It is difficult to avoid the commercialisation of a modern Christmas. There are of course many positive aspects to Christmas; for those with Christian beliefs the fundamental “reason for the season” is reason enough.   For those whose beliefs might be different, the tradition of gift giving provides the opportunity to think of others and what they might value.    For one of our family, who is about to embark on travel in South America, we thought that a book by Chris Ryan titled “How to stay safe in a dangerous world” would be appropriate. When traveling, Ryan advocates remaining vigilant about your surroundings and aware of possible threats. Most importantly he encourages his readers to develop strategies to deal with the unexpected. He also notes that sometimes the safest course of action can feel counterintuitive. Much of his advice seems common sense, but I guess the interesting thing about common sense is that sometimes it only appears “common” in retrospect. In June

Having just been up to the UK to exhibit at a recruitment and migration expo (destinations New Zealand, Australia and Canada), from an impartial perspective it’s interesting to hear and see the impact the pending Brexit is already having on UK residents.        Being at a migration expo I spent a lot of time talking to people who are seriously looking at relocating from the UK, with the uncertainties created by Brexit most commonly mentioned as the reason for people to consider migration in the near future. Most migrants between developed world nations do so for a combination of economic and lifestyle reasons. Some of the people I talked to in the UK were worried about the future prospects for the UK economy and therefore their careers, while others were concerned about narrowing attitudes in the UK towards Europe and people from other European nations. Most viewed any of the three countries mentioned above as likely to have a better lifestyle than they could get in the UK.

In a previous article, I explained the power of compounding investment returns. The article highlighted the impressive synergies created by the combined effects of; starting early, maintaining regular contributions and reinvesting your returns.  It all sounds so simple. But I guess one of life’s truisms is; “that which is simple is not necessarily easy”. This disconnect between knowledge and action has caused some advisers and fund managers to rethink the way they provide advice to clients and construct investment portfolios.  It appears that for some clients the traditional diversified portfolio approach is a barrier to success as that portfolio can seem far removed from the client’s life. In the real world our financial goals are driven by the things that we want to achieve. They are fluid in nature and many in number. Accordingly they have different time frames and can even compete with one another.  A traditional diversified portfolio, which is constructed with a single

Apparently, it was George Bernard Shaw who quipped, “youth is wasted on the young”.  It is certainly true that life’s journey teaches us many things some of which could have been put to good use sooner, if only we had known.  Those of us lucky enough to have had mentors have been fortunate to have benefited from the wisdom of age without being old.  The concept I am referring to is compound returns. Albert Einstein described it as the eighth wonder of the world. He went on to say “he who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it. Compound interest  is the most powerful force in the universe.” This column is based on an article that a mentor gave to me almost 30 years ago. That experience taught me that a single concept, delivered at a “teachable moment”, can change a life - if not yours, then someone else’s. For many people the barrier to learning and applying this knowledge is that it is mathematically based and not at all intuitive so our