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
They suggested that we hate losing something about twice as much as we enjoy gaining something! Think about it - in all walks of life it holds water. Take 'love' for example. I remember vividly when I was unceremoniously dumped by my first girlfriend! I was about 15 at the time - and 'devastated' was not the word for how I felt! Despite my father telling me; 'Cheer up son, the next one is always better' (!!!!) I was inconsolable for a week or two.
Did 'the next one' bring as much joy as the being dumped brought pain - we'll see!
Actively Managed Funds under-perform Passive Index Funds in the majority of cases. Managed funds usually exist in order to beat the market. They generally don't succeed. This is not an opinion or a prediction, it is a fact which you will see full evidence of in a moment.
I will start however by reminding you of another fact. Your behaviour as an investor will have potentially far more of an impact on your investment success than whether you are invested in actively managed funds or passive. By 'behaviour' I mean whether you stick to the strategy or not when your portfolio is either screeching upward or downward at a future date. With that irrefutable truth out of the way, lets look at the facts.
When it comes to investing and choosing the best available solution, whether managed funds or passive or whatever, we like facts. We try to ensure you, dear reader, have access to facts. We abhor opaqueness and smoke-n-mirrors when it comes to you investing your future wealth. Whether it is a kids savings account, a windfall, a retirement pot, your life savings or a retirement income vehicle. Facts are the only things any of us should focus on.
Paddy Delaney QFA RPA APA
This week we share a short piece from the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett.
We learn about 'Gotrocks Family', how they had it all, and how they managed to throw it away, or more accurately, to have had it taken away from them!
I consider if this 'informed turkey' is actually voting for Christmas?!
We also share our view on how Irish investors might avoid such disasters, and to keep more of the returns they deserve.
Hope it helps,
Paddy
What is the Standard Fund Threshold in Ireland? This week, in what is a short 4 day work week, we share a short 4 minute read that will give you most of what you might need to know about the Standard Fund Threshold, for now! You'll learn the history, the current threshold, the REAL threshold, and a little-known nugget that can help you squeeze the max value and tax efficiency out of your pension pot. I hope it helps.
Paddy Delaney QFA RPA APA
This week we share an investing concept that applies to investments and pensions equally. If I successfully and coherently share here what is in my head, it will hopefully help remove stress for investors as they begin, continue or end their investment journey.
Paddy Delaney QFA RPA APA
If you are lucky, every now and again you will get introduced to someone that opens your eyes, that adds real value to you. I've been fortunate, partly due to my general curiosity and partly because I've been blessed to just encounter some really interesting people, to have met several such influences recently. This week, in a very short piece I'm aiming to share the love a little!
Paddy.
Will 2020 Be The Best Year Ever For Irish Investors? We take a look at some of the headline facts of recent performance, to shed some light. We also share a few concise truths that Irish investors (as distinct from speculators) might benefit from being reminded of.
Hope it helps.
Paddy Delaney QFA RPA APA
When Chip offered to appear on the Informed Decisions podcast we jumped at the chance to speak with him.
Chip Munn is a senior financial advisor and CEO of Signature Wealth Strategies in South Carolina in the US. He is the author of The Retirement Remix: A Modern Solution to an Old School Problem, and host of The Retirement Remix and Maximum Advisor podcasts.
Chip shares his ideas on:
- building successful businesses
- retiring with purpose, and on your terms
- the role of financial planning in our lives
Hope you enjoy,
Paddy Delaney.
Chip's website:
Book Recommendations (Irish websites to buy them if you wish - not affiliate links!!)
Paddy Delaney Informed Decisions
Patricia Rickard Clarke has unique experience in preparation for, and planning for future life. Patricia shares her insights on:
- Preparing for our financial future
- Preparing for care and health wishes
- Preventing and avoiding abuse issues of ourselves or loved-ones.
Patricia has, and continues to work across many organisations and groups who are focused on the promotion and development of rights and wellbeing of people who are or may at some point be vulnerable.
Resources:
https://www.safeguardingireland.org/about/
https://www.easons.com/being-mortal-atul-gawande-9781846685828
Hi,
If you are wondering 'how does an ARF work', may I suggest we consider instead the question; 'how should an ARF work'!? Given that your draw-down strategy in retirement will be one of the biggest financial decisions you will make in your mature life, this really is a topic worth doing some homework on.
Unfortunately, ARFs are generally managed in a pretty laissez-faire manner by most providers. They take your money, stick it into a mid-volatility fund and hand you a cheque every month for 4% of the average over the month, and let your hard-earned pot do whatever it will do. There are options.
Paddy.
This week I share with you 5 instances where you should seriously question the advice you get from your financial advisor, and some questions to ask to help explore the suggestions!
Now, if you've got a good one whom you trust, your Financial Advisor can be the difference between you having a successful financial life, and not. But if your advisor gives you a bum steer that you act on, the impact of that could be significant on your long term financial success.
Paddy Delaney Informed Decisions
Dr. Thomas Gilovic has conducted several studies, some spanning decades, which measured the level of satisfaction and joy that people get from experiences versus material purchases. Here is a link to one particular study he was involved in, the insight of which is really quite fascinating. There appears to be three core reasons that experiential purchases give us more long term satisfaction.
Hopefully you get some value from this week's episode. Enjoy!
Paddy Delaney.
What happens my pension when I, you know!? I'm never one to shirk the hard questions, but it seems crass to talk of 'you know' while all of 'this' is going on!
If you are any of the following, you really ought to know about this:
"Life is like playing the violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on", or so said the 19th Century English author Samuel Butler. I'm including that quote for no other reason than I really like it. A friend of ours recently had a baby, and she is bouncing hundreds of questions off Fiona (who is an 'old hand' at this stage!). It just goes to show that we are all learning. None of us know everything - a valuable lesson in humility in times like these!
I hope this helps, even a little!
Paddy Delaney Informed Decisions
In this weeks' Podcast you will hear from someone with some unique insights on the topics we discuss week in and week out. Dr. Moira Somers from Canada is someone I have admired and benefited from learning from in recent years.
In our conversation, Moira shares some ideas around:
- Why money decisions can be very difficult for many of us
- What we can do to make it a little easier
- When to seek financial guidance, and how to find one that will help you most
- Moira's top tips to reach your financial priorities
We hope you find it of real interest, and of value to you.
Thanks,
Paddy Delaney
Dr. Moira Somers Website:
https://moneymindandmeaning.com/about-moira/
Advice That Sticks Book:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38821455-advice-that-sticks
Wondering what the best investments 2020 are?! Or if your investments or pensions are down the pan!? It is indeed one of those 'once every 5 year' situations for investments at the moment (more on that later), but we hope to share some insight that will help you see the wood from the trees.
If you are a regular or occasional visitor or listener of this site you likely have a fair idea of our response to the question of which are the best investments 2020. Short answer remains; investments which are low in cost, high in diversified equities and high in a decent track record versus it's peers. But, has the sheen of that 'Holy Trinity' been tarnished based on how 'things' have gone so far this year!? Let's see.....
This week, as promised in our recent Pros & Cons of Pension Property, we share with you further details of owning a Property within a Pension.
We were delighted to have Tommy Neilsen, qualified Solicitor and 'Head of Legal' with Independent Trustee Company (ITC) Dublin. Tommy has been with ITC since 2005, and deals with all legal aspects relating to the Pension Trustee services they provide.
In this episode you will hear:
- Legal considerations around Pension Property
- How the structure actually works
- How safe it is or isn't
- Further Pros & Cons
- Lessons Learned
As chairman of the Law Society’s Sub-Committee on Pensions and chairman of the Association of Pension Trustees in Ireland, Tommy brings a level of knowledge and understanding of Pension Property that hopefully helps you in learning about it.
Thanks for listening,
Paddy Delaney
How would you feel if you discovered you were paying double the level of fees on your pension or investment that you were led to believe? ‘Clarity On Fees’ is the #1 thing consumers say would improve the level of trust they have in Financial Advice. 76% of people do not know how or what their Financial Advisor is paid. Most pension holders have no idea they are likely paying over 2% fees every year. These are just a sample of the startling results from consumer research we recently conducted. As someone who is hell-bent on finding a win-win for both Consumers and the future of Financial Advice, these results are pretty terrifying, for everyone involved! There is an urgent need for the Financial Advice profession to pull it’s socks up, and to start playing fair with you the consumer. Either it does, or it’ll be sat on the Sub’s Bench for eternity.