Are you falling in love with a scammer?

Jemima Thomas
June 2024  •  3 min read

Romance scams – preying on the kind hearted

I apologise if I’m becoming the bi-monthly agony Aunt in reminding you about the importance of financial trust in romantic relationships; but being able to trust your partner in any relationship is imperative. It’s also important to remind those of you who are single, divorced or widowed that it is vital that you’re not taken advantage of when establishing a new relationship.

We know that you, our clients, trust our advice and expertise, which is why we’d like to think that if any significant financial decisions needed to be made – you’d get in touch with us.

Unfortunately, preying on the kind-hearted isn’t at all unusual in the landscape of financial scams and fraud. We hope that all our clients would call us if you were getting a ‘gut feeling’ when something doesn’t seem or ‘feel’ quite right. We are here to reassure you on things and to flag up anything out of the ordinary to prevent you coming to any ‘financial harm’.

Lloyds Bank research shows that the number of people falling for so-called ‘romance scams’ rose by over 22% in 2023 (on the previous year).  The statistics revealed that men and women aged 55-64 were the most likely group to be tricked by “fraudsters masquerading as love interests”.  However, it is 65-74 year olds who lose the most money in these scams, giving away an average of over £13,000.

The fraud prevention director at Lloyds Bank, Liz Ziegler, weighs in:

“Targeting those looking for love is a cruel, but sadly common, way for fraudsters to cash in. Scammers can be incredibly convincing and leave their victims both emotionally and financially drained’’.

I appreciate that this is a delicate topic; some people loathe to talk about such personal circumstances with their financial adviser, but your relationships intertwine with your finances and we are very honoured that our clients are willing to share these details with us.  Rest assured – like a close friend or a doctor – your stories and questions will always be confidential and received without judgement.

On the same note, I would like to remind all of you about the importance of both parties (if in a couple) attending initial or annual review meetings with either Dominic or Daniel. It is crucial that nothing is ‘lost in translation’, and this way we can ensure that we keep everyone as included as possible.  For us, it is all about transparency and clarity for each and every one of you.

Are you falling in love with a scammer?2024-10-17T13:43:12+01:00

The big C

Dominic Thomas
June 2023  •  10 min read

The big C

If you have a television, it’s likely that at some point you will have watched an episode of ‘A Place in the Sun’ or the BBC’s ‘Escape to the Country’.  You know the format – a 30-minute programme that would take 10 minutes to watch if it wasn’t for the constant of reminder of what you have just watched. I never really understand why despite each property being unknown, one is specifically described as a mystery house. These are popular shows (to put it mildly). We Brits are obsessed with house ownership and most of us hold onto a fantasy that ‘somewhere else’ is probably a better place to live.

I learned recently that one of the presenters of ‘A Place in the Sun’, Jonnie Irwin, who turns 50 this autumn, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2020.  He has talked publicly about his illness and recently appeared on a podcast for insurance company AIG. Sadly, he does not have critical illness cover and is now on a mission to encourage people to get some. He believes it would help if advisers could ‘humanise’ the insurance, sharing stories about how it works and what their experience has been.

I think he has a point, and certainly in his professional life, he is adept at helping people imagine a better future for themselves. However, imagining a bleak future is obviously uncomfortable, something most of us try not to do preferring to leave this to dystopian books, films, TV shows and music. We simply prefer to ignore or deny uncomfortable truths, thinking “it will never happen to me”.

I’m 54.  I don’t know if it’s unusual, but I have already lost many friends my own age to cancer. I’m guessing you know at least one person that has too.  I have critical illness cover; I provide it for the team here as a standard benefit. It’s not cheap and frankly, I hope it’s a waste of money, because if it isn’t, then there has been a major, unwanted life event.

Over the last three decades, I have had to deal with various claims against cover that I arranged for clients. Not all of them died, some have recovered very well and whilst not forgetting the experience, it isn’t top of mind.

Given my background and when I started in financial services, selling products was what I was trained to do.  Rightly or wrongly, I have been somewhat reluctant to use sales ideas that make people feel uncomfortable within my own business. I often haven’t shared the details of fairly harrowing stories of things that might prompt you taking out more cover (or some). I hate being manipulated and I struggle with the tension of using a true story that is designed to encourage you to get more insurance (even if we do remove commission). For that, I apologise. I have a drawer full of stories and with permission, I will share a few, not with the intention of getting a sale (we don’t even arrange protection policies these days – we refer you to a specialist broker); but to ensure you give this proper consideration.

I hope that Jonnie and his family find the miracle they seek.

If you would like to talk about financial protection, please get in touch.  If you already know what you want and need, then head over to our professional connections page and give Cura a call or email.

The big C2023-12-01T12:12:32+00:00

TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENT

TODAY’S BLOG

TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS

We are gradually attempting to increase efficiency by minimising the actions required to get things done. We have adopted electronic signatures for documents where this is possible. This makes life considerably easier for you – no need to sign and post a form. We are using DocuSign, which is one of the leading software providers for this sort of secure signature process.

You automatically get a pdf to save on your computer, but invariably we will also save a copy to your file within our portal.

DOCUSIGN

The process takes a few moments, most of the forms we use are ones that you will have seen regularly, but are often required for tax-year payments, ongoing declarations of your tax status and UK residence as well as our fees.

If you have any difficulties using the DocuSign system, please do not hesitate to contact the team on 0208 542 8084 or send an email to debbie@solomonsifa.co.uk and we will be very pleased to help.

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 info@solomonsifa.co.uk

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk 
Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk    Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENT2023-12-01T12:13:08+00:00

DON’T LEAVE ME THIS WAY

DON’T LEAVE ME THIS WAY

The death of a loved one is one of life’s great traumas. The sudden and unexpected loss of someone that you care deeply for is something that creates waves of grief that alter over time but may never end. The essence of the human condition involves coming to terms with death in life. The stuff of poetry.

We know that one day our time will come. We prepare for the expected arriving unexpectedly. Those that have a family, a partner, a liability or a business would all be wise to prepare and plan. I often wonder why it is that so few of us are able to talk about this prospect clearly with those that are immediately impacted.

Solomons IFA blog review of Widows.

Talking isn’t enough

Talking about such events and scenarios is hugely valuable with the advantage of hindsight, but talking is rarely enough, taking action and implementing suitable arrangements to ensure that things go as planned is priceless. This is the what clients often mean when they describe having a sense of “peace of mind”.

The Widow’s Mite… 

When things are not discussed and little if any action is taken, life can be so much harder and of course raises mixed feelings about the one that has died, not having to struggle with the consequences. The new film by Steve McQueen “Widows” is based on this problem. A gang of criminals are killed and leave their families without any financial security. Worse than this they owe money to some ruthless men. The widows are forced to plot a course for their own survival. This may be an extreme situation, few people are really going to be left having to commit crime to survive, but many are left in positions that could have so easily been secure. Money offers choice, it offers security in the form of the number of options available. It is not security itself and of course doesn’t replace anyone.

As a movie, Widows is marketed as a film about women taking back control. There’s some degree of truth in this, it is certainly a reflection of aspects of life in the US today. Certainly, the scenes of trigger happy Police and the gun purchase fair all seem rather poignant. However, there was way too much room on the screen for relatively inconsequential male characters – notably Jack Mulligan played by Colin Farrell, it is also pretty violent, be warned.

Here is the trailer for the new film Widows.

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 info@solomonsifa.co.uk

DON’T LEAVE ME THIS WAY2023-12-01T12:17:41+00:00

Start with the end in mind

Start with the end in mind

I think it was Stephen Covey that coined the phrase “start with the end in mind”,  I’m sure others thought of it before, but he certainly used it successfully. When it comes to financial planning,  it is where most good financial planners begin.. but being British, it’s arguably one of our last taboos… how we think of death.

For many, the last year (2016) was full of high profile celebrity deaths. Hardly any of us actually knew these people, but we probably saw some of their work with varying degrees of impact.

At the end of the year Carrie Fisher died rather unexpectedly, followed 24 hours later by her grieving mother Debbie Reynolds. It was, and is, a poignant moment. One of the questions that I didn’t expect to ask myself was “what happened to the estate?” (as of now, I don’t know). If the estate was set up like most, the children are normally the beneficiaries… so I wondered what happened to Carrie’s estate which was then presumably a recipient of her mother’s – at least in part. An interesting case for the lawyers and an eager death duty office.

Lessons Learned from 2016?

Despite all the outpouring on social media and around dining tables about the sadness at the loss of X, Y or Z, there was no evidence that anyone prepared their own ending any more thoughtfully. There was no sudden demand for Wills or life assurance, or end of life plans.

According to ABI data, the UK is the fourth largest market for insurance. In 2015 129,000 families or individuals received a payment from protection products. Now I’m guessing that those that have some cover, probably have more than one policy. So there may be some doubling up with the data, but in any event the ONS reported 529,655 deaths for England and Wales in 2015 (up 5.6% on 2014 and the largest increase since 1968). So whilst clearly not everyone dies with dependents or liabilities, a significant number had no cover at all.

Most people do not have enough cover

Despite the warnings all around, that death eventually comes to us all, some much sooner than expected, most of us do not really give it too much thought. Its one of the easiest things to put off. Sadly I have seen the results of unexpected and early deaths and the impacts on families and whilst money would never replace a person, it would certainly have provided a very different future for the family left behind.

Don’t ignore the signs. Start with the end in mind.

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 info@solomonsifa.co.uk

Start with the end in mind2023-12-01T12:18:56+00:00
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