Michaela’s Story – From Zero to Hero!
It upsets me greatly when I hear of Financial Advisors turning less fortunate people away when they ask for help. They seem to believe that because the person who’s asking for help has no money, they aren’t worth helping! They seem to forget that we all started out that way. I have always taken a different view. My view is that if a person is a “nice, decent” person and we share similar values, then my door is always wide open. As well as that, as a Financial Advisor, that’s what I’m supposed to do – advise on money matters.
You Can Still Invest On an Ordinary Salary
With that said, let’s move onto Michaela whom I met in May 2007 when she came to me for financial advice. She was 35 years old; she’d never invested any money and had little or no savings. From the very start we got on well and the one thing that really resonated with me was her positivity and determination to change. She was motivated too and that motivated me to help her as best I could. I distinctly remember her saying to me, “If you tell me to jump, all I will ask you is how high?” Actually, writing this piqued my interest to look at her portfolio once again and it’s now approaching a quarter of a million – yes, I did say £250,000! No, she hasn’t robbed a bank, won the lottery or received an inheritance. In fact, this is a woman with an ordinary salary of around £25,000 and who lives on her own with no family support.
Fourteen years after our very first meeting, Michaela is now someone who many advisors would love to have as a client, yet they would have turned her away initially. Well, I’ve got something to say to them; Michaela isn’t going anywhere! She’s not only a successful investor with a bright future but she’s also become one of my wonderful clients and I love her to bits.
How Did She Do It?
I’m sure you’re wondering how she became a woman of wealth. Well, Michaela saw a vision of what her future could look like if she didn’t take steps to secure her finances. She wanted a future where she was financially independent and didn’t need to work to maintain her desired lifestyle. She didn’t want to be “rich”, she just wanted to be “comfortable”, and I showed her how she could achieve what she wanted through careful money management and investment.
I remember one of the first comments she made to me was “I don’t want to work until I drop. I don’t want to be rich. I just want to be able to maintain my own standard of living and be able to stop working one day.”
The Financial Bucket of Opportunity
Using my “bucket” analogy, I showed her how to control money, so it stopped disappearing through a hole in the bottom of the “bucket.” Michaela applied the method to her finances and guess what? Her financial bucket started to fill up and she syphoned off some of it on a regular basis to invest. She’s moved from an absolute novice to an experienced, savvy investor. If you’re interested in my “bucket” analogy, you can listen to my dulcet tones (through YouTube) where I explain my concept – just tune into my channel. It may well turn out to be the best ten minutes that you’ve ever spent!
A Wealthy Woman
Michaela doesn’t have a partner or children. A couple of years ago, she realised she was becoming a wealthy woman, so she asked me to organise her estate planning. Sadly and through no fault of her own, she is estranged from her family and didn’t want her hard-earned cash to go to them if anything untoward was to happen to her.
Following a meeting where Michaela explained to me exactly what she wanted in depth, I completed her Will, Funeral Plan and registered her Lasting Powers of Attorney. All of those important documents are stored securely and independently through our agency Countrywide Tax and Trusts.
Being In Control of Finances and Life
Michaela still works from 9 to 5pm every day. She’s really diligent too – and when we first met, she took time off of work to come and see me but these days she prefers a late afternoon Zoom meeting, so she doesn’t need to take time off from work. The power of technology makes meeting so much easier nowadays.
Next year, Michaela will be 50 and I’m looking forward to her 2022 review because instead of her first comment when she discussed not wanting to work until she drops, we can now start talking about when she could stop work altogether. Perhaps she can start by working just part-time for a while before retiring?
Without doubt, Michaela is in complete control of her life and it’s a wonderful feeling for me knowing that I’ve been instrumental in making it happen. The point is that it’s never too early to plan and even if you don’t think you’re earning much, or you have no savings, there’s plenty of time to make it happen for you too.