DANIEL LIDDICOTT – THE TRAINEE FINANCIAL ADVISER

TODAY’S BLOG

DANIEL LIDDICOTT – TRAINEE FINANCIAL ADVISER…

Here is a video, filmed last year, giving a bit of an insight into my journey to Solomon’s via the world of private healthcare. In the video I share a little of my experience from my previous job and what I enjoyed, as well as explaining my route to becoming a fully qualified financial planner. Whilst my role is ever changing (even since having filmed this video!), I also describe how I have integrated with the team and continued to learn along the way.

Daniel Liddicott
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on our blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to us 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?

DANIEL LIDDICOTT – THE TRAINEE FINANCIAL ADVISER2023-12-01T12:12:46+00:00

Physical health as an analogy for financial health…?

PHYSICAL HEALTH AS AN ANALOGY FOR FINANCIAL HEALTH…?

Six years ago I felt a twinge in my hip and put it down to the ageing process … everything starts to hurt right?

As a precaution I went to see my GP and was diagnosed with a simple ‘Repetitive Strain Injury’. My doctor thought that the action of me getting into and out of my car was the cause (since that was when the pain was at its worst) so it was an understandable initial assessment.

So I followed her instructions about how to get in and out of the car in such a way as to not aggravate the hip joint.

Fast forward a few years and the discomfort had worsened and it was becoming more painful to climb stairs and walk for long periods.  A few years after that I wasn’t sleeping well and excruciating pain was radiating through my hip and thigh.

A visit to my GP just before the pandemic hit led to a referral and X-rays revealed that I had severe arthritis.  Delays during the pandemic meant that I wasn’t seen again for another year at which point I was referred for physio. I followed all the instructions and did all the exercises, but the writing was on the wall and I needed hip replacement surgery.

Many of you know that this took place in early May and I am currently in recovery.  The procedure was a success and I am pain-free for the first time in six years and I’m sleeping properly again!

So how did I come to the conclusion that there is an analogy here with financial planning?!

Well here’s the thing … a large proportion of the new enquiries we have received in recent years have said things like “I think I’m doing ok on my own but would like some reassurance about that” or “I know I need some help but I’m not sure what it is I really need” or “I’m not doing great and the time has come for some proper help”.

Our own efforts will only go so far – we can ‘manage’ pain (physical, psychological, financial) only up to a point.  We also convince ourselves that things will get better if we just do the right things and keep plugging away at it.

But that is not always the case – and often we find that intervention (from a professional or specialist) is the only way to stop a problem from becoming overwhelming; and in many cases remove the problem altogether.

Often new enquirers approach us a little sheepishly with an air of “I know I should have come to you sooner” … (a phrase I mumble to my GP almost every time I make an appointment)

It doesn’t matter whether you are a little late to the party – just turn up. Let us help. Use our expertise. Embrace the challenge of some uncomfortable questions. Enjoy the process of working towards being ‘pain-free’.

Our best moments at Solomon’s are when clients reach financial freedom or financial independence – where they no longer ‘walk with a limp’ and where they can sleep all night through.

That is why we do what we do and love doing it.

Debbie Harris
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

Physical health as an analogy for financial health…?2023-12-01T12:12:50+00:00

SORRY WE MISSED YOU

TODAY’S BLOG

SORRY WE MISSED YOU

The new Ken Loach movie “Sorry We Missed You” takes a scathing look at the life of the new gig-economy self-employed who are now a part of the service sector that we all use. Instantly you will sense that this is a political piece and you are probably right. Loach makes yet another bleak, grey but good little movie about the daily struggle to make ends meet. This story may jog your memory about snippets of information that you have picked up over the last couple of years. I can assure you that it will have an impact on your thinking for any online orders you make before Christmas.

Confession – I quite like Ken Loach. I have a great deal of empathy for what he seems to be trying to do. As far as I can gather, this is little more than calling to account a system that is simply not working for lots of very “ordinary people”. This movie is clear that some employers are abusive. I suspect you know this already to be true. Whilst one would argue that “workers rights” are largely the diet of the left-leaning, I haven’t met anyone that believes people should be treated as commodities, perhaps I don’t get out enough though.

Masters of the Universe

Ricky (Kris Hitchen) is fed up with being told what to do, a friend suggests he become a self-employed delivery driver. He can be his own boss. I may have misheard, but I think the deal is £150 a day for deliveries completed to satisfaction. The problem being that Ricky doesn’t have a van, he can rent one from his new sole customer (at £60 a day) or make his own arrangements. Ricky also has a tight schedule (set by others) which means he doesn’t have time for anything more than a 10-minute break in his 12-14 hour day. Worse still, he can only “not work” if he has arranged a driver to cover him or it’s a £100 fine and a “penalty”. The parcel tracking device is provided (it’s a requirement) but if lost must be paid for at £1,000. The parcels, once taken by the driver become a personal liability.

Return to sender

The benefits of self-employment quickly evaporate with a sense that in practice, Ricky is not in control of very much at all, yet has agreed to offer his services at guaranteed rates for guaranteed results. This is really the crux of the story and the resulting pressure. The employer has waived all responsibility and has rented labour at a lower cost than having proper employees.

Technology that liberates?

Amazon and other delivery drivers spring to mind. However Ricky’s wife Abbie (Debbie Honeywood) is a carer that is employed at arm’s length to care for (clean, bathe, feed) infirm people on set 30 minute slots (or less) and invariably this isn’t enough time to do the job properly or with any care, let alone get to the next “client” on time. As you may imagine, the fact that both husband and wife are running around working long hours attempting to keep to someone else’s schedule has a knock-on effect for their family and relationship.

I’m not a fan of “zero hours” contracts or the gig economy. I don’t like “internships” or unpaid labour with the hope/promise of better things. I think its abusive and I have little time for those that use it as their business model. That covers almost the entire media industry.

Sorry but I have a few questions…

I do have some questions for Loach. If Ricky earns £150 a day and is working 6 days a week. That’s £900 a week or £46,800 a year. Abbie also earns and so I wonder what is happening to their income. They missed out on buying a home in 2008 due to loss of his job, but quite what that was is unclear. However the inference is that the failure of Northern Rock and the credit crunch are partly to blame. There may well be some debt, but this is not explained. Teenage son Seb (Rhys Stone) goes from being “top of his class” to a truant, violent, petty thief – what happened there? When he and younger sister Lisa (Katie Proctor) state that they want things to return to “how they were” what does that mean? When?

Required: Thinking

To my mind Ricky and Abbie are taken advantage of. They may or may not be good with money and sums, frankly its impossible to say. They certainly care and seem like “decent people”. Even with the abusive employment, why don’t the drivers have rota for a shared replacement driver, so that they can actually take time off for important things? There is simply not enough to convince me that any of them really understand what “self-employment” is. Perhaps because everything about the work has the feel of employment without the reality.

The problem I have as a financial planner is that I suspect that some of the financial problems that Ricky and Abbie have could probably be easily addressed, but nobody has the time to stop to think, assuming they are able to do so. Perhaps “the job” could work for some but it certainly doesn’t for this family. I was moved by the story but left with questions about the how and why. Whilst Loach has a specific working-class focus, in practice the same stresses of post-modern life and inability to see the bigger picture can negatively impact any of us. Sadly, I suspect that this will be seen as little more than a critique of “big business” and “Government policy” yet the problems are far deeper than that, issues that need facing before any significant change can occur.

Anyway, here is the trailer. The movie is out now.

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?

SORRY WE MISSED YOU2023-12-01T12:17:06+00:00

Private Medical Insurance – Review Your Cover

Private Medical Insurance – Review Your Cover

Private Medical Insurance (PMI) is not an area of expertise – there are too many other things to master. Fortunately I do have a really good expert in this field that I refer work to. Private Medical Insurance can be very expensive – but so can the cost of private healthcare. We all know that some things are worth paying more for – in the case of PMI, this is particularly true, provided that you understand what you are covered for. This is one type of insurance that a comparison website is of little real value – because the key issue is whether the cover is any good.

Stephen Freedman is a Senior Account Manager with The Health Insurance Group, who specialize in both corporate and individual health insurance. Stephen, is a real expert in this field and is well worth speaking to about any PMI cover that you already have or if you are thinking of applying for cover.

This is an area of cover that is widely misunderstood. An FSA report from 2010 with data from 2008 reveals that the average PMI premium was £1,604 (which was an increase of 6.3% on the previous year, faster than inflation). In 2008 only 26% of all PMI was bought via an expert broker, the vast majority was bought online or direct. This probably explains the low average premium – which would be effected by the significant “direct sales”. My concern is that it is probable that most cover is not that good, being cost driven (cheapest) rather than quality driven – which is what this sort of cover is really all about. Obviously, if lower premiums for high quality cover can be achieved then this ought to be the goal, but this is where a thorough discussion of what is and what is not included is pretty vital.

If you would like Stephen’s details please send me an email and I can get him to contact you for a review of your cover

 

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

Private Medical Insurance – Review Your Cover2023-12-01T12:48:56+00:00
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