Can you identify Traitors?

Dominic Thomas
Oct 2025 • 3 min read

Can you identify Traitors?

In an age of terms like “patriot” being used in that very reductive American way, the idea of a traitor is repackaged as someone who opposes such a narrow definition. The ‘othering’ of people who hold different beliefs or values is currently rife throughout much of the world. It seems that reasonable discussion, debate and democracy are all under significant attack. I’m sure you know who and what I am referring to.

The idea of trust is being challenged and what we see and hear isn’t as trustworthy or reliable as it once was, in part due to quite deliberate manipulation and misinformation, but also due to the fabrication of our visual world. The falsification of information is possible due to technology that is so good, and it is now very difficult to tell if the family member or friend you are seeing or hearing on your digital device is actually who you think. The dystopian vision of 1980s movies like The Running Man are now our reality.

You probably haven’t avoided the BBC show Traitors. I hadn’t seen the previous shows and agreed to watch the ‘celebrity’ version. It was and is intriguing. On the one hand it seems a bit like a childhood game of murder in the dark crossed with hide and seek with a bit of Cluedo and the Krypton Factor thrown in for good measure.

What I hadn’t expected to witness was the way people are persuaded as readily as they are, to see (albeit via a BBC edit) how people assess each other for honesty, integrity and trust. The results are not good. We aren’t very good at assessing characters, at least – not as good as we would wish to believe.

On the political stage this helps explain a little why some people seem willing to believe what many of us would recognise as an obvious liar or fraud. I suspect that deep down many of us are aware that perhaps our ability to discern isn’t as good as it might be.

In the context of financial services, trust is vital, but of course is the one element that is so frequently abused or lost. The media is awash with stories and information of fraud, abuse and corruption. Regulation helps but is often too little too late. I regularly come across people who have experienced ‘advisers’ who sell them expensive funds or products and who (to my mind) clearly fail to sit on the side of the client – which is our role.

It’s obviously not a problem unique to finance, but where money is involved, integrity and character will either surface or disappear. This week I heard yet another story about siblings squabbling over the redistribution of their father’s estate. The same parents but clearly the children have different moral compasses.

How we assess people as trustworthy is an important skill and none of us have a flawless ability. We all make errors of judgement, the hardest being those we repeat.

Transparency helps of course, by which I mean clearly revealing information showing how the trusted person benefits from any action taken. I remember that prior to 1995 we didn’t even have to disclose how much commission we earned. So when

I set up Solomon’s four years later in 1999, I did so by having a clear pricing model (without commission). It was innovative at the time, but woefully naive. It took the regulator a further 13 years to make all advisers agree fees properly with clients (as we had been doing since 1999).

Being ahead, or being first, or being thoughtfully objective, didn’t really help the business to expand or thrive, in fact it was a very hard time convincing people of our approach. I was reminded of this whilst watching Traitors, being right (identifying the traitor) often backfires, with an unwillingness for some to disbelieve the narratives set by those with most to lose (the actual traitors). However good, rational or clear the argument, many were persuaded by their gut instinct or unwillingness to suspect foul play by those they thought ‘trustworthy’. We also have a tendency to avoid conflict or change, accepting the truth, sadly, isn’t as easy as it should be.

As a viewer, we feel exasperated by the folly and lack of good thinking, when it is exhibited and ignored we may feel despair, but of course we have the unfair and enormous advantage of knowing who the traitor is! In our real world it is much harder to tell.

Our values are aligned with yours, as you win, we win. As you lose, we lose.

It’s not a perfect system or model, it’s not cheap, but it’s the best I’ve been able to come up with over last three decades. We will remain faithful to your best plans.

References:

PIA – commission disclosure 1995
FSA – RDR 2012

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Can you identify Traitors?Jemima Thomas2025-10-30T10:13:58+00:00

The significance of your documents

Dominic Thomas
Aug 2025 • 4 min read

The significance of your documents

It ought to be obvious that trust is the ‘bar of entry’ when being a financial adviser, yet on an increasingly regular basis there are rather sad stories within our sector media about financial advisers who have committed fraud.

There may be a myriad of reasons that result in someone stealing your money, but whatever they are it’s obviously wrong. Stealing from you should be pretty difficult, granted I am well aware that I might call some investment companies and advice firms out for their excessive charges, but however much smoke and mirrors are used, it’s not stealing, that’s fairly typical ‘ripping off’ which is unpalatable and is often a reason why having been over-charged, many eventually realise and come to us so that we can sort it out for them, often saving thousands of pounds in the process.

One of the many safeguards we have is to use third party platforms. These act as investment administrators taking the deposits for new investments or the proceeds of existing ones. They also make the payments directly to your bank account. They issue the statements of investments and documents to support your HMRC self-assessment returns. To be blunt, I don’t know why more advisers don’t use them. They even link live valuations to our secure portal, which is a fuller, deeper version of their own (but only showing assets you hold on their platform).

Advice is highly regulated, some might say too much so, but in my world any and every investment or pension will have to produce a valuation statement at least once a year and ought to be producing contract notes showing sales or purchases (when you buy or sell an investment, or make a payment to your pension). These will normally be sent to you electronically these days, directly by the product provider or platform. You may need to login to their platform, but you will at least have an email advising you to do so. When they are not, alarm bells ought to be ringing.

In this digital age of ‘deepfake’, it is relatively easy to reproduce a document and therefore make something appear different from reality. It would appear that ‘adviser’ Lisa Campbell did precisely this, making up statements for investments that the investor thought were placed, when in reality funds had been sent to her. This is one reason why cheques or payments to us are only for our fees, not for your investments (it’s a safeguard).

Campbell, based not a million miles away in Hampshire, stole around £2.3m from her clients. Some of whom were friends and family. This happened over a 10 year period from 2013. She attempted to cover her tracks by also sending false documents and statements to our regulator the FCA. She was due in court in May. The FCA essentially removed her permissions two years ago, but had at the time rather underestimated the size of the fraud. Hopefully you don’t know anyone who was ‘advised’ by her through Campbell & Associates or Campbell & Raffle (perhaps an ironic name).

Only a few days later another, similar case was announced by the FCA. This time Kerry Nelson and Jacqueline Stephens of Nexus IFA were also charged with defrauding four clients of £2m between 2019 and 2023. Once again documents were forged and the money … well used to “fund a lavish lifestyle”.

As your adviser, we are copied in on correspondence to you by providers, not always, but most of the time. We do not receive statements to forward on to you. In the Campbell case, it seems that investors thought they held Bonds with a Bank; the Bonds never existed.

I suppose that for most investments, it would be a bit of a faff for an adviser to produce fake daily valuations; should you really want to see what your portfolio is worth today and tomorrow you can 24/7.

If you do come across people who you believe could benefit from our low-cost evidence-based investment solutions and impartial fee-based advice (some 13 years before it was compulsory) please do pass on our details. You may be saving your friend an awful lot of money and perhaps from financial ruin.

Reference:

FCA report: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-charges-hampshire-based-independent-financial-adviser-multiple-fraud-offences

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-charges-two-individuals-multiple-fraud-charges

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The significance of your documentsJemima Thomas2025-08-21T15:40:33+01:00

Putting your Trust in your Pilot

Debbie Harris
May 2025 • 2 min read

Putting your Trust in your Pilot

In my latest adventure, I took a buzz flight in a helicopter!

At a well-managed operation at Fairoaks Airport in Chobham, I boarded a helicopter and flew a six mile circuit taking in Woking and its environs from the air.

I’m glad I had opted for the five-minute option so that I could ‘test the water’ … as I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the experience – but I really did and it was over far too quickly.

I had a marvellous time (especially since it was a beautifully clear day). BUT – it was windy and in such a small craft it was a somewhat bumpy ride on occasion!

I would highly recommend it – stick it on your bucket list for sure …

As I stepped off the aircraft and was heading back to my car, it occurred to me that every time we board a vehicle as a passenger, we are putting our trust in the driver/pilot completely.

We hope that they have all the appropriate credentials and skills for the task ahead and we enter into passenger-hood without too much thought. The helicopter pilot that day literally had my life in his hands and that’s pretty daunting (for me and for him I imagine!). And yet I barely thought about the 637 things that could have gone wrong during that five-minute flight … until we dropped through a small air pocket and my stomach ended up in my throat …

When it’s all clear skies and plain-sailing; it’s easy to trust whoever is at the helm isn’t it. It’s when the weather turns that all our fears and insecurities pop to the surface.

Trusting your financial adviser can be like that sometimes too … hoping against hope that he or she gave you sound advice and that weathering the storm is part of the process.

The majority of our clients have been with us for long enough to know that their trust is well-placed, but we have some newer clients for whom this is the first ‘storm’ they’ve seen with us. I hope that what you will find is that we are calm and patient and reassuring. All the things a good pilot needs to be!

If you have any concerns or would simply welcome the opportunity to chat things through – please let us know.

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Putting your Trust in your PilotJemima Thomas2025-05-27T10:52:26+01:00

The Money Fog

Dominic Thomas
Oct 2024 • 4 min read

The Money Fog

I came across a clip of an interview with female comedian Shappi Khorsandi who was talking about her struggle with money and the particular additional challenges that she faces due to ADHD. She described an inability to understand and manage her finances and whenever someone has attempted to help with explanations, it feels as though she is back in a maths lesson, where understanding and explanation rarely meet. Her ADHD meant then and now that her mind is spinning with distraction which removes the chance of any understanding.

This has resulted in Shappi facing financial problems and the preferred solution is to avoid thinking about it. This results in unopened letters and emails which leads to County Court Judgements and significant difficulties with any financial institution thereafter.

I don’t have ADHD, but I understand that it is a spectrum (like many things) and of course I also struggle to understand a lot of things … I acknowledge that this isn’t the same thing, but I simply wish to state that I understand at least some of the feelings around not understanding.

Unfortunately, the time in which we live means that understanding money is really very important in terms of basic living in both the present and the future. In truth, many of us struggle with numbers and financial concepts. Certainly, there will be people who struggle more than others, but it would seem to me that the financial sector has often deliberately made life more complex and full of jargon than it needs to be.

Shappi made the point that for a long time she didn’t know how to articulate the problem and the help that she needed. She struggles with the administration of her finances and understanding what she sees on a statement. I would argue that this is not exclusively a problem for people with ADHD, but for many people; and indeed as we age, our ability to cope with evolving technology and concepts becomes ever more challenging.

So my question in the thread and here to you, is on one level rather simple, but of course not a simple answer. What can we do to make managing your finances easier? How can we make things more straightforward? Given that we don’t wish to overreach our responsibility and remove any sense of your own agency from the dynamic – we cannot simply ‘do it all for you’, but I am certain that we can improve on what has gone before.

The FCA are aware of the problem, in many respects it is evident in their approach. At one level, they do not believe that most people can calculate 1% of a number, so advisers have to clearly state fees in cash terms not simply percentages. At its heart, the latest initiative Consumer Duty (which builds on the prior initiative of Treating Customers Fairly) is about this, but it’s still all about numbers and not really about helping people to build resources for their financial independence.

I would suggest, politely, that a lack of understanding combined with inertia are the real reasons why people don’t move their savings accounts to better rates of interest or invest cash that they are really very unlikely to need for five years or more. This is not helped by the reality that ‘advice’ comes with lengthy documentation and the litigious world in which we live means that those of us dispensing advice are caught between simplicity and detail for fear of claims in the future about “not understanding”.

Money is complex, partly because it can involve a lot of maths and formulae, but also because the jargon and terminology used make most of us shut down! There is also the very real problem that we are human, most of us are not really interested in money, but in what it can do for us. Having the self-awareness to appreciate that you don’t need to be an expert but need one; but not completing delegating decisions is a journey that you are on. I know it works, but I certainly recognise the size of the emotional step that you have taken, which is easier for some than others.

In this process, trust is obviously an enormous factor and it’s my belief that trust, whilst I can earn it by keeping promises, is at its core instinctual.

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The Money FogJemima Thomas2025-01-28T10:02:51+00:00

Are you falling in love with a scammer?

Jemima Thomas
June 2024 • 3 min read

Romance scams – preying on the kind hearted

I apologise if I’m becoming the bi-monthly agony Aunt in reminding you about the importance of financial trust in romantic relationships; but being able to trust your partner in any relationship is imperative. It’s also important to remind those of you who are single, divorced or widowed that it is vital that you’re not taken advantage of when establishing a new relationship.

We know that you, our clients, trust our advice and expertise, which is why we’d like to think that if any significant financial decisions needed to be made – you’d get in touch with us.

Unfortunately, preying on the kind-hearted isn’t at all unusual in the landscape of financial scams and fraud. We hope that all our clients would call us if you were getting a ‘gut feeling’ when something doesn’t seem or ‘feel’ quite right. We are here to reassure you on things and to flag up anything out of the ordinary to prevent you coming to any ‘financial harm’.

Lloyds Bank research shows that the number of people falling for so-called ‘romance scams’ rose by over 22% in 2023 (on the previous year). The statistics revealed that men and women aged 55-64 were the most likely group to be tricked by “fraudsters masquerading as love interests”. However, it is 65-74 year olds who lose the most money in these scams, giving away an average of over £13,000.

The fraud prevention director at Lloyds Bank, Liz Ziegler, weighs in:

“Targeting those looking for love is a cruel, but sadly common, way for fraudsters to cash in. Scammers can be incredibly convincing and leave their victims both emotionally and financially drained’’.

I appreciate that this is a delicate topic; some people loathe to talk about such personal circumstances with their financial adviser, but your relationships intertwine with your finances and we are very honoured that our clients are willing to share these details with us. Rest assured – like a close friend or a doctor – your stories and questions will always be confidential and received without judgement.

On the same note, I would like to remind all of you about the importance of both parties (if in a couple) attending initial or annual review meetings with either Dominic or Daniel. It is crucial that nothing is ‘lost in translation’, and this way we can ensure that we keep everyone as included as possible. For us, it is all about transparency and clarity for each and every one of you.

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Are you falling in love with a scammer?Jemima Thomas2025-01-21T15:41:28+00:00

Financial transparency

Jemima Thomas
Jan 2024 • 2 min read

Do you know who you’re sleeping with?

I spotted a BBC news article about a man who had a gambling addiction and ended up slowly stealing £1.3 million from his work place, to continue his betting addiction.

Initially Andy May (now 47 with a wife and two kids) was just a weekend gambler; at the beginning spending as little as £5 – £20 ‘for fun’. As his gambling activity continued, he began winning more money to play with (and more ability to borrow); and so the amount he would bet began to increase. Unfortunately, it got to a point where Andy had been stealing from his employer for a period of four and a half years. (For context do read the article fully – he used to be the finance manager for his employer).

Andy ended up in prison rather unsurprisingly, but the most intriguing part of the story is how his ‘problem’ went on for so long without being spotted (both in his professional and personal life).

It’s important for couples (and business partners) to have financial transparency. The habits and addictions of another can seriously damage your relationships and wealth, and it’s why we insist on clarity about your spending habits. It’s also why (if you are in a couple) we encourage both of you to attend meetings together.

Historically (although definitely not always), men tend to take the reins on financial decisions; but we work hard here at Solomon’s to ensure that all decisions that impact both of you are made collaboratively. We aren’t marriage counsellors, but we sometimes pose uncomfortable questions – we hope that we are a ‘safe space’ for people to bandy their ideas around (including concerns and fears). These questions aren’t ever meant to ‘trip you up’ – they are intended to challenge you and make you think carefully about what is important to you in your life. It’s not an easy part of our role as your financial planner; but it’s an important one.

Read the full article here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-67503468

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Financial transparencyJemima Thomas2024-02-01T09:21:20+00:00

The integrity of a sandwich

Dominic Thomas
Nov 2023 • 3 min read

The integrity of a sandwich

We all remember the credit crunch and the general ill-feeling towards bankers, perhaps you missed the story of the credit munch? Whilst the Credit Crunch lasted, well…truthfully the long term ramifications are still with us, but it really ‘started’ (became apparent) in 2007. The credit munch took place in July 2022 and lasted about a year.

A financial crime analyst with Citibank was on a business trip to Amsterdam. It appears that Mr Fekete forgot (see what I did there?) to declare that his partner joined him on the trip. They put a very modest sandwich lunch on business expenses, claiming £86.70 of the £100 daily allowance.

Mr Fekete’s managing supervisor queried his submission and wondered whether Mr Fekete had indeed really consumed two sandwiches and coffees. Here I must claim that my own personal battle with a good sandwich does not immediately conclude that such an appetite is implausible; but merely a little excessive… mea culpa! Anyhow, Mr Fekete didn’t confess that it wasn’t simply him and that he had in fact shared lunch with his partner. He was dismissed for breaking company policy of claiming expenses for his partner as though his own. In essence, Citibank concluded that he was dishonest.

A series of emails providing some “optimistic circumstantial rationale” for his forgetfulness was not accepted by a judge, as Mr Fekete took his employer to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal. It seems that the judge agreed with Citibank that the employee should have owned up when challenged and then been given the opportunity to correct his error of judgement.

The judge said “I am satisfied that even if the expense claim had been filed under a misunderstanding, there was an obligation upon the claimant to own up and rectify the position at the first opportunity. I accept that the respondent requires a commitment to honesty from its employees.”

So, it seems that Citibank are holding their employees accountable and expect honesty from them. Perhaps this is a sea-change at the Bank and within the sector. After all, it was only last year that Citigroup were fined £12.5m for failing to properly implement market abuse regulation (which was a discount of 30% for admitting failure). In the context of all the ills of Banking, I suspect you will agree that this all seems rather trivial in comparison to a Credit Crunch, LIBOR fixing and so on. However it does speak to a culture of integrity and when your employed job is upholding it, it is hard to fathom why on earth Fekete didn’t simply own up.

I’m reminded of Richard III shouting “A horse, a horse! my kingdom for a horse!”. How little it takes to lose everything. That was some meal deal.

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The integrity of a sandwichJemima Thomas2023-12-04T12:15:11+00:00

Who do you trust?

Dominic Thomas
Jan 2023 • 5 min read

Who do you trust?

To my mind we have always lived in a world of false information. Stories and myths, urban legend all exist to serve someone’s perspective. Since the days of modern ‘propaganda’, we have been warned of careless talk and the enemy around the corner. In the last few years, largely though not exclusively due to the arrival of the internet, facts and mis- or rather disinformation coexist. We have to decipher and frankly that is not as easy as it should be. Most conspiracy theories contain an atom of something that seems to be plausible, but is then expanded and extracted.

This week we have witnessed more political folly as Government attempts to reign in some of its own that have crossed the line of reason. When we see extremity we tend to regard things as ‘obvious’.

I present Richard Rufus, former Premier League defender for Charlton Athletic, indeed in 2005 he was voted “Charlton’s greatest ever defender”. Like many a sports celebrity and Premier League player, he was well remunerated. High profiles and substantial income in our current culture, come hand in hand with an expensive lifestyle and costly habits.

After a career in football, many players struggle to adapt to life outside of the spotlight and without the same financial rewards. Few are able to continue to earn anything like their player wages. Whatever the reasons, like many players, celebrities and frankly most people, Mr Rufus appears to have spent most, if not all of his income. Whatever savings he had were clearly not sufficient to support his lavish lifestyle, which he was unwilling to relinquish.

A lavish lifestyle provides the appearance of financial success, but what is visible is largely immaterial. I’m often struck by how many people have a car that costs north of £60,000 yet have very little savings; who spend on cars and holidays more than they save for their future … but I digress!

Mr Rufus turned his hand to financial scamming. Not the sort of arms-length, call centre scamming, but the up close, personal relationship, scam your family and friends type of scam. The detail of which can all be found online following the Court’s decision to find him guilty of a £15m fraud which has resulted in a seven year prison sentence. Defender turned offender.

I don’t know Mr Rufus, I have no axe to grind. He wasn’t a financial adviser and reports indicate that the process of the scam was much like the advice you might seek from a friend at the pub … or more likely gastro pub or bistro. The mechanics of the scam involved foreign currency (often the case), no legitimate regulation (also often the case) and persuasion with what the eyes see and what the ears wish to hear. “It clearly works for him, look at his lifestyle”.

The fact is that at the heart of this there are problems that are universal. Firstly, few if any of us wish to reduce our lifestyle, however you define it. Most people are not good at holding onto the money that they earn, inherit or win. Most of us are not good at discerning the cost of a lifestyle either now or in the future. It’s far easier for us to account for how we would spend an imaginary lottery win than how much it will cost us to live as we are for two, three or four decades once we are retired, or frankly what we spend each month now. We are all tempted by the illusion of get rich quick solutions, starting your own business, writing a best- selling book, setting up a social media account where the ‘likes’ are followed by pounds, or of course the next big one, cryptocurrency or whatever you fancy.

The truth is much harsher. It’s a long, slow process, full of setbacks as well as successes. As for advice from friends and family … well I don’t know them, actually scratch that, I do know some of them, you refer them to us … but suffice to say that qualified, regulated, impartial, non-judging, prudent, long-term, evidence-based, evidential advice is likely to be of greater value with no vested interest in whether you holiday in Bournemouth or the Bahamas; Charlton or Cuba.

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Who do you trust?Jemima Thomas2025-01-28T09:56:36+00:00

THE JOURNEY TO TRUST

TODAY’S BLOG

THE JOURNEY TO TRUST

I don’t remember where I heard it, learned it or read it, but a phrase that has stuck with me for a very long time is “trust is earned”. Throughout the course of a normal week, month or year I meet with various new potential clients. Sadly, many people have had a pretty bad experience of financial services, either directly themselves or through pieced together information from someone significant in their lives.

I was reminded this morning of this and how trust is something that evolves over time by keeping promises, often not the big things, but the little things – replying to a call, being clear about expectations, costs and so on.

I have a large black and white picture in the waiting area of the office. It is a still from the 1953 movie Roman Holiday. You will probably know it, starring Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck and Eddie Albert. As a reminder, it’s the tale of a Princess called Ann, (Hepburn) who escapes her royal duties and meets up, unwittingly with two reporters, Joe Bradley (Peck) and Irving Radovich (Albert) who know precisely who she is and have the prospect of a career-making scoop on their hands. After a night on the town (and who wouldn’t in Rome!) being a romantic comedy, the princess naturally falls for Bradley, but is he simply using his charms to get what he wants?

CAPTURE A MOMENT

The still is of the moment that the princess is now back in her familiar Royal duties greeting guests and is faced with Bradley, instantly realising that her world might be overturned depending on whether Bradley is worthy of her trust. It is a moment of realisation of what it at stake, whose interests will be served?

To my mind when financial planning is done properly, you reveal a lot about who you are. You will know that we talk about your past experiences, your hopes for the future and your present reality. Understanding your values, verbalising them along with revealing past “mistakes” is very exposing. You have to trust that I and my team will handle this with care.

So, when we get back to the office, notice the large black and white picture and remember that anything that relates to “who you are” is strictly confidential.

As an aside, the film has an interesting back story. The screenplay was written by Dalton Trumbo who was a blacklisted writer in Hollywood at the time because of the ridiculous politics of McCarthyism. The screenplay, won the Oscar in 1954 and like many other blacklisted writers, a pseudonym was used or another writer “fronted”. It wasn’t until 1992 that the Academy finally acknowledged Trumbo and with the Oscar presented posthumously to his widow. Trumbo’s story itself was made into an excellent film in 2015.

Here are the two trailers, both films available but not showing at a cinema. Trailers with 62 years between them.

Roman Holiday 1953

and Trumbo 2015

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

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THE JOURNEY TO TRUSTDominic2023-12-01T12:13:06+00:00

BETTER NOT CALL SAUL

TODAY’S BLOG

SELLING TRUTH YOU WANT TO HEAR

One of the TV series I enjoy is a spin off from Breaking Bad – Better Call Saul, which you can find on Netflix. In simple terms it is the story of James “Jimmy” McGill who is the younger wayward sibling of two brothers. Regularly in trouble, Jimmy is nothing like his responsible, pedantic brother Charles who is a very successful lawyer. Despite their differences, Jimmy is close to his brother, tending to a peculiar illness which is debilitating.

Jimmy is a low-level conman, who has a talent for spotting a fool and parting him from his money as most confidence tricksters do. His observational skills and self-confidence combined with a malleable relationship with rules are the perfect combination for selling a different version of truth, a lie that people want to believe. It becomes apparent to him that perhaps being a lawyer requires a similar skill set. Most believe that lawyers are crooks with a Degree and Jimmy can smell opportunity.

The numerous series chart his misdemeanours, and these run parallel to the mirroring characters of the drug world. Instead of law firms and partners, read gangs and cartel all pushing the same freedom fix, but with grave penalties for error.

TO WHAT PURPOSE?

The series raises lots of relevant questions – fundamentally what is our purpose? Who is Jimmy? Why is he endowed with the skills he has and how could these be put to more rewarding, purposeful use. We witness him genuinely attempt to do good, to remove or reduce harm, to expose corruption and to protect the vulnerable, yet his efforts are met with the resistance of indifference and judgement that prevents him from straying outside of his box. A societal box that others have placed him in. This is of course particularly timely as we all consider the challenges that face anyone that is genuinely interested in equality, justice and fairness.

It isn’t often that I would encourage you to pay attention to someone that is essentially a corrupt lawyer, but there are many valuable insights to be found. These are as basic as understanding the mechanics of a scam, hiding in plain sight and how to find hidden fees. However we also have to face the reality of understanding depth, capacity, risk and the difference between problems and trouble.

Many of the problems that Jimmy faces are problems that many of us may experience at some point – whether that’s the importance of a Will, care costs, business partnerships, deals and the value of what we provide to others. However at its heart of the story is the strength and weaknesses of relationships – whether that’s between siblings, employers, family or friends. Jimmy is largely making decisions in reaction to those relationships, as are others. Every character has a story but as ever, being able to see the solutions to your own problems is often aided by an impartial other.

One of the lessons I have been reminded of this week, today in fact, is that as a planner, I help provide objectivity and accountability – helping clients keep on track with their stated values and plans for a great life. Jimmy could have had a very different story if someone had shown him how his skills could be applied, if he had received the right support and encouragement. It may not have been as dramatic (and worthy of a TV series) but it would certainly have ensured prosperity in the fullest sense of the word.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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?

Take Survey

PRIVACY POLICY | DATA PROTECTION

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

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