Flying Solo

Flying Solo

The new prequel-offshoot has finally landed in the UK. Solo is the backstory of Han Solo who together with Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, changed the face of sci-fi movies over 40 years ago. This is the new story of how Han became Solo.

The ancient writers used to use the creative license of “deus ex machina” where a story could be moved along, and plot flaws salvaged by the introduction of a person or thing appearing suddenly. As with all things sci-fi, the genre itself is of course open to almost any possibility, but time travel, lightspeed are all part of the backdrop.

At the very end of the movie, we are presented with a deus ex machina, where a character previously presumed dead from a prequel to the original series, is back, very much “alive”. For those that care, (and boy some Star Wars fans are particularly “protective”) this tends to mess with the timeline, or at least appears to. Let’s just say the character is half the one he was and likely to make a return at some point should the money require it.

Your Story, Your Timeline

In the real world of financial planning, we do not get the opportunity to radically alter your timeline. We will help you to consider your story and your future carefully, revealing when some of your goals can be achieved or if they are simply unrealistic. In short, we present multiple versions of a future that is yet to happen. Sadly, we cannot adjust the past, we cannot start the investment and savings plan that you should have started all those years ago. We cannot set up financial protection now that you have been diagnosed with something dreadful.

As we look forward with a new hope, it is flimsy unless some action is taken, some plans implemented, stuff gets done. The only way to address the future is to face it in the present, with the lessons from the past. What might they be? Invest in a diversified portfolio of equities, ideally within some form of tax reducing wrapper, become a part-owner of the best companies on planet earth.

As for Solo – well its ok, I enjoyed it, “not as good as the original” but it was a solid 6/10. Chewbacca’s standard roar/growl response probably nails it.

Here’s the trailer. Warning: contains lots of British actors.

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

Flying Solo2023-12-01T12:18:05+00:00

70 is the new 60…. well for the State Pension

70 is the new 60….for the State Pension

One wonders what we are doing to future generations. Today I read an article suggesting that the State pension age will inevitably become 70, all due to the fact that more people are living longer. The State pension age used to be 60 for women and 65 for men, this has undergone a period of “equalisation” and will be 65 for both men and women from 2018. As this ideological “hurdle” was achieved some time ago, successive Governments have simply made plans to extend the age at which a State pension is provided. The State pension age will be 66 by 2020 and 67 from 2028.

The reason is really two-fold, cost and longevity. The State pays pensions in various forms, the most obvious being the State pension, which now costs about £110bn a year. Disability pensions costs around £42.2bn and survivors pensions about £1.1bn, amounting to roughly £153.3bn which is about 20% of all Government spending and by far the largest component of Government spending. Details here (click).

Looking ahead

In essence anyone born since 1960 can expect to have to work longer. Given the increasing life expectancy and inherent problems with ageing, care costs are expected to soar, resulting in further dilemmas for Government about how to meet costs…. from a population that is having fewer children.

Episode IV – A New Hope

Consider those that graduated this summer and are just starting out on their careers, born in the early 1990’s they were only just teenagers when the credit crunch occurred the property boom had happened. If you understand my heading (refering to the very first Star Wars movie in 1977) this generation can be forgiven for thinking that the Star Wars films were made sequentially when episode I was actually released in 1999 – they were 7). Student loans are now part of their deductions each month, along with compulsory pensions. I don’t like to be a pessimist, but the generation just starting out have inherited the debts of previous Governments (currently interest payments are around £40bn a year), have little prospect of “getting on the property ladder” and an ageing population that received their State pension many years younger than they will. Any academic results they achieve are met with accusations of “easy exams” and employers seem almost eager to say “we cannot find good enough people”. Not even to mention the problems with the environment. I appreciate that you already know this.

The Breakfast Club

I am reminded of the 1985 film, “The Breakfast Club” written and directed by John Hughes, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. This was a group of teenagers held back in detention one Saturday morning and who eventually reveal the stories that brought them there. Vernon, the supervising teacher, representative of a now uncaring, disillusioned, bored older generation loathes the fact that he is also forced to spend his Saturday supervising misfits. He is caught by Carl, the caretaker, fishing through the personnel files hoping to find scandal that he can use against his peers. This results in a conversation between the two, in which he complains about the youth of today and ends with this dialogue.

VERNON: You think about this…when you get old, these kids; when I get old, they’re gonna be runnin’ the country.

CARL: Yeah?

VERNON: Now this is the thought that wakes me up in the middle of the night…That when I get older, these kids are gonna take care of me…

CARL: I wouldn’t count on it!

No… neither would I…. perhaps we all need to think rather more carefully about how we are planing not just our own future, but that of future generations… as Simple Minds remind in the closing title music – Don’t You Forget About Me. Perhaps there could be some redemption… even Darth Vader managed to salvage something with his own offspring.

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

70 is the new 60…. well for the State Pension2023-12-01T12:19:59+00:00
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