Plan for the worst and hope for the best. Everyone is only talking about one of two things at the moment, either a disease or an invasion. However, there are other, much more closer to home events that we ought really be prepared for, but of which few have been giving much thought to, including yours' truly.
If you are heading towards retirement with zero pension planning done, this piece might help.
"Daddy, the lady at dancing class had toes coming out of her eyes and coming out of her ears!".
That's what 4 year-old Emily told me yesterday through rampant giggles, and I'm not one to disagree with her! One big observation of recent years as a parent - is the wonderfully wild imaginations that kids can have. Depending on what they may have been absorbing recently, whether it's Harry Potter stories or something lighter, such as 'Cocomelon' nursery rhymes, their minds can take a perfectly mundane daily event or encounter and turn it into a wild and scary thing. It's a wonderful privilege to see and hear it in action. The tangible impact of their imagination running mad are little or none, at least in the short term! The imagination does not usually cause an action or event to occur.
However, the same cannot be said of the imagination of us adult investors, particularly in the face of actual horrific world events, and subsequent detailed coverage of market movements. Reading the home page of any media outlet over the past week may well have had you terrified about your finances, even on days when the markets movements were up! That is their intention - to keep you clicking and reading. Clicks = Revenue, never forget!
This week we kick-off our podcast series where we share the journey of listener and client William Lacey, as he exits full-time employment.
This is a topic close to many listeners’ hearts, and William has offered to help us share insights that will help others.
William will join us every 6/8 weeks over the coming 12 months.
Each episode will see William and Paddy discuss William’s thinking, actions, priorities, concerns and outcomes as he transitions from full-time running his business.
This week hear his background, where he is right now, and the topics that are next on his list to clarify and decide-on.
Aside from deciding to actually accumulate money for your post-work living, the decision about 'when to take my pension benefit' is the biggest financial life decision that many of us will need to make. It is akin to breaking open the cookie-jar that we have been diligently accumulating for decades. For many, it is an emotional and financial conundrum, that I hope to help with. A combination of academic research and supporting people in this phase of life has given me some insights that I share here, and which I hope will be even somewhat helpful to you. No single article can address all that needs to be considered fully but the aspects we'll explore today in this questions of 'when to take my pension' are;
In this weeks' (really) short piece I'm going to share with you a couple of thoughts about investing in later life; for those that may be in the final decade or two. Key things covered this week:
I hope it helps you or a loved-one.
Paddy.
Trust, they say, exists at the intersection of 'Character' and 'Competence'. In this week's piece I'm sharing a short story about a fictional accountant (Steady-Eddie), a fictional Financial Advisor (Friendly-Fiona), and you!
Through this short story we'll look at at trust, and whether it is deserved or not, and we'll look at the murky world of unregulated financial advice and unregulated investments in Ireland. Before I start, I want to reiterate that I know and trust quite a few accountants and financial advisors!
I hope it helps.
Paddy
Financial Independence, when you hear it, often means different things to different people. For some, it's having more money/assets accumulated than they'll ever be able to spend - for others, it's having regular and reliable income that'll cover their every future need. For others, it's removing as many on-going expenses as they possibly can. Whichever way you look at it though; it almost always goes hand-in-hand with being confident about your financial independence. It is one thing seeing it on paper, it is another to actually believe it and have conviction that it is so.
This week I want to share some brief yet impactful nuggets from a legendary book called 'The richest man in Babylon', which details one man's journey to Financial Independence. I share these nuggets in the hope that it might add another layer of confidence and clarity in your own Financial Independence.
Paddy
This week I share evidence & facts about investment returns, and also invite you to ask yourself an important question! Our agenda for this first piece of 2022:
Paddy.
Hi,
I'm delighted to share with you a conversation I had recently with UK-based Chartered Financial (&Life) Planner, Justin King. He shares his experience on:
- How to financially prepare to 'transition' to retirement
- Life-Planning's role in considering our priority & future-selves
- Justin's views on optimal Investment Management approaches for retirees
Hope you find it interesting,
Paddy
Justin's Book 'Ready, Steady, Retire'...FREE!
Hi,
It is a sad state of affairs when we have to rely on individual authors and thinkers publishing books and articles, in order to help the youth of today to develop financial wisdom. Yet, here we are!
Despite sounding very negative, I was delighted to speak with such a thinker and author, Will Rainey (former Pensions Actuary!). In our conversations he shared his ideas on:
- Helping kids to save, spend, & importantly to invest
- Investing for younger and older children
- What he believes is the optimal approach to investing
- How he transitioned from being in 'high finance' in UK to moving to rural Vietnam with his family!
Hope you enjoy the chat.
Paddy.
This week we share a few nuggets that I hope will offer clarity and assurance on a few key aspects of our investment and pensions planning;
-Important changes to pensions in Ireland coming into force
-An update on Active Manager performances
-The link between balance and longevity!
I hope it is useful for you - I sure enjoyed doing it!
Paddy.
This week we bring you the David Worrell Interview - where we discuss all aspects of Investment Platforms in Ireland.
David is head of relationship management at Conexim Investment Platform in Ireland and shares his insights on the following:
Hope it helps,
Paddy.
Robin Powell is a force within the investing world - on a mission to inform the public and financial advice firms of the facts of investing. I was thrilled to have him back on the podcast, having spoken to him in Episode 76 a life-time ago!
In this episode, we discuss:
- His progress in dispelling investment myths & educating investors
- The role of regulators in making it better for retail investors
- What investors should focus on & what they should not focus on!
- The Advice Gap in the UK and other countries and how it may be fixed
- A great book!
Hope you enjoy.
Paddy.
Invest Your Way To Financial Freedom Book
Evidence Based Investor Website
Adviser 2.0 Website for advisers
4,000 Weeks Book Recommendation
SPIVA Reports
As with most things in Financial Services in Ireland, (Environmental, Social & Governance) ESG Investing in Ireland is one that takes a bit of figuring-out, if you want to do it right that is! In the hope that it will help you build and protect your own wealth, I share the following in this short piece:
Paddy Delaney Informed Decisions
This week I share some interesting research and insights on how to prepare for the biggest surprises in Retirement, both financial and non-financial.
We will mostly all agree that 'Life' is not about reaching some destination in a particular state. The same can be said of our financial lives, but yet a large focus for most of us is to reach a point in the future where we have amassed sufficient financial resources to be financially independent.
Learn from the people who have been there and done that in this weeks' episode.
Paddy.
Thanks for coming back to us in this Episode 201!
This week I tell you about bad investment funds in Ireland, it promises to be a doozy! I hope it is actionable and impactful for you in your own wealth creation and preservation. This week I'll share some insights on the following:
Paddy Delaney - Informed Decisions
It's not ever day that you get to launch your 200th episode - so who better to help us mark this event than Pete Matthew!
Pete has been at the vanguard of personal finance podcasting and sharing of deep insights for many years now - and was an inspiration to Informed Decisions.
We trusted Pete to take over the show - and it'll be fairly obvious to you dear listener that we should probably ask him to stay!!
Thanks for your continued listenership, support and for being part of the journey.
###October 2021 UPDATE####
In November 2020 following this episode we launched the Podcast Tribe - over the following 11 months we donated €4k to charity thanks to our members. As of October 2021 we are reverting to sharing our insights, ideas and interviews publicly, so you can catch Episode 201 at the end of October 2021 on your usual podcast player!
###See You Soon!####
Paddy Delaney - Informed Decisions
Check out Pete's show if you haven't already - it's great!
Dr. Sarah Fallaw shares her insights on the following:
- Her research of wealth builders all across the US
- What works and what doesn't work
- How our behaviours and personalities impact on our wealth creation
- Her latest book, a combination of her and her late father's research
I hope you enjoy,
Paddy Delaney Informed Decisions
Resources:
- The Next Millionaire Next Door
Investment Trusts have been in vogue for a little while - in no small small part due to the tax treatment of any realised gains. Many investors are hell-bent on finding an option that might allow them to invest in a diversified and low-cost way, and try to invest via Capital Gains Tax regime as opposed to Exit Tax regime. Some believe Investment Trusts in Ireland allow you to do that, but like many things it's not as straight-forward as that!
Hope it helps,
Paddy.
Hey!
Financial Service firms love their acronyms, as in they love them! Maybe it's an insecurity thing, or maybe it's an attempt to hold onto some semblance of power. To help you develop the knowledge and to prepare you for a conversation with even the worst acronym offenders (AO!), I'm covering each of the main investment and financial acronyms related to financial services in Ireland. Plus, I'll offer a one-liner on each as to what it really is and why it matters!
Paddy Delaney QFA RPA APA
Informed Decisions
Tax on investments in Ireland is a doozy! There is a warning often quoted in investment articles that suggest "you shouldn't let the tax tail wag the investment dog". Based on a recent conversation I had with a prospective client and from many emails that I get from investors, it seems that people aren't even aware that there is a tail! This is an important part of investing and is a significant issue for many investors, so I made sure to allocate sufficient time to get to write a short piece to hammer the message home!
Paddy.
This week we chat with Todd Tresidder, financial coach and educator at FinancialMentor.com. He's also the author of five financial planning books.
You'll learn about:
- How to build wealth
- What stops us reaching Financial Independence
- Using leverage to help you get there
Todd built his own wealth as a hedge fund investment manager before "retiring" at 35 to teach others. Today, he provides advanced investment and retirement planning education at FinancialMentor.Com showing what works, what doesn’t, and why based on a depth of proven experience.
Hope you enjoy,
Paddy Delaney Informed Decisions
Something a little different this week - give it a go!
If your life was one week long what day of the week would you be on, and what would you do about the rest of the week!? We explore this, and aspects of our financial lives that will hopefully help you to avoid mistakes and achieve your priorities.
Hope it helps,
Paddy Delaney
Informed Decisions
In this episode we share:
- Why I get stick about our cars
- What Opportunity Cost is & why it matters
- How to go after what is really important to you & stop wasting money on the unimportant
I hope it is helpful.
Paddy Delaney QFA RPA APA
Paddy Delaney Informed Decisions