July and August is usually the time our attention turns to holidays as schools break up and the season of leather upon willow is firmly underway. Any thoughts of staying indoors are usually rain-induced. However, that was BC…before coronavirus.
Whether you’re spending your summer in the UK, braving a foreign holiday or waiting it out at home, I hope you have a restful time.
Reflecting upon July I was reminded of an old proverb which struck a chord with me in these uncertain and changing times…
It’s a futile world where we wish our days away but that seems to be a commonplace thought just now. Overhearing people in the supermarket say that ‘I wish all of this was over now’ in not uncommon; it’s just human nature.
At TWP, while we’re biding our time and being safe about returning to the office, en masse, our working from home is working well. Pavlina is in the office most days in case you need to get hold of us by telephone and we’re all working, so please do not hesitate to make contact.
We’ve already had one postponed wedding with Leah our paraplanner having to defer nuptials until 2021 and in July another date passed without an alter meeting. John Cunliffe, one of our Chartered Planners and his wife-to-be Helen will look to the future to tie the knot and be another in a long list of ‘not in 2020’ weddings. One thing that the sands of time cannot hold back is birthdays, and very specially, David Cummings, our external Business Development Consultant celebrated 3 score years and managed a socially-distanced celebration.
As any market gazers out there will realise any so-called ‘recovery’ is, has been, and will continue to be slow. I completely understand if you feel we at TWP might appear somewhat blasé when we say the markets do not really matter. Of course that matters. However, we design a financial plan with you taking into account your circumstances, your life events that you have planned, and your levels of income and your expenditure. Your plan is very personal to you and focuses upon the long term, hence why we talk alot about the three pots of short, medium and long term money. To rely on external influences too much is somewhat folly in this context; we would always pose one simple question – ‘is your plan on track?’ if yes, carry on; if not…what adjustments to the tiller (not wholesale changes) do we need to agree upon? I can assure you we are not being carefree in adopting this attitude as the financial planning process is a long-term exercise, not a quick-win.
To illustrate this, in the inimitable words of Australian film director Baz Luhrmann, in life we should accept certain inalienable truths; prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old. And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders. The reality is somewhat different and the things we’re seeing right now in the financial markets have happened before and will happen again…all any of us can do is have a plan, stick the course and don’t panic.
If you’d like to chat about your plan or indeed discuss anything that might be causing you concern please do not hesitate to get in touch
In the meantime have a safe summer, holiday well wherever that may be and go safe.
Don’t Forget The Fish – June 2020