Lady Luck – The Domino Effect

Lady Luck – The Domino Effect

I have a growing awareness of my good fortune.  I might call it luck. This week I was on a training course and we had a very good talk about diversity. We examined the topic from several perspectives, but for the sake of time, this was for application to our own firms (how we employ and empower staff) and also for clients and prospective clients – how we engage in a way that is authentic and accessible.

There is no doubt in my mind that I am fortunate. Lucky to have many “natural” and geographic advantages. Lucky in so many ways and many that I will probably never truly appreciate.

The session prompted some thinking and will inform some of the decisions I make in the future. New, helpful, relevant information tends to do that, doesn’t it?

Luck is not a Superpower

On the train home, I thought about the new film “Deadpool 2”. OK, it probably isn’t everyone’s “cup of tea”. It is an ironic, send up of the superhero, by a superhero. Violent and full of choice language it pokes fun at itself and the cinematic world. There are many comedic moments, which are best understood in the context of superhero films, this is not really a family film, yet it is about family.

Domino (Zazie Beetz) claims that her superhero strength is “luck”. Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) mocks her, claiming that “luck is not a superpower… it’s not cinematic”. It is unreliable and outside of anyone’s control…yet Domino uses her natural skills which are enhanced by luck, which of course makes for an amusing sequence of events in the movie.

Checking back to real life, many of us may fail to appreciate the luck we have. Few can fully do so, some give it a different name. However, when it comes to reliability, luck sometimes isn’t a lady (Guys and Dolls). Luck is not a plan, it is not a super-strength and it definitely has no place in a financial plan, unless your plan is to gamble.

Coming to terms with Carnage

Markets are what they are, hostile for those that do not appreciate how they operate, they have their own “natural laws”. One is a correction. Equities are volatile, we need them to be, that is precisely what provides long-term growth and value. Yet almost everyone behaves as though it is your enemy. The media will fill its vacuum with tales of Armageddon like carnage that neither Deadpool or The Juggernaut could possibly match. Yet this is the unvarnished truth… markets are volatile, they fall, and they rise again… repeat, ker-ching…

The great untruth, is that risk can be removed, that there is growth without pain. Risk can only ever be swapped, not removed.

OK, so here is the trailer… click play at your own risk, lots of F-word and violence. You’ve been warned.

Oh.. if you do go to see the movie, as with all Marvel films, there is more to come within the long rolling credits.

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

Lady Luck – The Domino Effect2025-01-21T15:53:25+00:00

Year of the Monkey

Year of the Monkey

Today is the start of the Chinese New Year – the 8th February. It will be the year of the Monkey. I’m sure that many will be hoping that the Chinese economic slowdown will not cause further anxiety across global markets. Many will be very glad to see the back of the year of the goat (supposedly calm and gentle).

Traditional Chinese superstition suggests that when your zodiac sign comes up, you have an unlucky year. So as that’s every 12 years, anyone born in 2004, 1992, 1980, 1968, 1956, 1944, 1932 or 1920 (though that would mean you are 96 already). So anyone born in those years, will presumably be hoping that superstition is simply that, and there will be no discernible decrease in their “luck”. To make matters worse (or better) this is the year of the Fire Monkey – one that is ambitious and adventurous but irritable. Each zodiac sign also has a partner of five potential elements, (metal, water, wood, fire and earth) which come around every 60 years.

Destiny and Control

Admittedly I know little of the Chinese Zodiac, I seemed to recall that red was thought of as a lucky colour by the Chinese, apparently not if you are a “Monkey”…. And also avoid the numbers 2 and 7 and any containing them! However if its 4 or 9 you are in luck. This seems a little at odds with the suggestion that your lucky dates are the 14th and 28th of any Chinese lunar calendar month (even months 8 and 12 which are otherwise “unlucky”).

I guess we all have ways of coming to terms with aspects of life that are outside of our control so formula and superstition, particularly ancient ones, tend to offer some form of comfort and possibility of controlling that which cannot be controlled.

As for me, when I think of Monkey, I think of the rather strange TV series from the late 1970s of the same name and the 2008 theatrical opera “Monkey: Journey to the West” which Damon Albarn (Blur) wrote. Of course the 1995 movie “Twelve Monkeys” which was one of my favourite also comes to mind and is perhaps rather more relevant for those attempting to change the course of history through time travel.

Here’s the trailer for Twelve Monkeys and if you are Chinese, well Happy New Year!

 

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

Year of the Monkey2023-12-01T12:19:29+00:00
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