Alan’s Blog February 2013
One chance to make a difference
In question 3 of the Kinder life planning process we ask ourselves: “if we were suddenly told that we had only 24 hours to live, how would you feel, what would you miss, what haven’t you done, what has been left unsaid, and what did we always mean to do ‘one day’?” It is now over 3 years since I met George Kinder and started on a wonderful journey with clients and in all that time my client’s answer to this question is never: “I should have made more money, or I should have spent more time in work” – it is almost always more personal, my clients talk about their family, their friends, a social activity, or something spiritual, or creative. It is in reflective moments like this that we realise what is really important and it is not about the money. We all want our lives to have meant something. We want to have touched the people that are close to us. We want to have left something behind such as a child with a healthy attitude, a book that we have written, a beautiful garden, a contribution to our community, or more involvement in our place of worship. What it always seems to come down to is that we all want to have made a difference – to feel that our lives have been worthwhile.
So if it’s not about the money is there a contradiction in what I do as a financial adviser? – Not at all, because money gives us choices to do the things that are really important, the things that matter. If I can help my clients remove their money concerns and focus on what is important then that is where I can make a difference.
I was adding some detail to my 10 year business plan last week and I knew that if I am working until I am 75 that is just fine because this is where I make my difference. So in case you were thinking how long it is before I retire you have got me for some time yet!
Balance is important in our lives so next week I am taking Tricia to Egypt for a couple of weeks. Last week she reached 65 and I asked her what she wanted: she said that she would like to snorkel in the Red Sea or cruise the Nile – she got both. And on Monday 4th March we will be at Hurghada for a week, then a drive through the desert, to a boat from Luxor for a week’s Nile cruise. Most of you will know me well enough that you won’t be surprised if I tell you that I’m taking my laptop and plenty of business books to read along the way.
My personal assistant Leanne will be available every day when I am away to answer your queries and she will be able to liaise with Cathi and the rest of my team to sort out anything that you need. I have spent a lot of time this month ensuring that client’s matters are in order before I go away so that my blog on “Rescue your Money” is very short and it will continue next month (sorry).
Nucleus Financial Wrap – a note and a request
Now that that most of you have been moved to the Nucleus Wrap you may have begun to see some of the advantages. For example it is important that you use your ISA allowance each year and if you have money in a general investment account you should move your allowance to your ISA account. Previously this was so clunky and required a lot of administration, passing paper between us and so on, that a charge of 3% had to be applied. Nucleus makes this so simple that the transfer of funds is completed without charge. Your part of our arrangement is that you should not invest in a cash ISA in the same tax year or you will exceed your allowances. We will be making the transfers in March for the year 2012-13 and then we will make the transfers for 2013-14 in April or May. Please let Leanne know if you have any queries or if you have invested in a cash ISA since 6th April 2012. [By the way 3% of £11,280 is £338 and that is an annual saving worth having]
An appeal – your help would be appreciated please: – Every time that a change is made to your investment such as changing funds into your ISA account, or when quarterly rebalancing occurs, it is a regulatory requirement that paperwork is sent to each client. Nucleus is already one of the cheapest wraps and they are trying to reduce your charges further before the end of 2013. One way in which you can help is by registering on line at Nucleus so that you receive an email instead of post. You will know that the cost of postage has continued to rise and generating paper several times a year is expensive. In addition whenever you want to view any of your paperwork you can simply log on to your account at Nucleus.
To register go to www.nucleusfinancial.com click on ‘Private Investors – log in to the platform’ and if you haven’t got a password click forgotten password, enter your email address where it says ‘Username’ and one will be sent to you. If you have any problems with this please phone Leanne and she will be glad to help.
By the way if your investments have not yet been moved to the Nucleus Wrap and you would like to discuss it please give Leanne a call and we can arrange an appointment.
Ric Edelman’s “Rescue Your Money”
Last month finished by mentioning that there were two crucial elements to succeed with your investment strategy – so what are they?
1. You must maintain a long-term focus for one simple reason: it’s the only way that you can be certain that you’ll capture the profits that investments offer
2. The second crucial stop to diversification is to engage in strategic rebalancing
These two points are so important that I am going to present them to you to think about and then come back to them next month.
The good news is that we do both things for our clients. We ensure that they keep their long term focus and our use of the Nucleus Wrap allows us to build regular rebalancing into our Investment Service Proposition.
So while that is a short blog for this month, if you are one of my clients, relax, it’s already taken care of.
If you would like to follow Ric Edelman why not subscribe to Ric’s email “The Truth about money” by clicking this link?