Career Archives - Financial Planning in Surrey

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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Last man standing

Brazilian Walter Orthmann (who turned 100 earlier this year) holds a Guinness World Record for the longest career in the same company. He has worked for his employer for more than 84 years (and is still there)!

Walter ‘started at the bottom’ and worked his way up (from shipping assistant; to sales; to management). He believes that the best part about having a job is that it gives you a sense of purpose, commitment and routine.

Over the course of his 84-year career, he has travelled extensively and has collected pay in nine different currencies.

He has learned from necessity and experience how to adapt to all kinds of change, both within the company and out in the world.

However, what interested me most as I read his story is his focus on ‘the now’ – he says:

“I don’t do much planning, nor care much about tomorrow. All I care about is that tomorrow will be another day in which I will wake up, get up, exercise and go to work; you need to get busy with the present, not the past or the future. Here and now is what counts. So, let’s go to work!”

This statement is utterly at odds with our ethos here at Solomon’s for financial planning which is all about thinking about where you are now; where you want to be; and of course how to get there.

So I have to assume that Mr Orthmann did not want ‘more from life’ than this; that he has a passion for his work; that he is totally comfortable with his decisions and doesn’t feel like he has ‘missed out’ on anything – I certainly hope for his sake that my assumptions are correct – otherwise his life story would feel like a very sad tale indeed.

Our role here is not to tell you what your retirement should look like – it is to help you visualise this for yourself; and to help you prepare the way for that to come to fruition. No two retirements look the same and we do not attempt to ‘shoe horn’ anyone into planning for things that simply don’t interest them.

We are yet to hear any of our clients say that they want to plan to remain employed until they die – largely our clients want to be able to devote time and money to other things (although we do have some clients who continue to work well into their retirement – but there is balance; and they are working because they want to rather than out of necessity).

And maybe here is the problem I see in Walter’s case – as a result of his lack of planning ahead and thinking about the future, it also has to be true that he didn’t ‘plan’ to keep working – it just happened. And I think it’s a little sad that he wasn’t interested in being a little more pro-active about his life. His World Record is a result of apathy and inaction; of letting life happen rather than choosing what his life would be.

We often ask our clients what advice they would give to their 20-year-old selves and I wonder what Walter would say in response to this question …

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 info@solomonsifa.co.uk

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