LIFE AND MONEY REFLECTIONS Archives - Page 6 of 23

Money & Film: Bank of Dave 2

Dominic Thomas
Feb 2025 • 2 min read

Money & Film: Bank of Dave 2

“We’re going to need a bigger boat” is a line from the 1975 film Jaws as Captain Martin Brody recovers from the shock of seeing the destructive great white shark glide past Quint’s small trawler boat (The Orca) leased to hunt and destroy the predator currently consuming the inhabitants of Amity Island.

The Loan shark is similarly as consumptive, ruining the lives of those who attempt to borrow a few hundred pounds to meet the latest small calamity for which they have no other reserves. The exorbitant interest charged and the intimidation by ‘collectors’, all result in a toxic, suffocating environment that many unsuspecting borrowers become quickly entrapped.

The Netflix platform is currently screening Bank of Dave 2 – The Loan Ranger. The film is largely a work of fiction; it’s an exaggeration, but it doesn’t detract from the central message that payday loan companies are ruining lives. However, it is far from a documentary or even a dramatisation of what happens. It is a decent, charming little film of David and Goliath and of course panders to our British support of the underdog.

Dave Fishwick (on whom the story is based) is a credit to his community and frankly I thoroughly agree with his desire to destroy companies that deliberately destroy lives. You may never have used a Pay Day loan company, many of which originate in the US, and many are or have been key sponsors of football teams, normalising the ‘service’ that they provide. He took on many of these companies, who did indeed attempt all sorts of dirty tricks to thwart his attempts to stop their practices.

There is a documentary The Loan Ranger (released on 15^th January 2025) which considers the real story that inspired the film and the misery that Dave Fishwick seeks to end. Payday loan companies will of course argue that they are providing a service to people that need it, one which traditional banks do not or will not. These are invariably short-term loans for a couple of weeks until the next payday. The interest charges are high (one has an APR of 1721%). These lenders, like all others, fall within the regulatory remit of the FCA.

The problem is that there will always be a market for people who struggle with finances and unless there is a change in circumstances, and perhaps behaviour, the likelihood of climbing out of the money trap is small at best. Whilst our clients don’t have these sorts of challenges, few people are actually terribly good at budgeting. Those with ample incomes rarely look in detail at how much they are spending, save for a few significant purchases. Having a well-managed cash system and control of your finances is crucial to your long-term financial wellbeing. To find out more about how to do this successfully, please get in contact with us.

You can see Bank of Dave 2 starring Roy Kinnear on Netflix. Here is the trailer.

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Money & Film: Bank of Dave 2Jemima Thomas2025-02-25T13:37:00+00:00

British Sign Language – it’s not an ‘ology’

Debbie Harris
Jan 2025 • 3 min read

British Sign Language – it’s not an ‘ology’

I read a News article last year about plans to introduce a GCSE in British Sign Language (BSL). I would have loved to have had this as a choice when I was selecting my options some decades (*ahem!) ago … what a brilliant idea.

Signing isn’t only used by deaf folk; it has also been a tool for communication for sufferers of autism for many years as well as for people with speech impairments and/or learning difficulties. Obviously it is also used by the carers of these members of our community and by anyone playing a supportive role in their health and wellbeing.

The British Deaf Association estimates that over 150,000 people in the UK use BSL with ‘only’ 87,000 of them being actually deaf.

I have struggled with significant hearing loss for the last 20 years and so this is a subject close to my heart. I benefit from the advancement of hearing aid technologies and am able to manage my partial deafness very well … but I know that I’m lucky.

This new GCSE is a great step towards equality for the deaf and seeks to improve inclusivity and reduce isolation for deaf and hard of hearing children in our Nation’s schools.

I am always in favour of practical exams in useful subjects that can be meaningfully used in adult life and frankly think BSL could and should be taught in our schools earlier than age 14-16, but we have to take the wins when we can.

I have a heart for education and I am always on the lookout to learn new things … perhaps I may even do a GCSE in BSL (likely to be far more interesting than most of the learning opportunities that tend to land in my inbox … being mainly around the financial services industry of course!)

We often talk here about how little ‘financial education’ our young people receive in our schools – many leave the education system without understanding what income tax is; what a pension is; how to budget etc – many of them are going straight into paid work (so have an immediate need to have some decent financial awareness/knowledge) and many of them head off to University (to live on their own for the first time, with no real idea about balancing a budget; or even how much things cost – utilities, council tax, household insurance etc) so it seems to me there’s a gap in the system here for this too; a need to be met.

Many schools attempt to cover some of the priority information in PSHCE sessions but if you have any other suggestions for how we can help our school-leavers; we’d love to hear them. If you have children or grandchildren in this age group, do you think a ‘workshop’ style event would be useful or even just a ‘workbook’ – both of which would potentially have the objective of arming your young people with some of the financial basics?

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British Sign Language – it’s not an ‘ology’Jemima Thomas2025-01-30T13:10:32+00:00

Money & film: A Complete Unknown

Dominic Thomas
Jan 2025 • 2 min read

Money & film: A Complete Unknown

The New Year is very much underway; my inbox has been full of emails from investment companies telling me what they expect from 2025. These days I’m rather more circumspect and much more defensive about your money than I was 25 years ago. It’s a year like any other; unknown. We know some things will almost certainly happen (they are in the diary); things we expect to happen and then a plethora of stuff we suspect might happen and then the things we will be surprised by. Sounding a little like Donald Rumsfeld – we don’t know what we don’t know.

What we do know is that your financial plan is best based around your own values, circumstances and expectations. We know that over the longer term, holding global equities provides the best chance of maintaining and improving the purchasing power of your money, but with this comes volatility.

There’s a new film A Complete Unknown; the story of Bob Dylan, a man whose name most people will know. It charts the start of his career in 1961, aged 20, meeting Woodie Guthrie and Pete Seeger, both successful musicians of their day who recognise his talent which provides the platform for his arrival on the scene. It’s a time of change, JFK is sworn in as Number 35, The Beatles are starting out, The Bay of Pigs invasion, civil rights protestors are harassed by Police, beaten by KKK. There are riots in Paris, a host of stand offs between Soviets and the US, the Cold War really starts and the year closes with JFK sending 18,000 special military advisers to Vietnam. Despite all the disasters and uncertainty, 1961 saw the US market up about 19%.

The film explores Dylan’s rise to fame as a folk singer, his relationship with Joan Baez and his need to continually change, adapt, leave and move on. Some, it would seem (like Seegers), wanted him to help restore folk, but Dylan found this suffocating and a tie to the past that was unhelpful. His transition to the electric guitar was unwelcome by most in the folk scene.

Dylan is now 83 and has his next birthday in May. He is undoubtedly a survivor, his career has been long in the making with over 125 million records sold world-wide making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has been the change and witnessed it, but often it has been a slow train coming…

Your planning is best viewed in the long-term. Whatever the world throws at us in 2025, take the long-term view. Change is constant.

Here is the trailer for the new film.

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Money & film: A Complete UnknownJemima Thomas2025-02-07T15:53:47+00:00

What’s your reaction time?

Dominic Thomas
Jan 2025 • 3 min read

What’s your reaction time?

Those who know me, know that I struggle with fairness. I don’t like unfairness of almost any type. My inner child is petulant, often easily triggered by things that I disagree with. I feel it and the response in me is often almost instantaneous. This isn’t limited to the world through the lens of television or monitor, but leaks into very basic mundane tasks like a simple trip in the car.

I have acknowledged this problem and have spent years working on myself. It took longer than I would have liked to leave the world of Twitter and much social media. There was a sense of community with my peers within the financial planning space; we would share ideas and concerns, helping us all become better at what we do for our clients. However, within the same space, it seemed largely irrelevant how many filters were selected, there were countless issues and opinions designed to trigger, agitate and frustrate; to cause grief and angst. To divide.

So I left. Several months ago, very rarely looking back. Today neither my PC nor phone retain memory of my presence there.

There is a lot to trigger most of us, most of the time. There is a balance between engagement and disinterest. It isn’t always clearcut. Your opinions and beliefs are nothing more than opinions and beliefs. Facts are facts yet seem skewed and interpreted, reframed and deflected to suit a particular previously held belief.

We can argue about almost anything and despite the lessons from history, we seem determined to repeat making the same mistakes. On the one hand, it doesn’t matter what the topic is -American politics, a war somewhere that is being forgotten as lives are destroyed, an Olympic event or ceremony, a celebrity, the billionaire, immigration, monarchy, the poor ‘working’ class white male, or your politics of the day. These things trigger each of us very differently.

A few months ago in my bubble of sector news, I read the headline: “Reaction as inflation rises for the first time this year”. This was from Money Marketing magazine. I assume the editor really knows that this is wrong on various points:

Inflation means prices are rising
They mean that the rate of increase has increased (it was still inflating)
My reaction to it or anyone else’s is largely after the event, but of course this is designed to arouse a sense of greater anxiety, in an already uncertain world

The article went on to quote reactions and ‘research’ that half of investors believe that inflation will rise again over the next six months (frankly about as useful as a coin toss, half do, half don’t). Anyone who has paid for a holiday or hotel or a theatre ticket, will know that prices have risen… is it coincidence that your flights and holidays were booked during the time of “rising prices”?

We know inflation is a big deal. It erodes the value of your spending power. Hence why you invest in real companies, making and providing real things with a future. One of my peers calls most of the financial news “financial porn” which seems fair. A lot of people are addicted to stuff that doesn’t serve their own wellbeing. In fact, it’s largely detrimental.

We could all do with pausing for thought a little more. Whether consuming what is often described as ‘news’ or scrolling through social media or driving your car and getting stuck in yet another over-managed section of roadworks. We don’t need the reaction times of a motor racing driver; we have our own goals and plans and shouldn’t be swayed by the agenda of others.

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What’s your reaction time?Jemima Thomas2024-12-20T11:07:23+00:00

New Year; New You?

Debbie Harris
Dec 2024 • 1 min read

New year; New you?

I wanted to write about the value of New Year’s Resolutions, so obviously I took to ‘the Google’ to see what the internet thinks!

I was mildly surprised that the vast majority of articles that appeared in my search provided reasons why we should NOT make New Year’s Resolutions.

So I guess I’m in the minority on this; because I think they’re a great idea!

The 1^st of January represents a finite moment when you can set some goals for the coming twelve months … but then I also love Mondays (much to the disbelief of my colleagues), clean bed linen, a new notebook – all of which represent a fresh start; a new beginning.

So what do the naysayers say about ‘resolutions’?

They’re too broad and we are therefore bound to fail
We don’t consider ‘why’ and therefore we don’t address our real challenges/motivations
We aren’t ready for the change we vow to make
We include things that are beyond our control
We don’t tell anyone what they are (not verbalising them means they don’t really exist!)

Suffice to say – there are a myriad of other reasons why you shouldn’t bother with them, but there are a lot of folk who are in agreement with me that they are still worthwhile!

For me – my goals are small and achievable (yet challenging) and, importantly, some of them do not require me to ‘last a full year’! So there may be things I want to achieve in January or in July. I don’t verbalise any of them to anyone (I don’t imagine anyone is that interested!) but they are meaningful to me and I do write them down.

Whichever camp you sit in on this; all that matters is that it works for you!

Here at Solomon’s – we like being prepared and organised; we enjoy planning (obviously) in all its guises and we value having goals and objectives; something to aim for.

What will your plan for 2025 look like?

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New Year; New You?Jemima Thomas2024-12-19T13:23:59+00:00

A Christmas Bungle

Dominic Thomas
Nov 2024 • 3 min read

A Christmas Bungle

At a recent team meeting, we were discussing topics that we could write about, I piped up that I had recently read a short story Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. This was about a couple whose daughter was taking a year out with the Peace Corps in Peru which meant that they would be alone for Christmas. Once they had crunched the numbers on how much money Christmas had consumed last year, they decide to avoid it altogether and fly out to the tropics for a much needed holiday, costing roughly half what they would have normally spent.

As I regaled the tale, I noticed that my team was listening with cocked heads; but clearly thinking something … I went on to describe how I was irritated with the couple who capitulate on their promise to each other as their daughter suddenly calls them from an airport, unexpectedly returning home from Peru with her new fiancé. A daft and rather nauseating comedic mad dash ensues to provide a decorated house, a party, food, drink and presents with a few hours’ notice.

“That’s Christmas with the Kranks” laughed one of the team… “you’ve just told us the plot of the movie – Christmas with the Kranks… with Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis!”

I hadn’t seen the film (and still haven’t – it’s got Tim Allen in it after all). We all laughed at my unusual lack of film knowledge!

So why did the story annoy me? Well, primarily because of the ridiculous amount of social pressure we are under to conform to ‘norms’ at Christmas; when most of these norms are actually contrived works of capitalism and have very little to do with Christmas. So when someone decides to do something different, one might even say ‘sensible’; it was a bit of a pity to see the opportunity wasted, and instead to simply capitulate into the consumerist event that it has become (particularly in America). I am not deliberately trying to be Scrooge, I am just as prone to overdo the decorations (you should see the tree I’ve got for the office!), food and presents as anyone else – it’s simply that this was offering the opportunity to explore the daft side of the expense.

In the end, the local community rally round to support, but prior to that had been deliberately conceited in their attitudes and downright intimidating. If they were my neighbours, I’d not think them an understanding, considerate bunch. I was left with that saccharine taste of an American Hollywood Christmas, that is playing the right notes to elicit a particularly superficial and romanticised nostalgia.

The points raised by Mr Krank are shuffled to the sidelines, written off as cronyism or “lacking fun”. Yet that was not how the story originated; it was yet another opportunity wasted to explore a more thoughtful approach to the festive season, which for many millions causes significant financial pain with many people left feeling even more in touch with their sense of loneliness or disconnection. It’s difficult to stand against a rampant culture. I even saw one charity flyer recently proclaiming that “nobody should be hungry at Christmas”. I immediately thought to myself – nobody should be hungry at any time of the year, unless they want to be. Christmas becomes this one day when we are told to suddenly regard each other with heightened empathy – for the day. It’s almost as fruitless as Remembrance Day, when we collectively vow that we will learn the lessons of heroes and not to go to war but then do so, repeatedly.

Compare this to Mr Scrooge, who is forced to reflect on his life choices, but who is changed, permanently for the better, to live generously. Dickens doesn’t pretend that change is easy nor that poverty will suddenly end, but he is all too aware that it starts with us.

Bah humbug!

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A Christmas BungleJemima Thomas2024-12-20T10:30:06+00:00

Captain of a 737

Debbie Harris
Nov 2024 • 2 min read

Captain of a 737 (sort of) – for an hour!

In my ongoing endeavour to do new and different things this year, I recently spent an hour flying a Boeing 737 flight simulator!

My ‘children’ will tell you that I am utterly dreadful at video games as my hand-to-eye coordination is shockingly rubbish, so I went into this particular experience with the mantra “please don’t let me crash”.

Suffice to say, my visual efforts were much better than my rely-on-the-instruments efforts, but I successfully took off and landed the ‘aircraft’ which felt like a massive achievement frankly!

At the end of the session, my co-pilot (*ahem!) said that I had learned a tiny fraction of what pilots have to learn. I laughed and told him that I would not ever in a million years be able to do what they do – absolutely not my skillset!

Which reminded me that we delegate tasks to other people all the time – train drivers, mechanics, plumbers, doctors, financial planners – because they are trained to do what you cannot (or have no desire to do).

And did I crash? Well no – at least … not the airplane. The simulator software on the other hand – I managed to crash that – TWICE!

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Captain of a 737Jemima Thomas2024-11-21T15:02:02+00:00

The State of This

Dominic Thomas
Nov 2024 • 1 min read

The State of This

When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a King. The palace becomes a circus.

Today I must once again face the struggle to recognise that I cannot control very much at all. I cannot control how people vote either here or in another country. I have to come to terms with the sadness, anger and disappointment that for reasons I simply fail to understand, Americans have voted for someone who wouldn’t be fit to work in any organisation I have ever been involved with. In my sector, the regulator would not permit a position of authority to such a person and hopefully not even a license to practice. Think about that for a moment.

I can control my responses, which is far easier to say (and write) than it is in practice. I can acknowledge my feelings of rage and the decisions taken, for which I have a variety of colourful terms, but I will not give way to my ire here.

Despite being a sad moment (and from my perspective a very dangerous one) for most of the planet, I remain committed to positive change. To doing the little that I can to improve life for those in my orbit and where possible those outside of it.

We will be here, at the ‘coalface’ of the struggle between your values and value, between enough and too much, between lack and excess, between conflicting feelings and realities. The nuance of life in all its glory, the choices that each of us make on a daily basis as we step forward into an unknown future, which has today become a little more precarious than it was yesterday.

We only have time, the important things are those that unite and bind us as humans, which are surprisingly simple and often forgotten.

Hope not hate.

Life is brief, his tenure will end.

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The State of ThisJemima Thomas2024-11-06T13:47:33+00:00

Ready for new peaks

Matt Loadwick
Oct 2024 • 2 min read

Ready for new peaks

Joining a new business is always a significant life change; filled with anticipation and, of course, some anxiety. Having joined Solomon’s as a trainee financial planner, I’m looking to follow the path which Dan has successfully navigated, in switching professions for a career in financial planning.

A geography graduate from Newcastle University, my career to date has seen me specialise in transport and development planning, through which I sought to satisfy an innate desire to improve society; in this case by helping to make places and spaces better for the people who use them.

Undertaking what is a fairly sharp turn in my career, it would be fair to say that the levels of excitement, anticipation, and yes, anxiety, were amplified. However, my experience so far has been fantastic, thanks to the warm welcome I have received and the generous support provided daily by each of my new colleagues. From day one, the team at Solomon’s has ensured that I am integrated into the company culture; encouraging me to share my insights in team meetings, whilst always being there to help with any questions, of which there have been many at this stage!

A little about me; a proud northerner and good listener who likes to connect with people, my motivation for starting a new career in the financial services industry stems from seeking opportunity to make better use of my people skills; to help individuals realise their life goals through financial guidance, and to further increase my breadth of knowledge – all things I am really looking forward to.

I was born and raised in Poynton, a small town located just outside of Manchester, on the edge of the Peak District National Park. Growing up there inspired my love of hiking and cycling in the countryside; undoubtedly had some influence over my love of alternative rock and indie music (for which Manchester is a real wellspring); and is also reflected in my favourite sports teams – Sale Sharks RUFC, Stockport County and Manchester City (before the oil money made them “everyone’s favourite team to hate”).

Since joining the firm, I’ve had the chance to see first-hand the positive impact that good financial advice can have on the lives of our clients at a variety of key life stages. The initial learning curve has been steep, but rewarding, as I do my best to soak in as much as possible from the incredibly knowledgeable team here. It’s a process I’m thoroughly enjoying. I’m eager to build my knowledge and skills further to grow within this fantastic team, and ultimately contribute to helping our clients achieve their life goals.

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Ready for new peaksJemima Thomas2024-10-25T11:50:16+01:00

Riding High on Free Spirits

Dominic Thomas
Oct 2024 • 4 min read

Riding High on Free Spirits

You cannot have failed to notice a significant increase in the number of camper vans pootling along British roads over the last few years. The pandemic really prompted a desire to get out and about but in a controlled personal environment. I know camping isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, but I found myself undeniably attracted to the idea of a quick getaway and the ability to pitch up almost anywhere and relax.

In the Spring, after much research I bought my first camper van from Free Spirit, based near Chichester. Like many, I had grown up with a fondness for the VW Beetle (thanks in part to Herbie and the 1972 Streisand and O’Neal film What’s Up Doc?) and its bigger partner the camper van. There is something reassuringly simple about the shape and sound, but of course the original vehicles are all now considerably older than me – and I need a reasonable amount of care, let alone a vehicle.

Like most, my default setting was heading towards club VW, that was until I looked at what I was getting, invariably a converted diesel tradesman’s, couriers or ex-breakdown van, all of which have had a serious amount of ‘stress-beating’ before then being gutted and converted into a camper. Thankfully I came across Ian and his team at Free Spirit. They import Japanese vehicles – unleaded petrol, steering wheel on the right side, well-maintained in a climate that makes life hard for rust. I ended up with a much better vehicle, it cost significantly less money than its VW competitor and having been designed as a luxury exec vehicle in image-conscious Tokyo, is a much more comfortable and smooth ride (it’s a Mercedes).

It’s early days in my camper van experiences, but I’ve already been able to enjoy rolling up to music festivals in fields, pulling up to a fantastic view of a sunlit coastline, then unrolling the bed to simply relax with a cup of coffee. I’m delighted. It’s probably not the typical vehicle that a financial adviser drives and I’ve had many battles with my own ego of ‘what a car says about me’ over the years. In my three-and-a-bit decades as an adviser, I’ve only been asked twice about what car I drive (by a client). I have no idea what you would think about cars or the car I might drive, but my suspicion is that if I turned up to your house in a new Ferrari (or even an old one) you would possibly think I am charging you too much! I’ve had this debate (sorry ‘discussion’) with peers before and I know many don’t walk their talk.

A camper van is not for everyone of course and it’s a fairly large vehicle (I even went long-wheel base), so it’s fortunate that I have a decent driveway at home (and at the office!). I’d be curious to learn what car you think your financial adviser ought to drive… I assume there are various scales at play – the price, brand, age and of course the affordable value purchase, versus desired aspirational one, all of which is subjective and reflects your own values.

I know several of you have camper vans or have considered getting one as part of your retirement treat (it’s not mine) but as ever, I suggest speaking to experts, people that do this stuff all day every day and not to be solely persuaded by lifestyle marketing and a sense of nostalgia. As ever, your decisions are best based on your values and earmarked resources. I can certainly recommend a discussion with Ian at Free Spirit, he has a great business and I’ve been delighted with their service, a simple five stars from me.

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Riding High on Free SpiritsJemima Thomas2024-10-23T14:11:38+01:00

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