We were wondering recently about the impact that COVID has had on claims within the life assurance sector, and so we decided to do a bit of investigation by examining Irish Life’s (the leading provider of protection products in Ireland) claims data for 2020.
OK we admit – this may not sound like the most exciting topic in the world, but it just might make a significant difference to your financial future…
Evidence Based Investing (EBI) is gathering more and more supporters and advocates around the world, and as a result is starting to appear quite frequently in investment commentary and indeed the mainstream media. It is a term that you may or may not be familiar with, so we’re taking the opportunity to inform you of what you need to know about it.
Where do you start with Warren Buffett? Widely recognised as the world’s shrewdest investor, the “Sage of Omaha” is now 90 years young and still doling out nuggets of advice to investors across the globe. Using his investment expertise, he had amassed a fortune of some $79 billion as of August 2020, making him the 4th wealthiest individual in the world.
Pretty much all of our conversations these days open with a quick chat about the current situation with Covid. While it’s all a bit bleak at the moment with the latest surge in cases, hospital admissions and most unfortunately deaths, there is light at the end of the tunnel in the shape of the rollout of the vaccine starting to gather pace. This of course is the gamechanger for 2021.
We are fortunate to work with quite a number of clients who have reached or are well on the road to financial independence. This is a great place to be, where any money worries fade into the background and your desired future lifestyle is achievable, except of course where the assumptions underpinning the plan are ignored.
Ethical investing refers to the practice of using one's ethical principles as the primary filter for the selection of investment assets. Today it is seen as one element of the broader investing approach of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI). With the increased attention given to climate change, achieving a just society and the desire for good health, particularly in the current Covid era, there has been a surge in interest in SRI. Investors want to understand the impact of their money, and they want it to enhance the world we live in as opposed to simply achieving monetary growth at any cost.
2020 has been a year of great uncertainty. Of course Covid-19 has dominated the landscape, bringing with it insecurity for some people around both their health and also their economic circumstances. As countries are moving in and out of various states of lockdown, for many people this is creating a lot of worry about their jobs. For some this is temporary and they can see a relatively swift return to normality. For others their prospects are more bleak, as they are forced to close their business or they see their employers reducing headcount or shutting down altogether.
It’s not an easy ride for investors today, when you consider some of the actual and potential headwinds facing you,
Look, it happens regularly… people realise that with their current retirement planning approach, they are going to fall short of achieving the lifestyle they want in retirement. This happens for a whole lot of reasons – not having a plan, starting to save too late, not saving enough or the wrong investment strategy.
A huge amount of the time we spend with our clients is spent building an understanding of your goals in life and developing a financial plan to help you achieve your objectives. A lot of attention goes into your retirement strategy, your investment approach and other such important areas.
As we emerge from lockdown and the world is getting back to some sort of normality, unfortunately for some people the pandemic has had quite a significant impact on their income. We’ve had a small number of queries from clients in this situation who are looking to reduce their expenditure. Some are pausing savings plans and other regular investment products. One or two people have queried whether they should cut back on their levels of life assurance and specified illness cover.
As economies around the world start to cautiously emerge from their various states of lockdown, people are also stepping back into the light albeit gingerly and carefully. Some shops and services are open for business again, others have a while to wait still. Some activities that involve mass gatherings such as sports events and concerts face a quite uncertain future for some time to come.
A recent phone conversation with a client triggered this article, as we were discussing the volatility in markets over the last few months. This was a relatively easy conversation, as this particular client has a very measured view to managing her pension fund and her investments. She doesn’t make rash decisions, she maintains a long-term perspective and doesn’t fret over every movement in the markets.
Experience in the life assurance industry shows that most life assurance policies are taken out by people in their 30’s, 40’s and to a lesser extent in their 50’s. There is a very low uptake of life assurance by people in their 20’s who simply think they don't need it.
We believe that it’s time to look again at this line of logic, and we ask you to consider why we believe it makes sense to get cover in place sooner rather than later.
A marriage breakup is usually a traumatic time. Very significant life decisions are needed about custody of children and access arrangements, and where each party will live. Often relations between the parties become quite fraught… and then financial arrangements need to be agreed.
Lots of factors are currently creating a great deal of uncertainty for investors; markets have been a bit jittery after such a strong performance in 2019, USA and Iran are causing a lot of tension in the Middle East and Brexit is finally happening. The picture is quite daunting for investors today.
So what do you do?
Well the answer is probably, not very much! Let us explain…
We’ve written before about the importance of a very planned approach to retirement. Having a healthy pension fund is what springs to mind for all of us in this regard – of course this is very important, as having access to financial resources will help you to ensure that you can enjoy your retirement and live it on your own terms.
How has this happened? Surely we can’t already be facing into a new decade! Many of us remember fondly the big party we were at on New Year’s Eve as we entered the new century – and all the worries about the Y2K bug that was going to bring the end to many IT systems across the globe. We’re coming up to the 20th anniversary of that now…
In today’s era of consumerism on a grand scale, it can be hard to maintain a clear and constant perspective about the value of money. Many of us muddle along, surviving, making mistakes and getting by. However this is no example to give to the next generation who are likely to pick up on our behaviours and habits. Instead we need to carefully teach our children about how to act responsibly with money and to give them the best chance of building positive financial habits for life.
Let’s be honest, everyone in Dublin and most people around the country (at least outside Kerry) thought the Dubs had the All Ireland won before the first match.
As part of our work with clients, one really important element of an overall financial plan is retirement planning. Of course, it happens quite often that clients are some way along this journey before we come into contact with them.
We came across a quote recently that has really got us thinking, as it hit home on one of the most important aspects of financial planning. The quote is, “Money always moves when life is in transition”.
We carry out a lot of research throughout the year, whether it’s attending conferences and seminars, meeting investment managers and product providers and also carrying out desk-based research. Inevitably from time to time, our reading pile gets a little higher! However this is now a great time of year to make real inroads into that reading.
Traditionally the role of a financial adviser has been to help you grow your financial resources. This has evolved significantly in more recent times into a much broader role, as financial planners have developed the skills and the tools to provide a lot more value than this. Sitting at the heart of what we do now is helping you to identify the life that you want to live, and then through careful financial planning, guiding you on your financial journey to ensure you achieve your goals and dreams.
As part of our financial planning conversations with you, we always bring the attention around to subjects that are not easy to think about – a serious illness or death visiting a family member or indeed yourself. We all naturally don’t want to spend too long thinking about this, but unfortunately for us to do our job properly it’s a subject that we simply must contemplate.
We’d like to share a story with you that originated back in 1963 when published by the German writer, Heinrich Böll. It’s a very short story, but perfectly captures one of the key messages that we stress with our clients.
Well there is no exhaustive list for this one – there really are so many potential factors that can influence your investment returns. When you ask a professional investor, they will often jump to factors such as the economy, sentiment and interest rates. All very relevant factors.
Find out how well your finances match your lifestyle needs