We’ve all learned a lot in the last year or so about the importance of health, how adaptable we all are
when change is just foisted upon us and how reliant we are on each other. While the vaccines have a
really important role to play in moving us past the pandemic, the actions of all of us have played an
enormous role too in suppressing the wretched virus that has turned our lives upside down.
The world of work has changed too, of course for some this has been simply a change in where you
work, for others, the change has been far more challenging. But we all have learned more about how
we can work, the value of our work, and how we can deliver it to the best of our ability to clients in the
changing environment.
This has certainly been the case for us as your Financial Broker. We’ve gone through seismic changes in
how we deliver our services to you. Just like many of you, we were suddenly faced with the prospect of
working remotely and being unable to meet our clients face-to-face. It was challenging at first, but we
feel that over the last year, both ourselves and more importantly our clients have adapted well to this
new way of working.
Now as we look to come out the other side of the pandemic and hopefully start meeting you all again
soon, we’ve been reflecting on some of the areas we’ll be focusing on in the months to come.
We’ll bring you back to the plan
Your finances always come back to the plan, this is where we previously discussed your objectives and
needs and developed a set of recommendations to achieve them. While your objectives may or may
not have changed over the last year, the chances are that your circumstances certainly have. We need
to sit down and review the plan. Maybe all of our previous recommendations are unchanged by the
pandemic, or maybe your situation has changed sufficiently that we need to review them. As we guide
you on your financial journey, we need to ensure that you still have the right set of tools in place to
achieve your goals.
We’ll remind you of good financial behaviours
Apart from the impact the pandemic had on our lives, it also caused enormous volatility in investment
markets. We saw the S&P 500 crash by more than 30%, before recovering by more than 70% by the
end of 2021. Most (if not all) of our clients did the right thing, they didn’t panic as the market fell and
held tight. They were then paid back in spades for their good financial behaviour as the market
recovered and pushed higher. Some unfortunate investors exited the falling market, locked in their
losses and were too slow in getting back in. They paid an expensive price for trying to time the market.
As we exit the pandemic, another behaviour we all need to keep an eye on is our spending. There’s so
much to do, so many places to visit and so many holidays to go on! Just keep an eye on your spending –
don’t go on some mad spree beyond your means that will result in a load of trouble down the road.
We’ll help you leverage your new-found adaptability and flexibility
Many of us had fairly entrenched views on a range of subjects that proved not to be valid as a result of
the pandemic. “My business could never operate online”, “I’ll lose my clients unless I can meet them
face-to-face” and “my restaurant / shop would never survive as a takeaway service only” are some that
we had previously heard and often agreed with… While it was probably a very difficult and imperfect
path, so many people pivoted their businesses in response to the pandemic and you discovered an
adaptability in you that had previously been quite hidden from view.
We’ll build on this new-found adaptability and flexibility and will help you make sense of any
associated financial challenges. As you rethink your life and your world of work, we’ll help you to
understand the impact this might have on your retirement planning, your investing and your financial
security.
We’ll help you to keep your financial perspective
This really is the key one. If the pandemic has taught us one thing, it’s the importance of health and
family. We’ve all learned that money is not everything and only deserves so much of our attention.
We’ve also all learned not to sweat the small stuff. We’ll bring this thinking through into your financial
plan. Life is not just about saving for a great retirement, it’s also about living your life today. It’s not just
about accumulating wealth, it’s about having the freedom to spend time doing the things you love.
We’ll help you to keep your financial perspective.
We really look forward to seeing you again soon.