CONFERENCE TIME

Solomons-financial-advisor-wimbledon-blogger

Conference Time

I was on conference in Birmingham this week… no not for the Conservative party. A much more trustworthy bunch – “my institute” – the CISI or Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment. I have been attending this for a number of years now and always manage to find several useful and practical things that I can do to improve how we help clients, be that improved technical skills, evolving technology or “simply” better practice management.

This year I was particularly struck by some of the issues raised by Dr Moira Somers, a clinical neuropsychologist from Canada. In essence she helped explain why all of us are guilty of not doing things that are good for us. In this context why, clients do not do some of the things that we advise or require them to do so that we can help them better. Things in their interests but simply get put off again and again.

That Thing You Don’t Do…

Two things that readily came to my mind. Getting clients to draw up their Wills and Lasting Power of Attorney. Admittedly this is a fairly morbid subject. The professional advice and implementation costs are not insignificant. The importance of having these in place can never be overstated by anyone that has experienced not having them when required. Like everyone else, there are things in my life that I don’t get around to. We might call this self-defeating behaviour. Hopefully I now have some thoughts about new strategies I might employ to encourage “adherence” … but I guess time will tell if these are effective.

No Will, No Way

Dr Somers explained that In Canada, 70% of people do not have a Will (audience audible drawing of breath). Here in the UK I have little reason to believe that it is much better. After a quick bit of research, it would seem that in London 59% of adults do not have a Will. This is not as bad as Glasgow where the rate rises to 70%. As the life expectancy in Glasgow is far lower than it is in London, I would encourage Glaswegians to accept the challenge to beat London in this statistic alone.

Not Enough For A Boiler Room Scam

Basic money skills – such as budgeting and saving are at very poor levels in the UK. One statistic mentioned was put in stark terms. Most people in Britain do not have enough cash in their bank to replace their boiler, should it fail this winter. They would have to borrow and go into debt. The UK is not unique in this regard. Our clients are of course people who do save or have done so and are better at acting for their benefit (and that of their family). However, most of us could probably improve our handling of money, so that it is not wasted or simply frittered away. Every good financial plan starts with the end in mind, but also the reality of today, how money is spent and used now. The cost of lifestyle is vital to understand when attempting to maintain and protect it.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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 [email protected]

Email me to get in touch

CONFERENCE TIMEDominic2023-12-01T12:17:48+00:00

Lean on Pete

There has been a variety of research conducted about child poverty in Britain, regrettably I find it hard to decipher the politicisation of interpretations of the results of such reports. Lean on Pete is a fresh look, perhaps a more comfortable one, as it is set at a “safe distance” against the backdrop of the world’s most wealthy nation – the United States. Of course, we all know that many of the issues are pertinent in any developed nation.

The film centres around a Charley, (Charlie Plummer) who lives with his father Ray in what can only be described as poverty. The story unfolds how even someone with very little still has much to lose. He encounters some degree of encouragement in the form Del, (Steve Buscemi) a horse owner/trainer whose own version of coping with a life that hasn’t worked out as planned, compromises the security of all that he has. Some would say “desperate times call for desperate measures” yet when this is more likely to harm your own well-being, it seems entirely counter-productive.

Horses for Courses

Some warmth and tenderness arrive in the form of Bonnie, (Cloe Sevigny) a jockey that has already had more than her share of misfortune and setback yet even this more caring figure, is forced to overlook the love that Charlie develops for the horse in his charge “Lean on Pete” who is seen simply as a commodity. Home life takes a turn for the worse and the prospect of Pete being sold due to his own failing health is too much for Charlie to contend with, so he and Pete head off on a journey in search of the care and love that they both crave.

I really enjoyed the movie, which is currently showing in a small number of cinemas – but you can see it on Curzon Home Cinema. This is a tender film, revealing how quickly circumstances can alter, how money or its lack has considerable consequences for each of our stories. However, much you have, I was reminded of something I heard… you are the sum of the books you read and the people you meet. Sadly, this isn’t always good.

Against the Rails

Of course, Charley being a minor, isn’t a likely client for any financial planner, more likely the adults would be, though in truth, it is improbable that they would seek advice. Any decent financial planner will investigate the “worst scenarios” that life can throw at you, hopefully ensuring that you have adequate financial protection, certainly sufficient to prevent a very hard financial landing. Perhaps more than that, the regular, ongoing ability to check progress, seek an impartial sounding board for ideas and ultimately to identify and prevent “financial self-harm” that most people drift into without realising. It’s your journey, but a good planner is coaching and encouraging each step.

Here’s the trailer.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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 [email protected]

Email me to get in touch

Lean on PeteDominic2025-01-21T15:41:31+00:00

Downsizing

Imagine a world where your wealth is sufficient for the rest of your life to fully support your lifestyle. Throw in the benefit of massive improvements to the environment and waste reduction and you have the plot summary of Alexander Payne’s new movie “Downsizing”.

This is a movie that is tipped for the OSCARS, given that it will be released in December in the US and January 2018 over here in the UK. Whilst having potential for perhaps both comedy and a sense of hope, this is a film that gets loses itself in a story that is both too big and too small. It’s a pity as the premise is pretty good and the trailer is typically engaging

As a financial planner, my job is to help clients figure out how much is enough to support their lifestyle (as they determine it) for the remainder of their lives. Most people do not appear to have a financial plan, very few have a clear idea about how much would be enough.

Side Effects

Downsizing begins with the scientific discovery that means it is possible to shrink cells without harm or side effect to about 3% of their original size. The one problem being that it is an irreversible process and not available to anyone that has a body with additions (implants, prosthetics, pace-maker etc) as these will not shrink.

Living the Dream

Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) is your average American, he was once on the path to a career in medicine, but his dreams were thwarted by an ill mother who needed his care. Now a somewhat frustrated physiotherapist, he is living in his late mother’s home, with wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) and struggling to get by. At the perfectly imperfect setting of a school reunion, he is persuaded to consider Downsizing, the solution to his financial struggles.

Paul and Audrey head off to Leisure Land and receive a masterful sales pitch that extols merely the benefits of Downsizing, ignoring all of the drawbacks. The Safranek’s have assets of $52,000 but in the Downsized world this translates to $12.5million, to live on for life! The numbers do all the talking. Packing a delightful red keepsake box with their family treasures (wedding rings etc) the same box is delivered to the house in Leisure Land, but of course gold wedding rings now appear the size of buoyancy rings. I have to admit, that if I could arrange such a return for our clients I’d be winning every award under the sun. However, as with all things, there are no guarantees.

The Bigger Picture

The plan to save the world is to gradually miniaturise everyone over the course of 200 years. Despite a safe procedure (assuming removal of fillings etc) there are very real side effects in the larger world – economic, political and social. Its all very well that a mansion may now only require the space of a dining table, but property in the larger world still needs to be sold and therefore bought. Taxes need to be paid, production needs to continue and there is a debate about whether the Lilliputians should have a full-sized vote.

The film attempts a stab at all these issues as well as a rather fruitless assessment of a life of pleasure, the poverty divide, immigration and those that remain outside the system, where standards are never the same. Add a touch of impending environmental disaster and the naive, blancmange-like character of Paul Safranek who seems to lack either any sense of self-determination or self-awareness, chasing every ball thrown by anyone willing to bother. Ironically, all of the issues are far too big for the film which becomes as microscopic as its characters, lost in a world of complexity. It’s a pity. Much like Safranek, it appears nobody asked what it was that Alexander Payne wanted from this. Instead it’s a journey of happenstance, rather than any course being plotted. I suppose that this is the reality for most people, who live from day to day, month to month, year to year without any deeper sense of direction, like Safranek, frustrated through not identifying purpose. Nobody asks the right questions and so the thinking is as shrunken as the inhabitants of Leisure Land.

Here’s the trailer, the film is released in the UK in January (following its showing at the London Film Festival this month). Oh yes, the trailer is the best bit.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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 [email protected]

Email me to get in touch

DownsizingDominic2025-02-03T10:37:22+00:00

It’s A Wonderful Life

There’s a picture that hangs in our reception room, it’s a fairly large still from the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Most people know the movie and will have seen it at some point. For many people it’s a “feel good” movie and invariably watched at Christmas.

The film touches on various themes, greed, capitalism, social enterprise, family, relationships, honesty, mental health, immigration, vice… a plethora of ideas that could be explored. Arguably, the central idea is really that of ‘what if?” What if George Bailey had never existed? How would the lives of others be different? The central point being that we all (generally) take the importance of our own existence too lightly. We are all unique, we all have something to contribute, a part to play and the lives of others, our communities would be different without any one of us.

Naturally, we all (well most) have a sense of humility about quite how significant our impact is, unless you are the type of person that invariably ends up taking credit for the actions of others. There’s a fair bit of that around the world at present, most evidently demonstrated by certain political “leaders”. This of course is nothing new, simply depressingly familiar.

What we fail to clearly explain

One of the greatest difficulties I have within my role as a financial planner is quantifying and explaining the difference we have made to clients by not doing certain things. To put it another way, what we have advised against, altered, prevented, discounted, ruled out – all as part of our normal actions. Our regulator and professional indemnity insurers are still rather more obsessed with what we arranged and did rather than what we didn’t. Regulation is still largely based upon what was “sold” not what was achieved. One investment company (Vanguard) attempted to quantify the impact of fairly routine discipline that a financial planner applies for clients. They calculated that this added about 3% a year to a client’s investment returns. They called this “Adviser Alpha”. They’ve been measuring and doing their sums on this since 2001.

However, for me this still falls way short of the value that we as your financial planner can add. How much value is added by ensuring clients have a Will? Appropriate life assurance? A proper plan? That they don’t run out of money? Being challenged to really express what they want from and for their own lives….and so on.

That thing about honesty..

In the film George Bailey has built personal relationships within his community of customers, so much so that when he experiences great difficulty, largely through no fault of his own, they rally around to support him. In our litigious culture of blame and extraction of money at almost any expense, it seems unlikely that such an incident could occur. Yet if we all pause for a moment to simply reflect on the sort of people we wish to be and to spend time with, isn’t it those who share a sense of honesty, trust and mutual connection?

What if?…

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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 [email protected]

Email me to get in touch

It’s A Wonderful LifeDominic2025-01-28T13:29:10+00:00

Relationships and Money

Money is a constant source of artistic material largely because of the power that it has over us. History has been formed on the basis of taking, defending but rarely creating. Empires, Kings and Queens, Dictators all thrive and feed off the power that money provides. Our society is built upon the need for money and progress within it is invariably reliant upon it.

It is fairly difficult to escape the value system that money provides. Our legal system is founded upon protecting property, not necessarily people. Ownership and its legal entitlement are the basis for building wealth. A walk around London, or most British cities, at this time of year exposes an alarming number of homeless, rough sleepers. Yet we live in one of the world’s richest societies

SOLOMONS-financial-advice-what-we-do-2012-3

Awareness of Lack

We all struggle to find our own sense of balance and place in society. Some are better at achieving this than most, becoming gurus to finding peace of mind or a state of contentment. No easy feat in a world in which we are bombarded by messages designed to make us feel anxious. We anaesthetize ourselves with a new purchase, providing temporary relief to make us feel better. We walk the tightrope of an awareness of lack and soothing this with a pursuit of more, however small or insignificant. There are few better examples of this internal war than within my own field of financial services.

Acts of Loving

Any relationship with another person, particularly one which involves the formation of a marital partnership, will experience the pressure and exposure of differing views about money and how it is handled, or indeed what it represents. For some, money represents love. So it follows that spending and extravagance are merely demonstrations of that love. For others, it represents security and provision, so acquiring more (spending less) demonstrates love. No religion is immune from money, some selecting an approach of more is a blessing and less is a punishment. Others that less (or none) and reliance upon deity for the next meal and a place to rest a weary head each night is true spirituality. In short there is a very varied spectrum of values that in turn form the basis of our beliefs and actions when it comes to how money is handled and thought about.

Peace of Mind

So it is little wonder that most of us struggle with our relationship money. We are aware that there are enormous differences, culturally, socially, economically, politically, financially and spiritually. Our personal values are shaped by our upbringing and the context of our place in history. So when I talk in (what can seem bland) terms about “peace of mind” I am of course meaning a sense of balance. A balance between what you have disclosed to be your values and how this inter-relates with ongoing actions that you take within a financial context. Actions that you have taken to demonstrate love and care, for yourself, others and wider society. Dare I suggest that a financial plan might be an act of love itself?

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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 [email protected]

Email me to get in touch

Relationships and MoneyDominic2025-01-28T13:29:10+00:00

Professional Adviser of the Year Awards 2017

Professional Adviser Awards 2017

I’m pleased to inform you that Solomons has been short-listed again as a finalist for the Professional Adviser Awards 2017 in the category for firm of the year – London. That’s now the fourth year in a row! Once again we are keeping some very good company with some of the best firms in London. Last year we were runner up (again) and once again I am not expecting to win – though of course I would love it if we did! This year’s short-list is also a little longer – twelve firms were short-listed.

As I have been asked in the past about how we were short-listed, in order to get this far a case study had to be submitted to the examiners. This year it was set by Jacqueline Lockie, who is the current Deputy Head of Financial Planning at CISI (Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment).

You can see the detail of the announcement here, should you wish to do so.

Professional Adviser is one of the better information services for UK-based regulated financial advisers, offering swift and comprehensive insight into developments in the financial services sector and aimed at those that generally advise “ordinary investors”. PA advise that the event is one of the industry’s best attended (and most respected) awards ceremonies every February.

Short-listed

The awards are broken into geographic regions; I have broken these down as best as I can from previous FCA information about the number of firms in each region. The FCA break the regions down a little further, with Yorkshire, West Midlands, East Midlands and Eastern all being separate categories. This is based on 5,718 firms in total throughout the UK. There are roughly 24,000 qualified advisers working at these firms.

LONDON – 899
SOUTH EAST – 598
SOUTH WEST – 768
MIDLANDS & EAST ANGLIA – 1,342
NORTH EAST – 645
NORTH WEST – 592
SCOTLAND & NORTHERN IRELAND – 641
WALES – 233

There is also an award for the overall firm of the year. Last year this was won by the firm that pushed us into second place. In all honesty, my view about awards is that they are largely a marketing gimmick, however, the PR and acknowledgement, even if somewhat questionable is welcome and hopefully conveys to our clients that we are well regarded within the field.

The award ceremony isn’t held until Thursday 9th February 2017.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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 [email protected]

Professional Adviser of the Year Awards 2017Dominic2023-12-01T12:18:59+00:00

Does your financial plan make your heart sing?

If you grew up in the 70’s or 80’s there’s a new film that might stir a few memories. Sing Street is set in Dublin in the mid-80’s a secondary schoolboy finds his muse and musical inspiration from an imploding family life.

It’s the sort of movie that touches the familiar and a rite of passage that most of us traverse at some point in adolescence. However it is also a reminder to seize the day and not be swayed by the bullies or those that would otherwise wish to determine your course rather than address their inability to see one for themselves.

As an adult, I increasingly find myself staring at someone I barely recognise in the bathroom mirror, yet generally don’t find myself “thinking old”. Indeed almost everyone I meet at some point tells me that they do not think their age. Our own internal projections of self are often a contrast to the external. Of course with age sometimes comes wisdom, but certainly experience – which invariably alters our behaviour and attitudes, we are not who we once were. We have become responsible, whether through choice or necessity.

Sensible and Sensibility?

We know that we need to budget, save and build a pension, all laudable but fairly dull right? Sometimes being an adult isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, to be care-free certainly has its appeal, yet we know that our conformity is inevitably necessary. Financial products smack of everything that is “sensible” (at least the good ones) but they really are very dull and few would really wish to spend long discussing them.

However a good financial planner brings attention to your purpose – beyond simply repaying the mortgage and bills, confronting the question – what is your purpose? And what makes you come alive? For me this is a little reminiscent of adolescence, feeling on the cusp of huge potential. There are plenty willing to tell us what is and what is not possible, but a dream with a plan of action is invariably the difference between indifference and achievement. Sing Street is a triumph. Your financial planning can be too.

Here is the official trailer, you may have to hunt the film out as it isn’t showing in many cinemas (its blockbuster season) but its worth the effort.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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 [email protected]

Does your financial plan make your heart sing?Dominic2025-01-28T14:35:47+00:00

The Master Builder

The Master Plan

Perhaps it has something to do with the start of a New Year, or perhaps it is simply a case of my awareness of the ageing process is becoming more pertinent; but there seems to be a lot of “stuff” about ageing and the need for a master plan for life.

Ralph Fiennes is currently starring in Ibsen’s “The Master Builder” at the Old Vic. I managed to see this on Monday night, it was very well performed with Fiennes having a huge amount of dialogue to remember. However… perhaps I’m a philistine, but I simply didn’t get it.

The play, (which I haven’t read) centres on a man (Halvard Solness) who, frankly, has some “issues”. Somewhat of a control freak and ultimately has a bit of a god-complex. In essence he is a possessive man, who believes that by wishing something he makes it come true.

He has risen to “power” (in the days of small-town notoriety) through hard work and “good luck” (and the misfortune of others) despite having no qualifications, simply mastering the skills “on the job”. However, he holds the view that this success has a price, which I guess is Ibsen’s attempt at discussing the price of success. The price, that is paid, seems largely to be fear of the constant younger generation taking what he has.

Get out of the way…

Ultimately, Solness does indeed lose everything to the clamour of the younger generation, but totally through his own unfathomable actions. This involves a rather strange relationship with a young girl, Hilda Wangel, who can only be described as mad or at best delusional. Indeed at one point I wasn’t sure if she wasn’t simply meant to be a figment of his imagination, but as others talk with her, I assume that this isn’t the case.

I’m sure that some freudian references could be made to the relationship that Solness has with Wangel, her assertion of his ability to build towers, her apparent disregard for marriages and his confusion about his signficance, whilst she inspires him to new heights of potency.

A better bit of thoughtful planning?

I suppose the play reveals some lessons about marriage or relationships generally. The rather obvious need to communicate, and in particular not to avoid talking about the really important things (unlike Solness) which perhaps would have laid the foundations for a proper “life plan” to work on together.

Financial planning is essentially doing just that. If it’s done well, it will reflect your values. To date I haven’t discussed whether a successful financial plan has a price, in the sense of some form of karmic balance (a yin to the yang) but clearly any choice has a sense of this to it. Saving means not spending it all. Investing means taking a patient long-term view not than the short-term gain. Unlike Solness, wishful thinking has no part in a good financial plan – and a decent planner will help you remain grounded, not building castles in the sky.

The Master Builder is playing at the Old Vic until 19th March 2016. I’d be interested to hear your take on it! Fiennes is typically brilliant with a strong cast.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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 [email protected]

The Master BuilderDominic2025-01-27T16:09:34+00:00

Everbody Dies

Everybody dies

As uncomfortable as it is, everybody dies. Perhaps one of the more significant life lessons is that death is a part of life, it comes to us all, everyone and everything. This truth is not one which we like to face, yet it meets us every day. We are careful (most of us) to try to avoid death – driving carefully, getting smoke alarms, going to the gym, avoiding “danger”. We have all known someone who is no longer living, we have experienced loss. We are all aware of the daily news of death, disaster and destruction as it happens to other people, somewhere else. Then someone who we all “know” dies and “the world” (by which I mean media) is full of lament and surprise.

I’m often challenged by the deaths of famous people. In part I want to acknowledge their contributions to whatever they “did” which of course is only an element of their lives (and I am passionate about the arts – as anyone that knows me will attest). I also find it confusing or perhaps perplexing – how whilst on this very same day, something like 151,600 people die around the world, about 55.3 million a year. These are not unknown people, but simply not known by many – like you and I.

Counting and Make it Count

We do live in a strange world, where the deaths of thousands become almost irrelevant compared to the death of just one. I’m not suggesting that we should not take note, pay our respects, but surely the rather more important reminder of a lesson we have already learned, is that life is short so spend the time you have wisely. The question is never if, but when.

Financial planning is not magic, it will not help you to live forever. It is essentially helping you to focus on what you value as important and attempting to ensure that those things happen. Life expectancy statistics are something that I discuss with clients, these are nothing more than the average age of someone when they die. An average – so many will be more and many will be less. Life’s greatest mystery is not death, but how you decide to use yours.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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 [email protected]

Everbody DiesDominic2025-01-27T16:09:40+00:00

Experience of a Lifetime

Experience of a lifetime

Well, here we are in December. The world remains in a state of anxiety about a plethora of challenges and even here in Britain, many are suffering from the weather conditions which make for a difficult Christmas.

Christmas reminds me of many things, the nagging feeling that Christmas seems to have arrived quickly and that time is moving along all too rapidly. Whilst many are struggling simply to find shelter this Christmas, much like the central characters in the nativity story, I am reminded how harsh life can be for many people and how quickly circumstances can change. 2015 has certainly had more than its share of crisis and disaster.

Whilst our media and deep mid-Winter are full of bleakness, I remain thankful that I live in the relative safety of Britain, despite all our problems. Yet I am also reminded that life is indeed short and there are still many places that I’d like to see and things I wish to “witness”. Apart from the usual trappings, the Christmas break is also an opportunity to reflect on the coming year, for many this will include planning your next holiday, perhaps one from your bucket list?

Trip of a Lifetime

One of my clients runs a boutique travel business and it occurred to me that there are a number of similarities in what we do. There are certainly lots of questions about where you want to go and importantly an independent mindset that is able to put together suitable great experience. What I had not appreciated was that it actually costs the same amount whether you use the expertise or not. I have certainly used the web to book holidays in the past, spending hours, trawling through endless options, but simply had not appreciated that someone else could do this for me, an expert, and it wouldn’t cost any more!

Mercator Travel have several brands which they use to focus their expertise on specific regions of the world. For example, south or central America is currently a great destination for those seeking something memorable and rather different. If you are anything like me, I have forgotten what I gave and received last Christmas, yet I never forget holiday experiences.

As a boutique business, they place great emphasis on creating a wonderful experience and getting all the little details right. Apart from ensuring that your trip is planned perfectly, the business is built around providing a top drawer service, with the aim, like every good business of creating a great reputation and clients that return. So if you are considering a great trip in 2016 may I suggest that you check out a couple of their websites.

Just in case you think there’s something in it for me – there isn’t. I am interested in helping all of our clients, profiling those that run small independent businesses and of course those wishing to get more from life with a lot less hassle. Do give them a call on 01932 424252.

Postcards from the Edge…

Financial planning isn’t meant to be dull, its about your life and helping you to figure out what you want from it. This is often difficult for most people to verbalise, there’s something within our British-ness that makes most of us reluctant to express this. How you spend and give your money is one of our freedoms and invariably for the vast majority there is often an unspoken connection of shared experiences and a sense of purpose just beneath the surface. There is little point in building up wealth if you don’t get to use it.

One of my peers shared an idea with me that he finds works well with his clients. He asks them to send him a postcard from wherever they have been. He displays these in a book in his reception. The idea being that there is a huge variety of clients and the places they visit yet all share the freedom to enjoy some of the money that they have worked hard to save. He gets lots saying “enjoying spending the inheritance… pension” or whatever. The point being that financial planning when done well brings the freedom to make empowered financial decisions – many of them are a lot of fun. So perhaps I will ask you to do this in 2016 as well.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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 [email protected]

Experience of a LifetimeDominic2025-01-28T14:35:49+00:00