TOP 1% financial planners

How do you define the top 1% financial planners in the UK?

A definition I prefer is that the top 1% of financial planners focus on the value to the client by meeting three main aims:

1. They have a way to align a client's financial choices with the client's most important goals and deeply held values.

2. They help their clients to get their entire financial house in perfect order, measured against defined criteria, and keep it that way forever.

3. Their clients have a 10/10 level of confidence about their future no matter what happens in the economy, the markets or the world.

In other words, it's a lot more significant than the amount of money on which they advise.

WHAT ARE your values?

Many people talk about 'values' these days. Our experience is that most people don't know exactly what their values are. We ask questions that help people to articulate exactly what they most value in their life...what matters most. When you know what's really important to you, you can make better decisions about your money and how you spend your time.

What's important about life, to you?

ANOTHER WAY of looking at things

Things cost too much? No. We just cannot afford them.
Our income is determined by the economy? No. It is determined by our philosophy. We need to work on our philosphy to change our income.
For things to change, we have to change. For things to get better, we have to get better.
What happens, happens to us all. Our response to it is what matters.
Don't wish it were easier. Wish you were better.
Don't wish for less problems. Wish for more skills.
Don't wish for less challenge. Wish for more wisdom.
Our destination is not only determined by the wind. It is determined by the set of the sail. The same wind blows on us all. The difference in where we arrive is the set of the sail, not the blowing of the wind.

(With thanks to Jim Rohn)

FAILING WITH an excuse - even a good one - is never as good as succeeding

Isn't it fascinating that sometimes it seems that those who are in need the most are often also inclined the least. Being left behind, even with a very good excuse, is seldom as good as seeing problems as projects and moving forward.

DOING WHAT you know

I was comfortably seated in the tea rooms at Killerton with a Coffee and a piece of Victoria Sponge while Vanessa was inspecting the Plant Sales area (of course) and also the English Blue Bells (of course). I was reading ‘Leading an Inspired Life’ by Jim Rohn (yes, of course!)

As I sit here now reading my journal of that day, I made the note of what Jim says: “Lack of success comes from lack of confidence; lack of confidence comes from not doing what you could do. Disciplined action fosters self esteem and self respect. Even a little neglect is dangerous. Our lives will serve as either a warning or as an example. A warning of the consequences of neglect, self pity, lack of direction and ambition or an example of talent put to use, of discipline self imposed, and of objectives clearly perceived and intensely pursued”.

Isn’t it fascinating that reflection on our journals serve as a place for the truth to descend and, in that moment, give us the coaching we may need to help us stay on the path?

Well I thought you may get value from this should you ever feel like you lack confidence. Knowing that you’ve done what you know you could is the start of it all.

Well, all that said and contemplated and having then inspected every Blue Bell petal, we progressed to the Killerton House itself. I think Vanessa played Moonlight Sonata on their grand piano before we ascended to the costume collection whose theme this time was all the changes of clothes people had to make during the day in order to be properly atired for a cup of tea and a cucumber sandwich. What a palava.

Then Vanessa bought more plants (of course!).

TRUSTS - why have them?

Trusts have been around for a very long time. Individuals and families use them as a way to control how their assets are held and transfered to other people. Control is a primary reason why trusts are used. You will also hear the words "asset protection", which refers to protecting assets from risk. What are these risks? They can affect people whose property is being placed into the trust and also the future beneficiaries of the property. The risks can include:

• bankruptcy
• loss of heirlooms/"family money" through divorce or remarriage; 
• incapacity arising through a health event;
• being too young or inexperienced to deal with property or investments
• assets being accessed by those with addictions who would otherwise use those funds to further support their addiction;
• certain taxation outcomes

Taxation can often, but not always, be a secondary concern compared to family goal planning.  Family goal planning is primarily concerned with the protection and preventative measures listed in the other examples above.

For example, imagine a family has a child with special learning needs. The child is not disabled as such, but perhaps there is a concern that the child will never learn the value of money or will be unable to handle financial transactions. The wills of the parents can include a trust from which that child benefit. This means that no property needs to be transferred directly to that child, and payments can be made by the trustees as and when they are required, or even a house purchase, without the child needing to be involved in any of the paperwork or any of the transactions. There could also be flexibility so that certain funds could be paid to the child – for instance they may develop confidence and an ability to deal with certain amounts and in this way the trustees can support the development of the child whilst at the same time control the larger portion of the fund for the child's benefit.

There are many many scenarios uses of trusts which ensure that the beneficiaries interests are looked after.

As usual it is very important to obtain professional advice when looking at Estate and Asset Protection planning. (I am able to recommend suitabley qualified people).

WHAT IS an effective Values-Based Financial Plan?

Certainly, a great deal of the answer is that the most effective financial life plans are much more than just a thick book of assumptions and calculations for people to wade through. It's the substance of the whole relationship between the client and the planner and what takes place.

Whenever I ask clients, “Do you want a neatly presented giant book of calculations or extra face to face time?” they always go for the latter!

The ‘number crunching’ and workings need to be done to create the plan, but it’s for our use to produce the plan and recommendations rather than for you to wade through and risk being confused (although all ‘working’ papers can be seen if you ask).

So what is Values-Based Financial Planning? Simply put, it can be represented by this diagram:

The Resources are:

• Assets
• Liabilities
• Income
• Your Skills
• Your Abilities (to save, to earn, to budget, etc)

The Goals are:

• Who you wish to Be
• What you wish to Do
• What you wish to Have

 …and there's a cost attached to these and so we then express them in financial terms.

The Goals are not just the tangible things, but also about how you want your life to unfold. What does your life have to look like to feel that you are meeting your core values? These are revealed when we talk about your Financial Road Map and The Three Questions, for example. In this way, your financial plan helps you to make financial choices that support the life you want in a profound way.

Your Financial Road Map becomes a high level picture of the life you want, which we look at again regularly and update. Your plan has the action steps needed to ensure your Financial Road Map happens in real life.

So, we are looking at the resources available, whether they need enhancing and what you need to do with them to move you towards your goals.

There will be various time frames attached to these goals, a rate of return needed, obstacles (real and perceived) to be navigated and risks to allow for. Our planning relationship will address these.

We are also looking to see if the return needed to achieve the goal is acceptable for the risk you’re prepared to take and if there are obstacles which cannot be removed. In either of these cases, we may be looking at alternate scenarios and compromises to either achieve goals as set by you or change them to something else that’s acceptable in collaboration with you.

We have found that a plan which is clear to understand, flexible and easy to carry out to achieve your goals for your reasons includes:

• Clear, written strategies and recommendations in plain English - ideally including a one page summary per strategy with diagrams as well as the written word.
• A clear written implementation plan - Staying on Track Tactics (STT’s): two or three pages of action steps of who does what and by when in sequence at our progress meetings.
• Dynamic lifetime cash flow and scenario modelling at planning meetings as appropriate.
• Open discussion, communication and collaboration between you as the clients and me as the planner. 

50% TAX is temporary

At the Institute of Director's Annual Convention on 11 May, George Osborne, said "high personal taxes can be as damaging to growth as high corporate taxes, so I am clear that the 50 pence tax rate would do lasting damage to our economy if it were to become permanent, as some suggest. It should be a temporary measure".

I wonder length of time temporary is?

BE A STUDENT of inevitability

Ask yourself often, "In all honesty, if I keep up my current daily practices, where will they lead me in 10 years?"

I work with people who perhaps want to learn a different set of practices so they arrive at a well designed future rather than an un-designed future.

If you're sat in a rowing boat without a motor and no oars 200 feet from the drop on Niagra Falls, we would call that inevitable. My role is to spot people drifting well upstream so they can make alternate choices while options are still available.

Ask, "What or who's plan am I following? Is it mine or the one someone else gave me? Is it working? Do I need a better plan? What do I need to work on that is not working now? Do I have a good plan, but need to take action on it?"

AUTO-ENROLMENT requirements

The Pensions Regulator has issued the first of its documents to assist employers complying with the automatic enrolment requirements – which something that will present a significant impact on all employers and employees.

The Pensions Regulator is writing to the UK's biggest companies, alerting them to their new pension duties, which are introduced on a gradual or 'staged' basis according to employer size. The regulator is providing a 5-point checklist alongside with the notification letters, plus further information on its website.

In the next 6 months, nearly 600 of the largest organisations employing about a third of the UK workforce (around 10m employees) will have received letters marking 18 months to their particular duty (i.e automatic enrolment) date. In due course, every employer in the UK will have received at least two letters as they approach their duty date.

The Regulator is also now providing the following information:

• A summary of duties - a five-page overview of the new duties for employers.
• Know your date – employers can check their indicative staging date for the new duties.
• Detailed guidance - This covers all aspects of workplace pension reform legislation, and is designed to be suitable for large employers with experience of providing pensions, advisers and intermediaries.
• Software guidance - This guidance is designed to help payroll software developers implement changes to their products, better enabling them to support employers.

The following further material will be issued by the regulator later this year:

• Interactive tools – these online tools have been designed specifically to help smaller employers without previous engagement with pensions to understand the new duties. This will include a tool enabling employers to look up their indicative staging date by inputting their PAYE reference, as well as a tool to calculate pension contributions.
• Trustee checklist – aimed at trustees of existing schemes, this will set out some of the issues that should be taken into account when existing pension schemes are considered for automatic enrolment.

The issuing of this guidance prompt to employers to ensure that they will be ready to meet their automatic enrolment requirement, which will take effect between October 2012 and September 2016, depending on the size of employer.

EASY TO, easy not to...

...this is the nub of whether we succeed or not. What is success? Having a design for your life and then pulling that off. It revolves around decisions and actions which are often both easy to do and easy not to do. It's a push-shove match - which will win? The discipline of doing the thing or the neglect of not? Making that call is easy to do; it's also easy not to do; walking around the block is easy to do; it's also easy not to do; eating five fruits a day is easy to do; it's also easy not to do. Easy to, easy not to. If you don't make that call today, will there be a noticeable difference 24 hours later? The answer is: no. If you don't exercise today, will there be a difference 24 hours later? The answer is: of course not. But compounded over time? The difference is huge. So, the difference between success and failure are the daily decisions we make - we either choose the disciplines repeated every day, or we make errors in judgement repeated every day. The first can be uncomfortable - today, but lead to comfort tomorrow. The second can be comfortable today - but lead to discomfort tomorrow. But 24 hours after they're made - you can't tell the difference; over time, the difference is obvious and in some cases, irreversible.

Easy to...easy not to.

The Menu or The Meal?

Yesterday, my client said that when she came in to have her Financial Road Map® done and the discussion about the three 'hearts core' questions about her goals, she experienced so clearly why "reading the menu" is not the same thing as "eating the meal", when it comes to Values-Based Financial Planning. It is a transformational experience which aligns all your choices (not just financial) to your true north. It's no wonder I enjoy my work; it's a privilege, really.

The Philosophy of Deserve

Life is not designed to give us what we need. Life was designed to give us what we deserve. I don't mean in the justice sense, here. I mean in terms of what seems to be a natural law. We don't reap a harvest in the Autumn because we need a harvest; we reap a harvest because we deserve it. If you wish to reap, you must plant. Reaping is reserved for the planters. You can't walk into a field and say, "I need a crop". The field will say, "Who is this clown who brings me his need but brings me no seed?" Take your seed to the market place, not your need. The market place is interested in what you want to plant. Giving out starts the receiving process. Find a way to serve the many. Supply your need by concetrating serving, sharing, not concentrating on your need. Success is something you attract by the person you become, not something your pursue, go after, grasp.



With thanks to Jim Rohn for this philosophy.

Work with how things actually are...

When I talk to people about what they want to achieve in life, we often get on to the subject of what I will call, for want of a better phrase, 'The Entrepreneurial Fantasy'. This is something which a mentor of mine, Bill Bachrach, Chairman and CEO of Bachrach and Associates Inc., has talked about in relation to financial advisers, but it applies to all business owners.

The fantasy is that one day the world is going to work differently than how the world actually works. i.e. "if only people would return my phone calls, I'd be more successful"; "if only people would respond more positively when I call, I'd be more successful"; "if only people would schedule more appointments when I call, I'd be more successful"; "if only people never cancelled, or no-showed or rescheduled, I'd be more successful".

My message, I suppose, is simple: stop wishing the world were different and deal with the world the way it actually is instead of the way you would like for it to be.

The world is how the world is and the reality is that some people will cancel, some people will stand you up, some will reschedule and some will reschedule into eternity - you will have achieved your goals before they actually show up for the appointment or meeting or phone call that they sincerely say they genuinely want to have, but because of the way their life is, they just have to reschedule and no-show a lot of their stuff (not just you!)

Build your business with people that do show up and are able to keep their commitments. The intelligent business owner will build in a 'cushion' to allow for the way the world is.

"Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems, wish for more skills" - Jim Rohn.

In closing, we could sum up by agreeing not to become distracted by obstacles that you already know will occur and that the success of what you're currently doing is built upon the foundation that preceded it.

Good intentions

This is a picture of Vanessa's reasonabley rare orchid which has just come into flower for the first time in seven years! It's called Napalm Flame and came from Madeira. It's a bit of a fussy plant: normally orchids are in flower all year round in our house but this is one of two that is a bit 'special' it seems, flowering infrequently and less prolifically. The relevance of this to Good Intentions? None that I can think of, but it's an amazing thing and lends colour to this blog item.

So, I read an article by Fiona Bevan on LinkedIn today about good intentions and following through on them to achieve what you want in 2010. In essence, the importance of goal setting, planning and then implementing. Afterall, results come from implementation in the real world.

I could not agree more and I'll repeat what I wrote on the discussion board: don't start your day until you have it finished; don't start your week until you have it finished; don't start your month until you have it finished. Goal Setting and Planning are 2 of the 7 high pay-off activities which I have been taught to allocate to major time.

Which leads me on to another point: do major things in major time and minor things in minor time. Avoid getting these mixed up. And remember, its on a daily basis that we succeed or not: a few simple discliplines repeated every day = success and a few, subtle and small errors in judgement repeated every day = failure.

Finally a word of caution to wrap around all this: be happy with what you have while pursuing what you want. Thanks to the late Jim Rohn for your inspiration.

You can find out more about Fiona Bevan at her Chartered Management Accountant site here: http://www.fionabevanfinancialmanagement.co.uk/ and also her Bright Dimension site here: http://www.brightdimension.co.uk/ Her LinkedIn profile is http://uk.linkedin.com/in/fionaatbrightdimension

There are only 168 hours in a week...

I have been taught that the success of whatever it is that you are currently doing is built upon the foundation that immediately preceded it.

With that in mind, for each of these quality of life areas - physical health, relationship health, career health, financial health and inner health - address the following questions:

• What results are you getting? Are they what you want?
• What are the foundations upon which those results are built that immediately preceeded them? What do they look like and what should they look like?
• Can you delegate this task in this area of your life? (Yes or No)
• How many additional hours a week would you like to spend on these areas?
• What 2 or 3 activites will you do in the extra time which will improve that area of your life?
• What is the impact of improving this area of your life?

All this is more important than money, DIY financial plans, washing the car, cleaning the pool and other 'delegatable' stuff. Who can do those things you can delegate so you can focus on those you cannot with the gift of the extra time that delegation creates?
You only have 168 hours in a week - what are you doing with those hours you have left after sleep and work?

What can I do for you?

I'm going to keep this short:

1. What does the perfect client or customer look like for you?
   
2. What professions can refer you easily?
   
3. What are the biggest challenges that you solve for people?
   
4. What are the key frustrations that people look to you for help with?
   
5. How would I notice a good opportunity for you?
   
6. Who can I introduce you to?

A small journey to a new direction...

Sometimes when we want to achieve things which are important to us or our families, or make important changes, the destination may seem very far off. It may seem like a giant leap.

However, it's a very small journey to a new direction. That's all it takes - a decision to change your direction and you're on your way. Take small strides, daily, one day at a time and you'll get there. Time will win out.

Resolve to follow this formula, today and thereafter:

A small journey to a new direction + a few simple disciplines practiced every day = success

And avoid this one:

Following the same path + a few, subtle errors in judgement repeated every day = failure

(Thank you, Jim Rohn)

Time management?

Not sure if we can manage time as such; we each have 168 hours in a week - no more and no less and it ticks on by at a constant rate.

I found it was more helpful for me to believe that I need to manage myself within the time I have, rather than the time itself. As I say that, I appreciate that this it what most people mean when we talk of managing time, of course. However, I think it is more useful to be more precise.

I have found that the prerequisite for determining what we do in the time we have is to be crystal clear on all our goals and have them written down for every category of our lives. We can then easily see whether or not all the stuff and information that crosses our paths is relevant or not.

Then we need to do less. We also need to learn less and study more. Go narrower and deeper rather than broad and shallow. Internalise what we learn and pursue Mastery rather than dabble.

Tax 'un-avoidance'?

Sorry no Blagdon pictures or stories of wasps today. It seems that tax experts are looking to the HM Revenue and Customs to earn a few quid since being made redundant from the tax departments of banks and multinational companies. By employing these experts, the tax department, HMRC, believes it will help them work out how tax lawyers and accountants find loopholes in the legislation and how they can be closed so that the Treasury can maximise the tax revenue they can receive in these times of lower tax revenues and large public debt. Hmmm...