David Arnold Archives - Financial Planning in Surrey

Financial Equality

Its Financial Planning week 2014 an opportunity to get some information about what financial planning is all about, however sometimes, this can feel beyond the means of many “ordinary people” who continue to struggle just to get fair pay, let alone a good retirement and financial plan. It doesn’t take an investigative genius to work out that there are many inequalities in the world. There are more poor today than there ever have been, yet there is also more wealth. Many would say that education is the best long-term way of relieving poverty, helping nations and individuals to become adept at self-reliance and adding value to the lives of others and/or wider society. Good education means different things to different people, to my mind it is the ability to open one’s mind to challenge the way things are, whilst holding a knowledge of how they came about. So depriving anyone of education is essentially a deliberate attempt to maintain the status quo without asking the question “how could things be better?”

Made in Dagenham

Whatever your political beliefs, a new musical worth seeing has arrived in the West End. “Made in Dagenham” is the musical adaptation of the 2010 film by the same name. This is the story of a group of women working at the Ford plant in Dagenham in 1968, who had their pay unfairly recategorised as “unskilled”. The musical frames the resulting struggle in the context of a Britain that is thwarted by strikes and general political incompetence. Whilst some might see this as a political ideology, its rather larger and more important – in that the actions of the day, ushered in the prospect of equal pay for women. A natural and one would have thought, obvious progression of suffrage.

Sadly, emancipation in finance has still a long way to travel. It would seem that many women are less financially prepared than men. I find myself treating the results of the surveys and results on this topic with some degree of scepticism. For starters, many women earn far less than men, many women “have less time” because life is not simply about a 9-5 series of tasks that many men would still appear to think it is, something that is also touched upon in the musical. So is it any wonder that many don’t have time to plan their finances or give them much thought, particularly when they are often simply trying to get by. So with that said, the Scottish Widows 2014 Women and Pensions report was published recently. Their data suggests that the average man saves £298 a month towards retirement and the average woman saves £206 (about 30% less). The report states that 78% of women don’t know how much they need to save for a comfortable retirement. I might suggest that this is probably on the low side and in practice I doubt that there is little difference between men and women on this point (not knowing how much is enough).

So, whilst the lyrics are possibly a little … fruity, the songs and sentiment are a worthy education and a timely reminder, that men need to proactively support equality, not prevent it. Like it or not, this is an issue for us all and bringing about change, begins at home and in your own workplace.. perhaps you could start with some background research by a trip to the West End to see this great new musical, with a fantastic set, music by David Arnold and Gemma Arterton in the leading role… they may just get you to stand up…

Dominic Thomas

Focus – lessons from Sundance

I’m lucky enough to have fairly easy access to London and as a consequence, some really great stuff. At the weekend I managed to spend time at the Sundance London film festival (which I also attended last year). This is a showcase of independent films, largely brought over from Utah, where the Sundance organisation, set up by Robert Redford is based. The great thing is that you get to meet and hear from people that love making films. Their common trait, forgive the pun, is their focus. There is an unmistakeable sense of “doing the thing they love”. Not simply for those in front of the camera, or whose name you may know, but a real sense of drive and desire to make something that says something of value.

David Arnold, is a successful British composer, who has already built a considerable body of work within the film world. You might know him best for his work on the more recent James Bond movies. Now I enjoy music and listen to a lot of it, but to my shame, I’m not terribly much of an expert when it comes to classical music, despite my father’s operatic background, and my years in the school choir – I’m certainly no composer. So I am in some awe of those that can create music, but I had never seen the process of scoring a film so wonderfully explained. David walked the audience (of which around 50% were composers) through his catalogue and his process. He then demonstrated the various techniques he uses to structure the music to the film and build it layer by layer, whilst all the time being mindful that changes may need to be made due to editing of the film itself. It was fascinating. There was a real sense of his humility in being able to appreciate the contributions of others, whilst also remaining focused on the task at hand – for which he has a clear passion.

Whilst I’m not making music, his explanations and processes resonated with me. When I’m constructing a proper financial plan based upon someone’s values, it is very much a layered approach, with the need for editing and re-working. I like to think that on occasion I really help people find their personal rhythm in their own lives and values, but I’m stretching things. I certainly love what I do and enjoy the creative aspect of my work, but it isn’t really a masterpiece, but I do hope that I’m helping others (my clients) to make a great work of their lives, by really thinking about how they want to live them out…. not your run of the mill financial stuff.

Dominic Thomas: Solomons IFA