Is this The End?

Dominic Thomas
Jan 2026 • 3 min read

Is this The End?

One of the most difficult topics with new clients is a discussion about endings. Sometimes a new client is leaving an existing adviser or abandoning their former way of thinking about their finances; however you will probably gather that I’m more of the Stephen Covey persuasion … of starting with the end in mind. I encourage discussion about what will have been truly important when you reach the end of your life and look back on your decisions.

At the start of the month, I went to see a new play by David Eldridge at the Dorfman – National Theatre simply called End. It’s a single act with just two characters – Alfie (Clive Owen) and Julie (Saskia Reeves). I found it utterly engaging. Set in north London in June 2016, it’s a remarkable piece full of topical history and poignancy. Alfie and Julie are confronted with an inability to communicate well in the present for fear of the future and the legacy of the past; a very familiar condition. As the play only runs until 17^th January 2026 I doubt I will be providing many with problematic spoilers.

We quickly learn that Alfie has terminal cancer but has had enough of the treatment, therefore he is thinking about his ‘end’ and reminiscing, but perhaps romanticising it. He doesn’t want Julie or their daughter with him, therefore he will say his goodbyes and head off quietly, like cats do. He wants to be buried with his parents.

Julie is shocked at his reluctance to continue his treatment, she wants him to fight to live and has been scouring the internet for alternative treatments. She admits her own romanticised ideas of burial, but it wouldn’t be with her mother-in-law and she also notes what a practical problem it would be for her to make the trip to visit the site anyway.

As you might expect, there are heated and emotionally exhausting exchanges. We learn of their past relational problems, their disappointments with one another and their very deep real love. We learn of their careers, triumphs and setbacks, their ‘dirty laundry’ and some of their contradictions. Life and relationships are never without complexity if they are honest. The societal setting is also helpful – Brexit, the recent end of an era as Alfie’s team (West Ham) moved from Upton Park to the Olympic stadium and his particular taste in music, acting as a wonderful signifier of change. There are plenty of nods to the social forces that are about to be unleashed and how for many of us progressives, the London Olympics was the high point of the last five decades with a decline ever since.

Alfie and Julie just about manage to navigate the highly charged topic of impending death, something that many of us have experienced (and some of you very recently) and undoubtedly each audience will have been touched deeply by these experiences too; it is all too common and all too ordinary, but ordinarily ignored or avoided. Dashed hopes and expectations from a life that we have little real control over.

The truth is that great financial planning is about your ‘story’, wherever it may have started and whatever direction it may take. My role is to help you to clarify what is important, therefore bringing a sense of structure and direction – and then build the financial pathway to facilitate this, but of course, we cannot predict the future. I have a crystal ball in the office as a bit of a joke, but I rarely use it in a meeting (it’s a fairly lame joke and to be honest I forget about it!). The point is of course that on one hand we all would quite like to know the future, believing it would provide the illusion of comfort, but the reality is almost precisely the opposite. Knowing the future strips the unpredictability of life and its joy. The little that we can truly control and hope to master is our response. Much like you, Alfie and Julie, I am also a work in progress with much to learn. I wonder how your conversation’s going about the one certainty?

Therefore as we face a new year, which appears to have begun with more chaos, quite deliberately manufactured by a deranged right wing, I am mindful of the challenges to be confronted, whilst acknowledging that people are people and beliefs, however baseless, are rather difficult to change.

Is this the end? Yes and no. It is the end of something but the start of something else. What I do know is what you know … life is brief – so make the most of it. Was the play worth seeing? Most definitely, brilliant performances from both of them. You will probably be able to see it on the National Theatre streaming service. Here is their trailer which gives little away (as a trailer should!):

Ref: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/end/

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Is this The End?Jemima Thomas2026-01-20T13:45:24+00:00

The Times They Are A Taxing?

Dominic Thomas
Oct 2025 • 3 min read

The Times They Are A Taxing?

Tax is one of those hot topics that can be fairly divisive along political lines. Few of us relish the idea of paying tax, but nearly everyone loathes the idea of our taxes being wasted on vanity projects or things that seem out of line with our values or needs.

I recently had the pleasure of seeing Nye, a production at the National Theatre about the Welsh Labour MP who was responsible for creating the NHS. Given how many doctors I have met and advised over the years and how committed they are to their work, I was surprised to learn how few doctors in the late 1940s were initially supportive of his plans. I am, probably like you, extremely grateful for the NHS and the treatment and care that I have had over the years. Of course it has many faults and flaws, but like all great things it is a work in progress.

Whilst the play, starring Michael Sheen, has now concluded its sell-out run, it is still available to watch on the excellent streaming service from the National Theatre (very good value at £100 a year).

You may remember the fabulous opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, created by Danny Boyle, a time when being English made me rather proud and flags were welcoming. There was a great segment honouring the NHS with giant beds and dancing doctors and nurses, a real celebration of one of our best institutions.

It took courage, passion and compromise to create the NHS – agreeing to make doctors the highest paid professionals, whilst retaining their independence and ability to work outside the NHS. It also took tax – at a time when Britain and the world was being rebuilt brick by brick, street by street. Rationing hadn’t even ended – not officially ending for another six years after the NHS was born (4 July 1954).

Today the NHS has approaching 1.4m members of staff with a budget approaching £200bn and serving 66 million of us. Most Americans (the sensible ones) recognise just how lucky we are to have our NHS, a medical problem in the US may well see your family bankrupted without sufficient private insurance.

Tax can be used extremely well and it’s clear that different nations have alternative views and approaches. It would seem that the majority of politicians have given up on trying to do difficult things, instead opting for pat answers and deferring decisions (or indecision). The NHS is regularly a political football and the media coverage that it often receives can only leave a discerning mind questioning the motives of billionaire media owners who live abroad (well maybe simply drawing obvious conclusions). In the pandemic we saw the incredible bravery of medics as they tackled an unknown virus without the right equipment, we clapped and thanked and then many forgot.

So I am hereby giving my heartfelt thanks to those of you who work within the NHS, as GPs, Junior Doctors, Consultants, nurses, psychologists, psychotherapists, OTs and managers (I hope I haven’t missed any of you out). Whether you are retired or still fighting the good fight, THANK YOU! My family, friends and I have all benefitted from your collective wisdom, care and the pursuit of good medicine and good science.

So let us remember that our taxes, as painful as they may sometimes be (and I would be the first to suggest that the tax system is desperately broken) are doing tremendous good, every minute of every day. The NHS should not be for sale.

References:

2012 Olympic Ceremony video: https://www.youtube.com/live/4As0e4de-rI?si=VwY32f_03psef0F0

Nye: National Theatre Trailer: https://nye.ntlive.com/trailer/

National Theatre at Home: https://www.ntathome.com/

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The Times They Are A Taxing?Jemima Thomas2025-10-10T15:53:03+01:00

CRASHING PRACTICE

Solomons-financial-advisor-wimbledon-blogger

CRASHING PRACTICE

It has now been ten years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the investment bank at the centre of the credit crunch. The impact of this has been felt here in Britain with years of austerity, tax rises and pay cuts. You and I have lived with the consequences and are mindful that it may happen again.

In reality a market crash happens about 25% of the time and despite required regulatory warnings that the value of investments may go down as well as up, the reality is that they will fall in value and they will rise in value. Fact. The issue is not if they will but when and why. As a financial planner I am sorry to tell you that those offering to know when or why are delusional fraudsters. We only know after the event and frankly, even then we may not truly understand why.

Time in the markets, not timing the markets

The unvarnished truth is that over time, over decades, investment in mainstream equities rise in value. This is proven time and time again. However, few of us are very good at thinking long-term and obsess over the short-term. This is for good reason – we can relate much more readily to the short-term and cope better planning for it, but thinking longer-term and much further ahead proves very difficult for us. Inevitably investors are persuaded by the short-term reality more than the long-term probability.

The Lehman Trilogy

It is timely that “The Lehman Trilogy” by Stefano Massini was shown at the National Theatre to “sell out” audiences. So much so that the production is moving to the Piccadilly Theatre in May next year. The play charts the early beginnings of Lehman’s, arriving in New York. Their story is familiar. In 1844 Hayum Lehmann arrives with nothing, moves to Alabama and starts a modest shop selling equipment to farmers. Along with the new business is a new name Henry Lehman is born or created. His brother Mendel follows a couple of years later and finally Mayer arrives in 1850. Lehman Brothers.

150 years in the making

Their story unfolds, experiencing the ups and downs of commercial life, but also reflecting the wider society and the development of business and capitalism. Disaster and opportunity meet along the way, the business diversifies becoming a cotton buyer and then trader. Experiencing blight, fire and the American Civil War, using maths and credit to smooth the path from the present to the future, eventually becoming a bank in 1867 to help rebuild the nation. Agricultural know-how becomes financing of business. Throughout all challenges, adapting and surviving. In many respects Lehman’s practiced crashing – regularly experiencing very dire trading circumstances, yet confused survival for skill and ultimately began to believe that they could not pick anything but winners…

The story is wonderfully presented by Sam Mendes and the three actors (Simon Russell Beale, Ben Miles and Adam Godley) were brilliant. A single, rotating minimalist set and the audience is transported through time, which you should allow 3 hours to cover 150 years that is very well spent. If you get the chance to see it in 2019, I would recommend getting tickets early. Here is a link to the ATG ticket booking site if you are interested.

Here is Sam Mendes talking about the production at the National Theatre.

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]

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CRASHING PRACTICEDominic2025-01-27T16:25:16+00:00

Julie – a matter of trust

Julie

I noted in social media last week that a fight broke out in the balcony of the Lyttleton Theatre between two male members of the audience at the end of a performance of Julie. I already had a ticket booked, but of course wondered, whether it was something about the play…

I can report that the acting was rather good, (Vanessa Kirby and Eric Kofi Abrefa to name two key performances) but to be blunt, this was a play that I simply did not care for. The dialogue was awful and reminded me of various unpleasant characters. It was meant to be reworking of August Strindberg’s play Miss Julie, but it felt dated and done before, many times before, but rather better.

The basic background premise is one of a sense of being trapped by circumstance. In this case rich it-girl with the traumatic experience of being the first to find her mother following her suicide. We can only guess why, but mine is that the mother also felt trapped in a life of luxury, lacking any meaning or any significant connection with her obviously wealthy, materially successful but invariably absent husband. The resulting wealth used as the justification for a lack of presence. The price of “success” and the excesses are its ongoing punishment.

Held in Trust

Julie, who has no money of her own, because it is held in Trust “because she is irresponsible with it”. She certainly is irresponsible, but whether this came before or after the Trust fund is one of the few talking points. I’m not a fan of Trusts (a bit odd for a financial planner to admit) but living from someone else’s money rarely has a good outcome and to put it bluntly, those that do best are the legal advisors, all (mainly) to avoid the clutches of a divorcing spouse, which from my point of view merely sets up the prospect of not living with the consequences of actions. A Trust might be a suitable metaphor for many elements of the play, the lack of trust between parent and adult child, the lack of trust between a self-serving man and a woman. The lack of real trust between a socialite and her maid… I could go on. Trust is quickly sacrificed for pleasure, or perhaps relief from the trappings of situation.

Do You Trust the Trustee Savings Bank?

So, who to trust? What is the price of trust and should you ever trust anyone? The truth is that we all must, being human we will be failed, but not trusting makes for miserable existence, albeit possibly right in a few instances. Trusting any adviser is hard, trusting someone else with your money is one of the most difficult realities. Consider the recent muck up at TSB – Trustee Savings Bank, an utter fiasco. Advisers and the financial services industry must do an awful lot to shift the default setting of “mistrust”. Yet when it comes to your financial planning, this is what you need to remove. Any decent adviser will build trust over the years, by keeping promises, doing what they said they would do, looking after all your financial “stuff” and communicating in plain words.

A Problem of Wealth

One of the natural problems of having a significant amount of wealth, is that it tends to attract the wrong people, like bees to a honeypot. The opening scene of Julie reveals a birthday party composed of people that she neither knows nor likes, friends they are not. We can all probably think of people that have been parted from their money by their acquaintances.

Never underestimate the positive power of a proper financial fiduciary. Its not simply what we do, its also what we do not do, which includes not putting a hand in the till – or in this case the blender.

Here’s a promotional video from the National Theatre for Julie.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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Julie – a matter of trustDominic2025-01-21T15:48:30+00:00

Money and Power

Perhaps my age is showing, but it is only day 6 of the new year and I am already fed up with the election campaign. I ought to be celebrating our democracy and the opportunity to hear reasoned arguments, however inevitably we seem stuck in a cycle of who will tax or cut most, the prospect of genuine change and improvement for all seems rather unlikely with the inevitable tension around money and power.

In a more reflective moment, I remind myself that this is not a dictatorship and we at least get to vote and I don’t really think we are at the mercy of a despot who has anger issues and a twitching finger poised over an end-all button. This isn’t the case for millions of “voters” around the world who are marched off to vote for egomaniacs. This in mind, a relatively new musical to arrive via New York at the National Theatre “Here Lies Love” is based on a 2010 concept album of the same name, which gives musicals a nightclub injection. If you think that a nightclub is exclusively for the “young” perhaps think agains as, the creators Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) is 51 and David Byrne is 62. The production has the flavour of community theatre, with the execution of high-end night club. A moving stage and audience, all combine to great effect and an entertaining, immersive experience.

Imelda Marcos

This is the story of Imelda Marcos, her rise and fall from power. Byrne and Cook wanted to explore what makes powerful people behave the way they do. I’m not so sure that this was explored terribly well, whilst displaying a delusional, drugged up Imelda, she isn’t portrayed that badly – a little bit too vanilla in Manilla – little about her excessive flamboyancy and penchant for hundreds of shoes. The story is chronological, revealing the fragility of her marriage, her inability to cope with her rags to riches story and a familar narcissism of Heads of State that seem to believe that they “give their all to their people”.

The Price of Democracy

There was little in the musical that gave me reason to believe such behaviour was understood or how to spot it in others and take precautionary action…so no tips for our elections. The world seems to have done little during the period of martial law and assassination of the opposition including the shooting of Benigno Aquino on the steps of his ill-advised return flight to Manilla on 21 August 1983 (age 50) which you may remember. In the Philippines, the Marcos regime was eventually cast out by a peaceful protest, following a corrupt election (February 1986) against Aquino’s widow following which the public simply decided enough was enough. Marcos and his family took US advice and support then fled to Hawaii along with 24 suitcases of gold bullion and jewellery. Sadly for Imelda this took precedent over her 2,700 pairs of shoes. It is estimated that Marcos stole over $10billion from the country, much was invested into various family related businesses and Swiss accounts. The Swiss have so far returned about $684 million. So for me, this musical, whilst being entertaining does little to understand how and why power corrupts so absolutely. Indeed one might argue that the catchy tunes, flashing lights distract from the real story… but then, perhaps that’s the point.

Dominic Thomas

Money and PowerDominic2023-12-01T12:39:50+00:00