The Incredibles 2

What a summer we have been having! Should we ever get any rain again, or you wish to sit in a dark airconditioned room, you may enjoy The Incredibles 2. I appreciate that not everyone is able to cope with animation (a clue is if you refer to it as a cartoon). However as with most Pixar movies, this is yet another example of great story-telling.

“The Incredibles 2”, follows on immediately from where the highly acclaimed Brad Bird 2004 predecessor ended. In many ways this is the story of a typical family, juggling work and home-life, day care and homework, yet the Parr family are all super-heroes. Unfortunately, due to the social cost of repairing infrastructure, superheroes are illegal, so are all in hiding, despite their life saving efforts, many have had to live undercover, retired but with a deep sense of missed opportunity.

Given the amount of thought involved in your typical Pixar movie, it is perhaps quite deliberate that the villain in the linking sequence between the movies is “The Underminer”. Someone to remove the confidence on which you stand. This may have rather wider social commentary, but for many people, confidence is built over time in many ways. One way is perhaps being rather good, becoming an expert in your field over the years – in your career. Yet many find that retirement brings this to an abrupt end, requiring an adjustment to a life of the long weekend

Skill Deployment

In the original movie, Mr Incredible, struggles with “retirement” and spends his time listening to police radio chatter, so that he can quietly help fight crime. Admittedly, Mr Incredible isn’t of the typical retirement age, but he does portray the rather foolish thinking, that after years of accumulating skill and expertise, this suddenly becomes irrelevant as a more important number takes precedence.

Those that transition best into retirement are often (nor always) those that have a variety of interests outside of their work, where they have already acquired skills and perhaps a network of people. Retiring gradually can help with this process. So, for those planning retirement, give some thought to building your social assets outside of work. To consider a more gradual retirement, if this is possible. Importantly this will naturally impact your income (and spending) so ensure that you have discussed how to draw income from your portfolio in a tax effective manner.

Elastigirl

In the movie, Mr Incredible must adapt, for him, this means adapting to family life, enabling his wife (Elastigirl) to walk in the spotlight and do the dangerous stuff. Elastigirl is arguably the embodiment of someone that can adapt. Importantly, no one, not even superheroes possess all the required skills. Teamwork and partnership are at the heart of the story, given the shape of a family as they attempt to change the prescribed rules for their lives. So, as you reflect on how you want your life to be, getting the right advice to help you achieve your goals is vital.

Here’s the trailer. It’s a fun film, not as good as its predecessor, but worth the ticket price. The villain is called Screenslaver, which is apt in many ways.

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