How Was it for You? My First Podcast Interview

Dominic Thomas
Post written: March 2026 • Updated: June 2026
3 min read

How Was it for You? My First Podcast Interview

I was asked to do a podcast interview for Adviser 3.0, which is a podcast aimed at financial planners, so a relatively small audience. I was concerned that I wouldn’t have much to say of value, which gave me some anxiety about how I might be received by my peers. I don’t run the biggest or most profitable firm, I don’t have ambitions to conquer the UK or have any brilliant new technology to offer. I don’t have a book, podcast or software to promote, I am not the most qualified or revered expert, I have a track record, experience and yet still make mistakes, still face struggles, still fail to have brilliant answers to age old problems. So a sense of vulnerability through exposure provided me with a sense of “I have little of new value to contribute”. The fact that I verbalised this to the team at Adviser 3.0 was met with reassurance, but if I’m honest, didn’t negate the feelings. So I was curious about how things would go.

Imposter Syndrome – But I’m Still A Work In Progress

The interview was OK, it wasn’t designed to be interrogatory, or particularly investigative. I am not good at assessing my own performance, I can assure you that I have no harsher critic than myself, I know what I can be capable of and am often disappointed by the reality.

The experience was a new one for me, held in a proper Shoreditch studio, with a technician, but also being filmed. I quickly appreciated what I knew to be true, (but had not experienced) that this isn’t normal discourse, where ideas and thoughts are exchanged back and forwards across a table, but the requirement for precision, clarity of thought and structure. I’m not media trained.

As topics were raised, I responded in the moment as best I could, but was conscious of lacking a sharpness that is often desired for these things. I moderated my tone and language (or tried to) with the aim of drawing others in rather than being confrontational and abrasive to prompt response (which is my default setting). On reflection, it felt as though each subject was very lightly touched upon, I didn’t make enough of them and I felt that I’d been a bit too lightweight. I didn’t provide enough “a-ha” moments or friction and to be honest, to me everything is connected – money, power, culture, technology, the planet and our own human need to make sense of things. I felt that I wasn’t feisty or provocative enough.

On reflection, (which for me means a disturbed night of little sleep, waking at 4am to ponder getting up to reflect more formally) I found myself wishing that I had made some better choices about what was said, phrased things better, offered up better examples and personalised the challenges rather more. I wish my mind was not so full (or scattered) that I couldn’t readily recall the material that supported my positions, or the anecdotes and metaphors that may have helped add weight and colour.

Controversy Gets Attention

It wasn’t a bad experience, it was “OK enough”. It’s not going to be a hugely successful podcast for them (if they deem it fit to even use it). I understand why controversy works. Like all skills, I need more practice and unfortunately that means more work, a lot of it, on the way I do these things. My ego will take a few dents and some will attempt to be reassuring and kind. I know I can do better and it’s important to me, because my clients and team are important to me. I want to be clear in communicating; genuinely listening properly, deeply and helping to shape thoughts and hopes whilst acknowledging fears, reality and uncertainty. As I knew would be the case, I reaffirmed that I have much to improve upon.

So this is the start of that. You can view the interview here if you wish, the podcast is not designed for clients, but for advisers, helping us all do a better job for you. Iron sharpening iron and all that. As a result, it’s loaded with assumptions, jargon and sector hot topics that are naturally unhelpful or at least not terribly interesting. So it’s a bit “behind the curtain” with mainly practical issues that challenge those of us in the field.

Video embedded link (provided by Timeline):

References:

Adviser 3.0 Podcast: https://adviser3point0.co/podcast

What do we do: https://www.solomonsifa.co.uk/what-we-do/

Who we work with: https://www.solomonsifa.co.uk/refer-us/

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How Was it for You? My First Podcast InterviewJemima Thomas2026-06-19T15:46:32+01:00

Do I have enough? Reflections on Adviser 3.0

Matt Loadwick
Post written: May 2026 • Published: May 2026
2 min read

Do I have enough? Reflections on Adviser 3.0

Last week I attended Timeline’s Adviser 3.0 conference along with Daniel & Jemima. I also attended the conference last year, in what was my first experience of a financial services industry conference. I was pleasantly surprised by the brightness and energy of the event (it was ‘carnival’ themed after all…) and this year was a similarly vibrant occasion!

We had the privilege of attending some thought-provoking talks from industry leaders, kicked off with Morgan Housel, the author of Psychology of Money (Dominic has handed out a good few copies of this book and we have some left – so please email [email protected] if you would like a free copy – it’s a good read!).

Morgan’s focus is on how human behaviour affects financial outcomes, as opposed to thinking of finance as a science. He’s an excellent communicator, utilising the art of storytelling to get across his sharp and incisive points. Reflecting on his session, one of the points that resonated with me was the poignant question put to the audience, “do I have enough?”

This hugely important question is key to financial success, and our satisfaction with life itself. Morgan sees this reflection as something that should be exercised regularly. It is not some state of enlightenment that we all reach (as great as that would be); rather it’s an ongoing process of reflection, a process that I intend to do more regularly!

With a view to helping advisers connect better with potential clients of all ages, Dr Paul Redmond delivered an insightful and entertaining talk about generations – from Baby Boomers all the way through to Generation Alpha (who have now been succeeded by Generation Beta).

Dr Redmond sought to highlight common trends in each generation, things that arise through shared experiences of technology, culture or societal expectations; all of which are, of course, forever evolving. I was particularly struck by his assertion that in a world where technology has become ever-present, we have lost the experience of boredom, which has in turn had a negative impact on our attention span. The line from Dr Redmond’s slide said rather neatly, “A wealth of information leads to a poverty of attention. Attention is our biggest barrier to success.”

I came away from the conference feeling inspired and full of ideas, which is exactly what you’d hope for from an event such as this. The financial services industry doesn’t always have the best reputation, but the best of the industry offers some excellent people full of bright ideas, who give cause for optimism about the future.

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Do I have enough? Reflections on Adviser 3.0Jemima Thomas2026-05-22T15:11:52+01:00

In Need of Some Good News? Get on Your Bike

Dominic Thomas
Dec 2025 • 3 min read

In Need of Some Good News? Get on Your Bike…

If you cast your mind back to the Olympics in London 2012 with a lot of medals won by the British cycling team; you may recall that they attributed their success to lots of very small improvements, which resulted in an impressive medals haul. In a similar vein, the Timeline tracker portfolios will have a number of minor adjustments made in January, there are now suitable alternative funds at a lower price than have been used before. This will shave a little off the portfolio costs reducing them to about 0.06%-0.07% which is incredibly good value.

What is not changing is equally important. The risk profile, strategic asset allocation, and underlying market exposures remain unchanged. There is also no change to the style, size or regional characteristics of the portfolios, and therefore the expected behaviour over time is fully preserved.

Improved fund manager diversification

While diversification is primarily driven by the underlying securities, spreading exposure across several high-quality index managers provides added behavioural comfort with no downside to cost or operational efficiency.

Demonstrates best practice and regulatory foresight

The FCA has indicated a growing focus on governance, by ensuring that no single fund dominates the allocation and instead spreading exposure across several reputable managers, Timeline uphold strong governance standards and remain well-positioned for future regulatory developments.

Cost reduction

The revised Tracker weights result in a modest reduction in ongoing charges, particularly within fixed income, as illustrated in the table below.

This will not be applied to General Investment Accounts (GIAs) as these would trigger capital gains, though we shall be seeking to trigger and release some gains in the first three months of 2026 before the tax year ends.

Timeline, who recently scooped a bunch of investment awards, continue to provide one of the most compelling investment solutions and I am very pleased with how things are going. Our next quarterly investment committee meeting is in mid-January and I will be visiting Timeline in late January for further discussions.

We will of course provide all the relevant information that you may want via the platform. If you have any questions, please do get in touch.

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In Need of Some Good News? Get on Your BikeJemima Thomas2025-12-17T14:00:22+00:00

YOUR ‘UMBLE SERVANT..

TODAY’S BLOG

YOUR ‘UMBLE SERVANT…

We are regularly looking for new clients that are looking for the services that we provide. I often forget just how daunting an experience this can be for people. Invariably they have had a poor service from someone else, or worse. Some, though relatively few, have never had financial advice of any form.

I was with a new potential client this week, it was a familiar scene. There were lots of statements from various investment companies, lots of bank accounts and a significant amount of confusion. This was no fault of theirs, keeping track of all of your arrangements is made rather difficult by the constant corporate name changes and jargon.

Revealing your story

Every good adviser needs to understand your financial situation and what you hope to achieve. Gathering information from people is painful, because it’s a really tedious task and for many it involves trawling through a mass of paperwork and a sinking feeling that things may not be as good as hoped and unclear about which investment and savings still exist. It is far easier to give the lot to us to sort out and check through, but this requires a high degree of trust. I would generally discourage anyone from sharing or handing over their financial information, but of course to us it is “bread and butter”. Generally, I believe that trust is increased by earning it, by which I mean keeping promises – not by ripping people off.

Pariah Uriah

I was intrigued to see how one of literature’s financial fraudsters, Uriah Heep would fair under the retelling of “David Copperfield”. If you know the Dickens story, Uriah Heep is a man obsessed with class, attempting to ascend the slippery social pole through manipulation and deceit. He is a miserable creature, as legal clerk to Mr Wickfield he enables Wickfield’s struggle with alcoholism, encouraging ever more intoxication and thus more dependency on him. Gradually Heep’s ambitious plan forms into action, he forges signatures and loans and embezzles money from Wickfield and his clients. This leads both Wickfield and his clients to believe they are ruined through poor investments.

Working fiction

One would like to believe that this is a rather pertinent financial lesson – beware of the pressures on your adviser and his or her vices. Today it is both harder and easier to misrepresent the truth. Online portals that link up your arrangements (such as ours) show valuations, every day. These are from the providers themselves, so it would be very difficult for us to alter them. However, I have no doubt that with the advantages of a decent bit of editing software, things could be misrepresented by those that wish to do so. Whilst I might wish to believe our portal is your first port of call, it also acts as confirmation of other documentation sent directly from investment companies (further reassurance).

Who knows what Uriah Heep would have done with the available technology today. Thankfully character and processes and decent regulation all help limit the impact of such fraud.

A Story is not set in stone

As for the film, well I loved it. It isn’t the book. The timeline is a little different but it is a charming and very warm re-imagining of the story. Of course, the way we might discuss your future, we tend to jump around from present, past and future and re-imagine different versions of your future if you make different decisions. So messing around with a timeline if frankly very normal for a planner. I was surprised to learn that some feel it is very “unlike the book” and are particularly vexed by the multi-ethnic cast. It seems a more than a little silly to want historical accuracy about a fictional piece when it comes to skin tone. In any event, much of our understanding of multiculturalism is rather blinkered by the retelling of history from a particular perspective. I fail to see what the fuss is about and find many of the comments rather thoughtless. In any event, the essence of the story is about different types of people from the different classes. There are merits and flaws in each.

DIVERSE-I-FIC(A)TION

As for your portfolio, well its diverse – globally diverse. Its available to view within our secure portal and you ought to check it occasionally just to know that what I have told you is fair, accurate and true – that we have kept our promises.

That’s said, I would actively discourage too much focus on investments, there is no need to obsess over performance when the portfolio has been established to stand the test of time, apply disciplined, evidenced theory to seek appropriate returns for the degree of investment risk you wish to endure. The portfolio is low cost, globally diverse and set up to last a lifetime. You simply require patience and perseverance.

As for Uriah Heep, he is found in most bookshops and of course in the current film by Armando Iannucci and starring Dev Patel (who is excellent) leads the rather good good. Here is the trailer. I enjoyed the movie – pushing 9/10.

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]

GET IN TOUCH

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The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – [email protected]
Call – 020 8542 8084

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GET IN TOUCH

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

Email – [email protected] Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

YOUR ‘UMBLE SERVANT..Dominic2025-01-28T10:08:04+00:00

Flying Solo

Solomons-financial-advisor-wimbledon-blogger

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

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Flying SoloDominic2025-02-03T10:37:20+00:00