In Western culture we have become very detached from the cycle of life and death. Only those who work in specific industries will be accustomed to the fragility of life, but for most of us it’s something that will happen in the unforeseen future, so we try not to engage with it too often. The overwhelming emotional shock we feel when we lose a loved one, whether sudden or expected, is natural. Inside of this tumultuous […]
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What lockdown taught us about wills
When lockdown happened, it happened fast. For some, there were only a few days to prepare for an indeterminate time of severe restrictions. For others, they had more to do and less time in which to do it. Travellers were stuck abroad in foreign countries and had to follow equally foreign regulations. At times like these, risk cover and emergency funding are a crucial crutch when our finances and our freedoms are crippled. Granted, few people […]
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Fire and finance
“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one.” – J.R.R. Tolkien Should you take dragons into account when you’re working on your financial plan? Well… only if you live near one. While this may sound like a fantastic children’s story that holds little relevance in our professional lives, it’s profoundly relevant in the context of planning when we run the risk of excluding eventualities that we […]
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Anxiety and our money
Most of us would gladly jump at the opportunity to have more money. Very few people are likely to say that they would prefer to have less money… One reason for this is that we can see how our future life and our current financial status are linked. And this leads to anxiety when thinking about financial futures. Although it is not easy, it is beneficial to develop and maintain a positive outlook toward money to […]
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Don’t wait for that ‘big thing’
“Happiness consists more in conveniences of pleasure that occur everyday than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom.” – Benjamin Franklin Many of us look at financial planning as working towards a big event in the future that will make us happy. But the reality is that if we don’t find happiness in our everyday lives, we won’t find happiness in those big future events. According to a Harvard study, instead of focusing […]
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Let food be thy medicine
…and medicine be thy food. Hippocrates adopted this philosophy around 2400 years ago! Before fad diets and modern medicine, he recognised that food has the ability to keep us strong and healthy – both physically and mentally. A nutritious diet is fundamental to maintaining good health and well-being. Just remember that eating healthy isn’t just about cutting out meat and “going green” but about getting a well-balanced diet of different foods (in the right amounts) to […]
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The next best thing for investors…
Ray Dalio is an American billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist who has served as co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates since 1985. As a thought leader and industry pioneer, he also founded the world’s largest hedge fund and firmly advocates that “diversification is a wonderful, mechanical, good way to reduce risk without reducing expected return.” So – what’s the next best thing for investors in our current market turmoil? Diversification. Whilst it’s been a long […]
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Here’s why planning influences our happiness
“The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” – William Morris Financial planning has a couple of key check-in points. One check-in point is focussed on the future and considers risks and opportunities, whilst another check-in point helps us look at closer, medium-term goals that we want to achieve (or avoid!) in the next three-five years. However, the hardest, yet most accessible, check-in point is the […]
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Who wants to save more?
This is not such an easy question to answer. Many of us may shoot up our hands, quickly realizing that what follows is a tough call-to-action: “Then start saving!” So we shrivel back and think we’ll rather start saving next month, or when we get our next increase. Others, already encumbered with tough monthly expenses, may take a slightly more cynical response off the bat, realizing that saving often feels like an impossible task in our […]
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Where are you headed?
”Happiness is a direction, not a place.” – Sydney J Harris This means that you can choose that direction any time. In doing so it is important to continuously move forward and to sustain happiness by intentionally creating new positive experiences. When last did you take stock and look closely at the direction that you’re currently taking? In the cluttered and overwhelming expectations of life we often find ourselves going in a direction that we have […]
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