Of all the great things I get to do as a creative person, the one thing that is always exciting is learning new stuff. Sometimes that stuff is work related, sometimes its ‘life’ related. In one of my most recent video projects I’ve learnt a lot, and also observed how reluctance to change can put business owners at a financial disadvantage. It’s this knowledge I’d like to share. [Skip to video]
It sounds deep but it’s not. I’m not one of these self-styled online ‘business gurus’ who pump out Forrest Gump style quotes (Life is like a box of chocolates….) then try and sell you an exhibition stand. No… I just love it when people learn, and that education makes their life better.
Here’s a for instance: In the past 20 years the changes in my field of film and TV are quite astounding. Now it’s a pre-requisite that I keep adapting.
This rapid development means the average iPhone can push out a TV picture as acceptable as the average TV news camera. This has changed the way we all see the news, because anyone can be an ‘on the spot reporter’ when incidents happen. This has changed how our news is both captured and reported.
These changes are happening everywhere and the ‘old ways’ no longer exist. Honestly, when was the last time you wrote a cheque or used a fax? Right now, one hot news topic is the (numerous) changes to pensions, here in the UK.
I’ve recently been working on a video project with Hannah Goldsmith, and she frequently sees a refusal to change, costing business owners a lot of money. So what started off as a simple video project, has resulted in an unexpected learning curve about investments and pensions. I now feel like I took the red pill and have disappeared down the financial rabbit hole.
After many conversations and some personal research (see, more learning), I humbly submit that the whole investing ‘thing’ is closer to white collar gambling than I would like – these are my words not Hannah’s.
I say this because the reality of the investment industry is: experienced and educated brokers ‘predict’ which shares will increase in value and which will decrease. They then buy and sell accordingly for their investors. If the predictions are correct the brokers will ‘beat the market’. Otherwise, “The value of your investments can go down as well as up…” That’s painful if the investment is your pension, but on the bright side, the brokers still get their fees.
Now I know you can’t buy pensions or stocks and shares from Waitrose, so honestly, what are the options? Well, this is where advisors like Hannah come in. She is FCA registered, and can advise on what to do with your pension and investments just like the big institutions. The difference with Hannah is, she’s all about your future lifestyle, so she tweaks investment strategies to match lifestyle expectations.
As most investment strategies run for 25 years it is staggering to see how much money you can lose doing things the ‘old fashioned way’. Watch this video and you’ll see.
But even more surprising than this, is people’s fear and reluctance to change, despite the enormous economic upsides.
As I say, I like my work because I learn new things. I’ve learnt that investments can be like a leaking bucket with fees slowly syphoning off my financial security. I’m just glad I met Hannah, because now I have more insight on how advisors like her can help me plug the holes. I also hope this knowledge will be useful to other business owners.
In Mi Experience 