Reflection

How Not to Argue Over Money

If you live with someone you love, then this week we want to offer you some light-hearted but useful advice to avoid arguments about money. After all, successfully managing money together calls for as much tolerance and good humour as all the other parts of life that couples need to negotiate. If you can keep smiling, everything becomes a lot easier.

Good Thinking Makes for The Best Financial Decisions

Good financial management is all about good decision making. This week, we discuss a simple way to help yourself make better decisions. Given that most of the country will remain in some form of lockdown for the foreseeable future, it is a method that makes even more sense for those of whose lifestyles have been seriously disrupted.

How to Be Effective

Peter Drucker was a giant within the world of management consulting. In 2004, he wrote a seminal article targeted specifically towards executives. Given the nature of 2020 and its impact on the world of work, we re-read the article recently and realised that its contents remain very relevant. In fact, they remain vitally important for anyone who has to work somewhat autonomously

Hello Sunshine!

Next week brings the first day of Spring – an arrival that can’t come soon enough in this most strange year! To mark the changing of the seasons, this week we take a lighthearted look at the relationship between money management and the weather. You might be surprised to know that serious researchers have looked at this question. So, for investors, could it really be a case of “Hello Sunshine?”

The Best Time to Plant a Tree Was Always 10 Years’ Ago

They say the secret to successful comedy is all in the timing. Funnily enough, the same goes for investment or debt management. But unlike with comedy, when it comes to money it is usually best to get in early. That’s because anything that earns interest is worth acquiring earlier - and anything that charges interest is worth paying off as soon as possible.

Haul up the Anchors!

The ‘mental side’ of money management is always important. Given the events of 2020, how we think about money has become even more vital. While no one really knows what the lasting economic impact of the Coronavirus will be, the one thing that we can be certain about is that many of our working assumptions will need to be changed. The new world will not be like the old world. We will all need to think differently when it comes to our finances.

Brother (or sister), can you Spare a Dime? Lending Money to Friends and Family.

This week, we thought we would look at an issue that some of us are likely to face, as the impact of Coronavirus affects people we know and love. That issue is what to do if someone asks us for a financial loan. It might be family, or it might be a friend. Either way, lending money to friends and family can be a touchy subject. We hope these general thoughts may help.

Restorations Don’t Always Work Out So Well!

Covid 19 means that many household budgets are under pressure. Many of our clients are looking closely at all of their spending. For some people, this review includes thinking about their life insurances. As we will discuss below, any decision to discontinue or reduce life insurance should only be made after very careful consideration. Restorations may not turn out the way you think they will.

The Wealth Equation. Maximise, minimise, optimise.

The ability to turn a complex idea into a simple set of habits is usually the secret to success. This week, we thought we would ‘boil’ financial management down to a simple mathematical formula which many successful people have applied in their own lives. We call it the ‘wealth equation.’

More about decision fatigue

Our recent article on decision fatigue was very well-received. So, this week we thought we would return to the theme and shed some more light on this very important element of good financial decision making. (OK: we admit it. It also lets us run another photo of an extremely cute baby, which should get lots of positive comments as well!)