Old and Fat,
The CFEB initiative has sanction from up high, but it is not widely promulgated. For the sake of an hour of anyone's time, NOT to experience it is madness, but its probably RAF mentality which sees slightly prescriptive things from up high as yet another burden to be spurned. I spoke with 30 or so lads the other week, and you can see the spark ignite within them, when they realise that if they do just a little regularly, now - and get used to a little going out each month - then at the 22 year point, their options are so much broader. These were young Gunners and they
all wanted to save, 7 of them wanted to buy a house.. but they just didn't know how to, apart from chucking some money into an idiotic loss making cash ISA, which of course, the Bank is happy to help them out with whilst also taking a wedge in interest off Bank Credit cards too
. What they needed, but what they didn't have, was a
plan. They lived behind a wire, they went away for 6 months at a time and before they know it, they are 30 and they have 'lost' 10 years. More importantly, pro rata, so many more Vets end up on the street because they have no housing and that is linked to having no money. Talking about respect for our Vets is one thing, but it has to start with educating those potential vets themselves, as 18 year old recruits and in some cases, as 26 year old Flt Lts or 38 year old Chief Techs.
Buffett is legendary, but 'independent'
? Buffett does what is best for Buffett. Sounds good to me.. but he is a one man compounding effect on the market; he knows that if he buys a stake in something, people fall over themselves to follow, the price rises and then he can sell and walk away with a hefty wedge. If it is announced that he is buying a 10% stake in some Mongolian Belly Pork Futures fund, would that also be the right move for, for instance, a 50 year old retiring WO? No, probably not. But it might be worth a punt for a 23 year old Loadmaster playing the long game, and anyway, should the Loadie be properly insured first and foremost, and is he investing to make returns of 15% when he is also paying off huge credit card debt running at 25%? Everyone’s needs and wishes are different and that’s the nice part of this job.
I agree that Tied Advisers who are sales based and bank salesmen too, might not always be as objective as we would like. But that doesn’t mean all Bank staff are bad and it doesn’t mean that all IFAs are good. The FSA Retail Distribution Review is thinning out a lot of the chaff, all be it in a slightly zealous and overly bank friendly way. Its easy to have a pop at IFAs, but when the only option is a 23 year old in a Bank who simply needs you to buy to keep his numbers up, then we’ll wonder (again) where it all went wrong. Thankfully, there is a market for proper advice, and I like working with my clients, getting to know them, and sharing in their gains. I see nothing wrong in working hard and diligently to make 21% for a client’s portfolio and then taking .75% of that, if she otherwise would have simply left it in some cruddy managed ISA fund and have lost 7%. Most IFAs work hard and get paid for doing a good job which is to their client's advantage. I don't want a shed load of clients, I don't take on that many new ones each year now, and I sleep soundly at night.
But in principle, yes.. I agree. There is big money to be made, and a lot of it is down to personal integrity, which, in the past has been found lacking with some of my kind. I agree too, about Insurance. The Life Insurers who deal with the MoD in a fair way are diminishing rapidly. There is one good company at the moment, which looks upon the RAF kindly.. differently in fact, to the Army and the Navy (the looks on young Gunners faces when they realise that they are treated for ‘risk‘ purposes as Admin clerks..!). Regretably, for most readers of this forum, premiums are loaded for fliers, but a young airman could get himself squared away with a quarter of a million quid’s worth of Life Cover for about £25 a month - cover that would pay out if he later went to Afghan and died. Time and time again, I have clients who pay out huge premiums for Active Service Injury cover, when they have never deployed, and are not likely to - certainly not into the kind of harm’s way that others are exposed to. No names, no pack drill, we know the product names and I would never suggest binning them, but the bottom line is that the majority are subsidising the few. In itself, no probs with that - after all, its one big team effort, but should you pay needlessly for something?
The CFEB initiative is low impact, and has a dedicated point of contact for the MoD, so seriously is the lack of financial awareness considered. And I know he would like to be worked harder.. (sorry Joe!). As a young(.. ish
) Rockape, I was discharged after a busy FAC tour with (as was) 5 Airborne Brigade. I have the fluffy tax free pension, which is nice, but I never anticipated the nature and lead in/timings of my premature career endex. I never had the objective perspective that would have helped me. I remember those idiotic, banal socially inclusive tick tests that we used to have to do, just so some 1 or 2 Star could get a warm fuzzy glow at saying we all really really care for one eyed purple, pink or yellow lesbian single mothers, when most of us had the common sense and social skills to have those qualities anyway. But what is the point in us falling over ourselves in outrage at middle aged slappers having a slash on a War Memorial for the Glorious Dead if we can’t be bothered to do anything in advance about preventing Legions of the Glorious, living, middle aged from sleeping in shop doors?
Must dash - I have to make myself ready for being taken out to breakfast by a blonde and busty pension company rep, and these days, getting ready takes ages.
(.. and also, stepping down off preachy soapbox
)