film Archives - Financial Planning in Surrey

What is your love language?

Dominic Thomas
April 2025 • 3 min read

What is your love language?

Life can take a sudden, unexpected twist. One of many twists is the loss of a spouse or partner. This is hard at any stage of life and brings its own challenges. Raising the family you started together on your own, or starting a family without the other being there to even witness its beginning are both situations that we have experienced with our clients. Life can change in an instant.

Any good financial plan will ensure that you have ample financial protection in the event of a spouse or partner suddenly dying. This would normally mean clearing off any outstanding debts and mortgages, everything from the credit card to the car finance. In addition, a regular income or a fund to provide one for a given period of time or perhaps indefinitely.

A serious or long-term illness can arguably have a worse financial impact – should the main income earner be unable to work, all those bills keep arriving and many probably increase, so it is important for those reliant upon an earned income, be they self-employed or an employee or perhaps own a business, that this is reviewed regularly to make sure there is ample cover in place. When such a situation arises I have never heard anyone tell me that they had too much cover, but most had wished that they had considered rather more.

The new Bridget Jones film Mad About The Boy is a sympathetic look at life after the death of Bridget’s husband, Mark Darcy. In the previous films we witnessed their haphazard relationship of opposites attracting. The latest in the series is perhaps rather more unexpectedly autobiographical from the author Helen Fielding, who explores singleness in our culture and the pressures to conform. Fielding’s first book Cause Celeb was published in 1994 and followed up by Bridget Jones’s Diary in 1996 which was released as a film in 2001 and saw two further follow ups in 2004 (Edge of Reason) and 2016 (Raising A Baby). She published Mad About the Boy in 2013. She started a relationship with her partner Kevin Curran in 2000 and they had two children together. Curran died of cancer in 2016 aged 59.

Admittedly, in the film, there isn’t any talk of Wills or life assurance, but it is clear that Human Rights lawyer Mr Darcy has ensured that Bridget and his children are well provided for; her choice about returning to work is optional, not financially necessary.

As the film was released around Valentine’s Day, an email caught my attention from an insurance company who pronounced that an act of love is to ensure that you have taken out life assurance for the benefit of those you love. I had heard something similarly expressed before, but in all honesty, dismissed it as a bit gimmicky. Nowadays, I do rather think it’s probably one of many “acts of loving” that make the world of difference.

The death of a spouse or partner will happen at some point, if you are fortunate for this to be much later on in life there are other impacts too. Often finances are handled by one member of the couple, or perhaps one has an old-style final salary pension which provides ongoing income, but at half the level. Adjusting to a new paradigm isn’t easy and we take great care helping clients fully understand the important elements of their finances and provide reassurance about their ability to maintain their standard of living without running out of money. The challenges can often feel overwhelming, but we will be here to help ensure that everything works to your advantage.

Inheritance tax may be a regular hot topic in the media, but this is only an issue for people who are not married or for beneficiaries. Whilst important to ensure your estate is passed on as you would wish, it is rather more important that your spouse/partner is able to adjust to the new reality of life without you.

If you know someone who is recently bereaved and would welcome clarity and understanding about their finances and new reality, do suggest that they get in touch. All our initial meetings to discover if we can help are at our own cost.

Meanwhile, here is the trailer for the new Bridget Jones film:

BACK TO ALL BLOGS

What is your love language?Jemima Thomas2025-04-17T18:01:03+01:00

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.

BACK TO ALL BLOGS

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

BACK TO ALL BLOGS

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

A Widow’s Ruin?

Dominic Thomas
Sept 2024 • 4 min read

A Widow’s Ruin?

The summer often produces plenty of occasions to open a bottle of bubbly as we celebrate various events or are simply enjoying ourselves. Perhaps this summer you have celebrated something, maybe a wedding, an anniversary, a big birthday or one of your family graduating. Champagne is invariably linked with celebration.

Living in the Surrey Hills, a short walk from Denbies, I have come to appreciate some of the English attempts to create Champagne – though of course we cannot call it such as it’s from Surrey not the Champagne region. I’m informed that the geology of the Champagne region of France is shared with Dorking (probably not news to the geologists amongst you). Anyway, perhaps you have your favourite – English, French, Spanish or Italian.

When it comes to naming things properly, I was intrigued by the story of Veuve Cliquot (in French meaning Widow Cliquot) which has now made the transition from a 2009 book by Mazzeo to a musical and now to film and is being retold at selected cinemas, so may be one to catch at home for most people.

The story is of the woman behind this now historic and luxurious brand. Business owners will relate to some of the struggles that she faced and conquered, not least of which were the weather, Napoleonic wars and general misogyny of the day. Women will relate, frankly because things have not moved on anything like as much as they should!

Quite how much is fact or fiction isn’t really that important; the messages of the film are there to be taken. Tenacity, optimism, acknowledgement of an inability to control the things you cannot, acceptance of the reality of things; stoic fortitude ushers in change by remaining true to principles and high standards. This is all beginning to sound a lot like the qualities that investors need to attain isn’t it.

I did not know the story and I was unaware of the meaning of ‘veuve’ – my O’ Level French has never been tested beyond very enjoyable trips to France. Whilst I am a regular consumer of wine, I wouldn’t regard myself as an expert; but I have come to enjoy Champagne over the years!

What I find generally inspiring are the stories behind many well-known companies. The original ‘Founder Story’ has been an often neglected element of most marketing, including our own. As Solomon’s celebrated our silver anniversary this summer, I was reminded that perhaps this is a little more than simply reminiscing. Of course there are many Founders and characters that are entirely unpleasant, which is often a subjective opinion, but sometimes … well not so much. Today, we are in a highly inter-connected world and we are all aware of particular billionaires or multimillionaires who are lacking any of the attributes that demonstrate much humanity.

I will never meet Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin who died in 1866 and I am highly unlikely to meet Mr Musk; but I have formed an opinion about both, based on the values that I hold. Yet this is perhaps the heart of the complexity of ethical, socially responsible or ESG investing. The world is complex, people are many things. To some, holding shares in an alcoholic beverage company is unethical, yet holding shares in Twitter (or whatever he wants to call it) invariably will not be screened out of portfolios. The focus is based on the product rather than those behind them.

How we use or minds, tools, resources, time and money are our unique choices and important to each of us being true to ourselves – however many selves we might each be, have or become. I can tell you that I shall be favouring (revealing my biases) the widow’s Champagne. A young woman who was widowed at 27, took on an embryonic vineyard, battled social norms and obstacles, fought for her own financial independence, eventually turning it into a legacy of quality, used in moments of joy and celebration. Now, that’s something that I think is worthwhile.

Here is a trailer for the new film produced by and starring Hayley Bennett, along with Tom Sturridge, Sam Riley and Ben Miles:

BACK TO ALL BLOGS

A Widow’s Ruin?Jemima Thomas2024-09-23T12:32:17+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.

BACK TO ALL BLOGS

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

One life at a time

Dominic Thomas
Feb 2024 • 4 min read

One life at a time

Sitting in the front row of the audience, he turned to see refugees standing around him, the feeling of raw emotion suddenly rising and filling his being as the magnitude of one man’s efforts had resulted in simple, raw, exposed humanity – life.

I suspect that you have heard about or may even remember seeing the moment that Nicholas Winton is met with an audience of his rescued refugees, as they rise to greet the man. The moment will likely be branded into your mind; it’s truly unforgettable.

There is something about a mild-mannered stockbroker from Maidenhead who not simply changed lives, but made them possible, that resonates with anyone possessing a pulse.

The new film One Life currently on release, is the remarkable tale of this man set a little more than nine months before WW2. I hope that it is a reminder to you that however small your own actions and power may seem, they can be life-saving.

Winton visited Prague in December 1938 at the suggestion of a friend and met with Warriner, Chadwick and Wellington who exposed him to their urgent work attempting to help key individuals flee Europe out of the thousands gathering in makeshift camps all hoping for help. He was fortunate to have never met the Gestapo (I so want to mock by writing gazpacho) and his life was never particularly endangered, but he was deeply moved by the plight of refugees who were fleeing Hitler’s Nazis following the night of mayhem ‘Kristallnacht’ on 9^th November 1938 which followed the Munich Agreement in September which ceded Sudetenland and the subsequent full invasion in March 1939.

A time before email, social media and mobile phones, live images from anywhere on earth beamed into the palm of your hand. A trusty typewriter, filing cabinet and antiquated telephone system along with waiting (and pushing) to see those possessing the ability to grant permission. The challenge of bureaucratic lunacy and soulless governance has a modern familiarity, but in 1938, refugees under 18 were not permitted into Britain.

Winton and his mother pushed the wheels of the Civil Service into agreeing a process for granting permission to hundreds and potentially thousands of refugees fleeing extermination in Europe. They raised funds (£50 fee for each refugee), completed the paperwork and placed children with willing people having taken out adverts in newspapers. Some 669 children were spared annihilation in Europe, eventually finding refuge here in Britain after a perilous journey through hostile nations before war broke out, ending any viability of a visa.

Winton’s part in the story may never have been acknowledged had his wife not found his scrapbook from the period, detailing names of children and their foster families. It is highly unlikely that any of the children would have escaped had he and his mother not taken the action that they did.

Today we see horrors around the world with alarming frequency. In my December round up, I stated that “the world is currently safer than it ever has been for many of us”. By way of some context… our world was changed by the attacks in the US on 11^th September 2001 which resulted in 2,996 deaths largely on the day itself. Pearl Harbour, which was the catalyst for the US joining the war saw 2,403 deaths on 7^th December 1941.

The second world war itself lasted six years and conservatively resulted in 70 million deaths. That’s equivalent to 22 deaths for every minute of the war, a staggering 31,934 every day.

We can draw many lessons or conclusions from Winton’s story; but for me it’s a reminder that action takes many forms, being sufficiently resourced and able to provide solutions to great challenges is key for most of us. Our ability to respond has untold impact. Of the millions that ultimately died, Winton and his collaborators saved 669, each one significant and priceless.

Below is the trailer for the rather wonderful new film released by Warner Brothers.

And here is the online exhibition, a tour through some of the personal items and documents held in the Sir Nicholas Winton Memorial Trust, illustrating different episodes in his life.

BACK TO ALL BLOGS

One life at a timeJemima Thomas2024-02-08T15:49:41+00:00