Eurgh, another personal finance blog

In the about me section I’ve confessed my predilection to ask why? So you may be asking the “why?” behind the birth of this blog.

There are already many fantastic resources on financial planning, and perhaps most importantly, behavioural finance. Carl Richards, Andy Hart, Amyr Rocha Lima, Nick Lincoln, Pete Matthew etc are all doing brilliant work in these areas. So, what can I add?

There’s a constant battle going on between the rationale of a sound financial plan and the incessant financial pornography (more on that later) pushed at us by financial services firms and mainstream news. Early in my career I learned that the media cares not a jot about yours or my financial future, only its own circulation. A free press is an essential part of society and has helped expose more than one financial scandal. However, the extreme negative tilt to reporting has become a hinderance to many people’s financial plan, and I expect, mental health.

More than once a client has used the phrase “I know markets are bad right now…” when actually the opposite is true, why then the pessimism? Because weeks before they’ve read or seen a report which starts “Stock Market Losses: millions/billions have been wiped from company values”. In actual fact the “losses” are normal movement, volatility which is in the long term our friend. Sadly, more than one investor has been frightened in to diverging from their plan by such doom mongery. Much less reported are the increases in stock market value. If positive news were as widespread as negative, I suspect we’d have more willingness to accept volatility risk, and therefore brighter financial futures.

Connected to this we rarely hear the good advisers do to help clients achieve their objectives, whether it be a bigger house, helping family, a retirement filled with travel or some other aspiration. Only about the rogues in our profession (I believe strongly that provision of financial advice is a profession, rather than a commoditised industry). No one outside our own echo chamber shares the stories of going above and beyond for clients.

So I’ve decided to stick my head above the parapet, to enter the good fight, to try and show the value we can add. I aspire that this will become a collection of articles to give the wider public a better understanding of the joy good financial planning can bring. I’m pragmatic, the seeking perfection is a fool’s errand as no plan survives first contact with the enemy. I’ll be bluntly honest and offer joyful encouragement in equally measure. I’ll look at technical aspects alongside other things such as what really is risk?

Some of you may feel comfortable enough to apply tools to your own financial planning or investment management. If I can add value at no cost to you, that’s a job well done. However, it must be made explicitly clear that the scribblings I offer are not financial advice tailored to you, they are for information only. Similar to a patient diagnosing themself using the NHS website, self prescribes and then has a negative outcome, I cannot be held responsible for actions taken without regulated advice.