The simple answer is: Yes, we all are! In a recent blog, we looked at five financial trip-wires and glanced over the term ‘mental accounting.’ Introduced in 1999, it’s a concept that refers to the different values we place on money. These values are often based on subjective criteria; sometimes, this subjectivity benefits us, and sometimes it doesn’t! Mental accounting enables us to create emotional connections with our financial plan. When we consider investment strategies or […]
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Trim the fat, not the meat – Pt 1
Lockdown left many of us sitting idle. Work-from-home, curfews and social restrictions prevented us from setting out and about in the town. However, many people were surprised to find out exactly how much they were saving by not travelling to work every day during this time. Now, as things are opening up again and it’s back to the daily commute, we need to ask ourselves – how much can we actually save on travel? The best […]
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If our feelings could talk
Epictetus, the Greek Stoic philosopher, was the first to say it. “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” But listening is not always about what we hear; it’s what we can begin to intuit. When it comes to our feelings, we have to learn to become more intuitive and listen to what our emotions are trying to tell us. Our mental health is increasingly under […]
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Financial planner or adviser?
Who do you go to when you need advice? Who do you go to when you need help? We have found that the answer to the first question is often: Someone I trust. And, the answer to the second question is: Someone who is an expert. When it comes to the financial world, we need both. Personal finance has become increasingly complex. With so many different flavours of financial products on the market, it’s no wonder […]
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Hold the line
“It’s not in the way that you hold me It’s not in the way you say you care It’s not in the way you’ve been treating my friends It’s not in the way that you stayed till the end It’s not in the way you look or the things that you say that you’ll do Hold the line Love isn’t always on time.” If you have the tune of Toto’s yacht-rock hit from 1978, Hold the […]
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Me, myself and Ikigai
From the stoics to the sentimentalists, most have one question in common: What is the meaning of it all? Searching for purpose and meaning helps us come up with a reason for living. As Aristotle always said, our ability to reason is what makes us different to other animals. This sits at the core of Ikigai, the Japanese concept that speaks to our lives’ direction, purpose, and meaning. Quite literally, iki means “to live”, and gai […]
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Discovery and discomfort
It’s nearly impossible to make it through an entire week without glancing at a blog, social media post or newsletter that reminds us about the pervasive and perpetual change in our lives. Hopefully, this blog won’t be one of those to add to the list. Instead, it will help us to identify the benefits of the challenges that we face. Change can be sparked in so many ways, some of them are by our personal choice, […]
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Five financial tripwires
If you’ve ever seen the mayhem from the middle of the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), you can be forgiven for thinking it’s a warzone! Whilst most stock exchanges around the world now trade electronically, having cleared out their trading floors, NYSE still hosts the traditional tussle of the floor traders’ open outcries. But this is not the only place where money mayhem can cause a right kerfuffle. Every day, in all […]
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Rumpelstiltskin can’t be your plan
In the tale of Rumpelstiltskin, a miller’s daughter strikes a deal with a fairy-tale creature to create immense wealth; however, this comes at the cost of her future firstborn child. When the imp comes to collect the debt he is owed, she manages to luck out and discover his name, Rumpelstiltskin, the only loophole through which she was able to void her contract. But if she was not willing to sacrifice her child, why did she […]
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Bias and your bank balance
When it’s a question of money – everyone is of the same religion, or so said Voltaire. Like religion, there are many different perspectives on how it helps (or hinders) us. It’s probably one reason why people always say you should never talk about money, religion or politics at the dinner table. There are so many differing views! It is not to say we should never discuss money; instead, it’s helpful to be selective about our […]
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