent you!

Whilst I’m on – some of you will have noticed that we have been more actively and routinely asking you for feedback on what we do for you. Other firms are much better at this than we are … but all the professionals with whom I have worked recently in personal matters have asked me to provide reviews about their services – and because I was very happy with them; I was happy to do so.

I am hoping that in the same way … if you are happy with what we do for you, you will also be happy to provide a review for us. My wonderful colleague Jemima has started asking clients to write Google reviews for us, but if you haven’t heard from her yet, please email [email protected] and she will send you some easy instructions to show you how to do this.

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When the boot’s on the other foot…Jemima Thomas2024-04-02T10:37:12+01:00

The grass is greener

Dominic Thomas
Feb 2024 • 4 min read

The grass is greener

Hedwig walks her ageing mother Linna into the large garden where the grandchildren are playing…

LINNA: It’s huge. I’m speechless.

HEDWIG; It’s all my design. All the planting and everything. The greenhouse, the gazebo at the end.

LINNA: Is that a pool?

HEDWIG: Yes. I have gardeners. I couldn’t do it alone.

LINNA: With a slide? Oh Heddy.

(There’s a child-sized wooden row boat on the lawn next to the pool).

HEDWIG :Do you like it?

LINNA: Of course I like it. How could I not?

HEDWIG: This was a field three years ago. We just had the lower garden by the street. And the house had a flat roof.

LINNA: It’s hard to believe. (Linna turns). And that’s the camp wall?

HEDWIG :Yes, that’s the camp wall. We planted more vines at the back to grow and cover it. LINNA: Maybe Esther Silberman is over there.

HEDWIG :Which one was she?

LINNA: The one I used to clean for. She was the one who had the book readings.

HEDWIG: Oh, yes.

(Screenplay Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer based on the novel by Martin Amis.

Zone of Interest is a film that I suspect few will see; yet it is nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA. My experience of it was one of utter horror, staring into the blank face of evil, arguably the most uncomfortable watch that I have ever endured. Most people haven’t heard about the film – it is subtitled and largely in German.

In the excerpt above, we witness how detached from normal life Hedwig and her family have become. Of course, the extent of this detachment reveals a psychopathic nature, but, nevertheless it is a reminder of how far people go to block out the sight of horror. Hedwig is the wife of Rudolf Hoss, SS commander at Auschwitz.

Of course, this is horror of their deliberate making and approval, something barely imaginable, yet part of our modern history in which millions were murdered. Hedwig’s home sits next to the camp fence, the contrast in life experience could not be more stark, yet both share the same polluted air and weather.

Unless you are psychopathic yourself (you are not, if you are reading my blog!) it will be a harrowing experience to watch this film. We do not witness any violence, there is no need to, we hear the regular gunshots, the sounds of women being separated from their children, new arrivals by freight train and the smoke billowing from the chimneys.

Whilst being a poignant, historical reminder of crimes against humanity that we must never forget, it is also perhaps a metaphor for how I (and we all) manage to avoid looking at horrible things. Whatever our life circumstances, it’s not Auschwitz. Our relative peace and security, comfort, good fortune are not experienced by all. As humans, we have to turn away from horror in order to survive, we cannot constantly look without becoming consumed by it. Social media rapidly reveals the extremities of life around the world into the palm of our hands, we have to scroll past or choose not to look. I have no answers (well, few..) for this; other than it is our common experience and we all filter things out … we have to.

For most of us, we simply want to ensure that our lives remain good, prosperous and that our families have and maintain a sense of security in a broken and fragile world. I do not have a single client who is determined to simply amass as much as they can, which I suspect is a criticism of those who refuse to seek financial advice. The sort of people I work with have a sense of what is ‘enough’ and are not seeking to outdo the billionaires.

The grass is sometimes greener on the other side, but the Faustian price of it is always too high for anyone who wishes to have a connected life. We may have a philosophical opinion on the differences between needs, wants, desires and greed; the truth, as is often the case, is hard to distinguish except at the extremities.

Good financial planning is full of your goals for life; great financial planning is infused with your values as well.

As for the film, I believe that it is important, for precisely the reasons you imagine but it is a very difficult experience. As I imagine is intended, I did not care for any of the central characters, I didn’t even want to look at the screen as ‘matters were discussed’ as though merely regular business meetings. It was an endurance test for the viewer, but of course is nothing compared to those who briefly resided on the other side of the wall.

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The grass is greenerJemima Thomas2024-02-16T14:12:19+00:00

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