TRAP: The Real Adviser Podcast

37 - ABL - Always Be Learning

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TRAP LIVE IS HAPPENING ON 9th MAY 2024. REGISTER YOUR INTEREST HERE: www.therealadviserpodcast.com

In this latest pile of TRAP, the Trap Pack discuss

  • Topical issues, including Irish salary sacrifice, Ray Trapani interview with Storyteller and BitCoin ETFs, NextGen and Verve adviser resources, cash flow as an “optional extra”, Timeline Classic 50 MPS laudits
  • Meat and Potatoes: ABL - Always Be Learning
  • Questions posted by our beloved TRAPists www.twitter.com/abb04645603
  • Culture Corner

Links referred to in the show:

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Take part in the conversation! We want YOU to suggest topics and questions you’d like the Trap Pack to answer. The best way to do this is to ask them here.

Help us to help you! The more followers we have, the more we can do stuff going forward. So please:

Carl Widger:

What should we not blank out? Or

Nick Lincoln:

why are we doing that car we're going straight into it Wow, okay go back to 37 of the real advisor podcast T R A P trap my name is Lincoln and joining me as ever are the three other horsemen of the apocalypse call the voice where Josh Allen the storyteller Smith and and the ultra hot Now gentlemen, we have a show packed full of app salutely nothing so let's start unpacking your straightaway with some more high energy review. Reviews. Read out by my good friend the Right Honourable Mr. Andrew Hart.

Andy Hart:

Thank you very much Nick. First is from Chris Hudson, entitled easy listening excellent podcast very easy to listen to my good friend George recommended to me and I'm forever grateful shout out to George great content from four wise men that anyone new to the profession should be listening to it keep them coming slightly longer view now from W A Josh G entitled This is a cheat sheet five stars as an advisor who is in the process of going it alone after three years of big corporate big corporate advice experience this podcast is gold dust in a world where financial advice propositions can seem overwhelming, and the thought of going self employed can seem impossible. The experience and knowledge shared by the four guys is invaluable. Worth noting that equally as valuable. The information also what they debunk is also incredibly valuable. Keep it simple, stupid Words To Live By for successful careers and business models bottled into our segments This is a must listen for both new and old advisors. Back to your boss

Carl Widger:

to start January Thank you high energy

Nick Lincoln:

thank you speech

Andy Hart:

if any of you review segment you you're

Alan Smith:

the man for the job, Mr. motivator, Jesus

Andy Hart:

Christ back to your boss.

Alan Smith:

Come on, get on with it.

Nick Lincoln:

We done right thank you for those reviews Trappist. Do appreciate it. Don't forget, please our YouTube channel, according to our analytics department, 74% of you watch the YouTube channel but don't subscribe. If you've ever enjoyed our videos, please could you do me a favor? And just click the little Subscribe button. That would be lovely. Right. Let's move on to some topical tidbits. And

Alan Smith:

just before we do, or let's say in the last few days, I've had various conversations that we'll talk about a little bit more about this during the show, but with a number of advisors, young advisors, good advisors. And I said to them Do you ever listen to trap and he said no, I never heard of it. I caught what couldn't believe it couldn't believe that people didn't have never heard of the real advisor podcast. So it is another shatter a reminder based on what Nick just says please do if you are a listener if you are a Trappist, send the link, share it with your community, share it with the network. Let's grow the network. All right, Carrie, all

Nick Lincoln:

right, call revenue guidance on salary sacrifice, my friend.

Carl Widger:

Yes, indeed, I fought awake to start the show in January on a Monday morning. Although I know Andrew, it goes out in Thursday, my apologies. Anyway, so last year, there was there was legislation that basically allowed people I've mentioned a few times to put in whatever they want in Ireland into PR assays, which is our pensions, simplification product. However, there has been some questions around salary sacrifice and the revenue have updated their guidance on that. Just wanted to mention it here because I think it's vitally important that as a profession if we are advising clients that we know exactly what that revenue guidance says. So make sure that you get yourself up to speed with what the guidance is. And hat tip to Dave Quinn, who posted the latest revenue guidance on LinkedIn. That's what I saw it for. So thanks, Dave.

Nick Lincoln:

Okay, great stuff. Thank you Mighty Quinn, Mr. Smith, relentless communications from direct to consumer platforms.

Alan Smith:

I've got a little bit of money on two different DTC platforms, bit of legacy thing one of them I was just wanting to test out what it was like to be a customer and have the experience and I never really paid attention to this, but I just I started paying attention recently because I'm really trying to be focused and clean up my email inbox and things and get rid of stuff they don't subscribe to and all that sort of thing. And so I noticed in the last few weeks So that with these platforms, which I won't name because they're all the same, frankly, the email communication is freakin relentless. It's minimum once a week, often twice a week of hot new ideas, this fund that fund our experts prediction for this and you start to read them. And they're always quite kind of interesting, superficially appealing, there's always a reason to believe that this could be a good investment to make. And I just thought, the interests of these direct to consumer platform providers absolutely not aligned with the interests of the investor using them. The more activity you undertake on a platform, the better it is for the platform, they're taking a cut that take the clipping a ticket, in and out buying and selling all that. So it is clearly in their interest. I know they're all highly regulated, and everything else not doing anything, which is illegal. But you couldn't help but be influenced by regular, highly attractive suggestions for where you should move your money to. And I bet people are just looking at all that sounds interesting. Because you can do it. As we all know, one of the benefits of the the evolution of technology in the last 10 or 20 years has been the ease of just clicking a button and moving your funds around. And so yeah, I just I just sort of flag that up as an issue for any one of our clients or anyone else who might see who is who uses direct to consumer platforms. Question

Carl Widger:

on that. Alan, Have you recently within the last week, notice that they've told you that they have Bitcoin ETFs available? Because I have seen that. And I suppose what the consumer, the client needs to understand is that the platform's don't give a crap, what you invest in, they just want you trading, that's how they're going to make their money. So it suits everybody who's running platforms that are aimed directly at clients or consumers to get people moving and moving their money from wherever they are now into Bitcoin, etc. So I have you seen anything on that? Or is that yet to come?

Alan Smith:

I haven't seen it yet. I'm not sure. If these are ETS we're going to talk about that in a minute, aren't we Nick? But

Andy Hart:

the Bitcoin has yet called the Bitcoin ETF has not been proved in the UK, it's been proven the US approved in the US has not yet approved in the UK. Yeah, they are relentless. Elon, it's the opposite of invest in forget, they're basically marketing companies first and foremost, secondarily, they happen to sort of be in the fund space in the share space. But yeah, they massively make their money on activity. Yeah, they are relentless. I mean, HL, the sort of beast in this space, has built his whole company from you know, direct marketing in the years gone by their share magazines. It was you got to turn that off almost immediately. If you join AHL. So yeah, all the platforms are very, very pro, you know, information sharing with their with their clients,

Alan Smith:

and there's no accountability. There's no accountability for it. Because if they promote something, and somebody invests in it, and it falls 50% There's no recourse. They just provided you with information. We do not give you advice. There's no answer because no ombudsman services, no, nothing.

Andy Hart:

We'll look at the Woodford wood wood wood for the funds that he got caught up in them. Yeah, there's minimal recourse. It's yeah, it's by Buyer beware. That's the whole thing with the dry platform, which is obviously different to an advice client. So yeah, the message and the story is the opposite of what we preach. But again, that's why we're, you know, when needed and required.

Nick Lincoln:

Right, and a year in returns.

Andy Hart:

Back to me, okay, there's a link in the show notes. A couple of points on this. This is from a blog, I suppose, run by a guy I know called novel investor is the 2023. If you're gonna look at anything in relation to this space, in terms of all the data, it's like data overload. The top performing sector last year is information technology in the US in terms of developed markets, in order of top performing, it was Italy, Spain, Denmark and the USA. In terms of emerging markets, it was Hungary, Greece, Poland, Egypt, Mexico. So there's a link in the show notes if you're interested in this sort of stuff, just a glance your eye across it. Some what useful information. I like having a bit of a scroll on this sort of stuff. Every so often, again, clients may or may not come across it, but every year there's different people in the top three people in the top five. But yeah, so that's a that's enough on that.

Nick Lincoln:

Okay, well, coming back to Alan's initial point about direct to consumer platforms and communications, I do have a little bit of a tiny amount of money on Vanguard just to see how they operate and they're actually quite light in there, in what they push out to me. They do the odd economic forecasts and that kind of stuff, but they're generally pretty good. And they won't be one of the platforms that are gonna And now spam me with Bitcoin offerings Bitcoin ETF offerings because they're not entering the Bitcoin ETF market that's obviously the current hot news in the cryptocurrency world at the moment the fact that Black Rock I have have launched one Vanguard are quite adamant they're not going to do it and I think that's a good thing in their press release they Vanguards say categorically Bitcoin we don't view Bitcoin as an asset class. There are three asset classes and Bitcoin ain't one of them. And I totally concur with that. And I'm coming around to the view that whatever Kathy would have Ark says you do the opposite and you're probably in a good place and Kathy Ward is livid with Vanguard for not offering a Bitcoin ETF and there's a link to a link to the Bitcoin trade rag, which talks about this. It's quite a big stance from Vanguard, and I think Alan you you've over the weekend they've been significant outflows from the Vanguard stable of funds as as the hot investors seek some sort of crypto exposure by ETF got held

Alan Smith:

Yeah, that's right. There's the thing about Bitcoin in particular, if you ever look online, they are they're just what they call maximalists so it's kind of like Bitcoin they are absolutely relentless about Bitcoin and nothing can stand in their way and so there's there was a bit of a sort of trending on X over the weekend that there's they're all kind of rally it was quite pathetic, really kind of there's war what are the I don't know how many trillion Vanguard are assets under management, but that was sort of trying to get a whole movement going to let's close them down. They won't allow us to trade Bitcoin, I'm moving my money off the platform. I'm moving my $8,000 off the platform, we're going to bring them to their knees. So yeah, it's it's, it's an emotive subject. It is and as you know, Nick, you're going to mention it I've done a in my award winning podcast. I did an interview last week. Normally it's not my soon to be award winning track podcast

Nick Lincoln:

it's very good. Yes. The Bulletproof entrepreneur or any trap is seven o'clock on to that yet listen to it with with with Ray Ray Trapani, who has been there's been a documentary on Netflix is current at the moment isn't it's quite happy the next on the Netflix charts about this this this particular Bitcoin scam and yeah, really, really, really good. I believe you might have a you've got a story to tell us about this. Mr. Smith.

Alan Smith:

I've got a story to tell about the

Unknown:

grab yourself a drink a very long drink. It's story time with Alan Smith.

Alan Smith:

Thanks. Yeah, so I just wanted to share it's quite a sort of bizarre funny story how this came about. So last Friday, I'm at home watch the watch the films called Bitcoin it's not actually about Bitcoin, but it's about a whole crypto market and one currency one token, as they're called, in particular that these guys, these kind of hustlers from New York, created called Sentra Central Tech. Anyway, I watched it. And as I I've done this in the past, as well as I think that that guy would be really interesting to get on my podcast, which is all about things that this and sort of entrepreneurial endeavors. All the others have been legal. This one obviously is a criminal endeavor, which we're not endorsing. But anyway, I thought, well, if I can get in touch with him, so you just go online, find him, connect with him, send them a message. On that night, went to bed woke up the next morning, he's replied says yeah, I'm up for it. Let's do it. So I go, Alright, great. Let's, let's record a podcast with him. We could put it out next week. And kind of we can surf the wave of the fact that it was kind of top 10 film on Netflix over that period of time. Anyway, he said, Would it

be okay to do it? It's 9:

30pm. And I think, yeah, I suppose so. I want to just turn this around quite quickly. I need to Yeah, I need to be a bit flexible. So I reply to them go. Yeah, yeah, no problem at all. That works. Let's do it on the Monday, let's crack on. I enlisted my trusty sidekick George, who's my producer on the podcast that kind of holds my hand throughout, it makes sure that I'm doing the technical bits, okay. And it's all set to go. And all of a sudden, I just

realized that that's 9:

30pm New York time. Which is 2:30am. It's half, two in the morning. And I think oh my god, how am I supposed to do this? Oh, I'm gonna take you have to reschedule. I'm gonna. And I say that again. George bless him. He says Now let's just do it. Just crack on with it. You know, this is just got to, you know, go with the flow. Just, I had a bit of email exchange with Rachel Barney. And I told them this is going to be 230 in the morning. And the reason that he had to do it at that time 930 because he does it from home, he's got two little kids. He said that I can't guarantee that it wouldn't be soundproof. So is that proper, but domestic reality of him trying to you said, I couldn't do really any earlier. So I could change the day, but the time would have to be about

9:

30pm If you want to do it, and I think, oh my god, what am I supposed to do? So I thought, all right, let's crack on. I drove into my office, which is what I don't normally do. And I brought a sleeping bag with a little mats or pillow, a sleeping bag, some provisions. Why did you do that? I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I thought it'd be to throw into this the worst time if it was like 430 in the morning be alright, just get up really early, or or midnight, it would just stay up a bit. But 230 is like the worst time to do anything. And I thought, you know why

Carl Widger:

it is you need a sleeping bag for us to have a little bit of a rest

Alan Smith:

before. At about maybe 10 o'clock I can sort of put my head down grab an hour to shuteye That was my plan. Did about midnight I laid down on the floor. I've got a little lounge area in the office and laid down on the floor didn't sleep at all, but you know, eyes wide open staring at the ceiling. So we cracked on did and it's funny because if you look at the because this is we actually launched in YouTube as well, which is the first one we've done. And I think it is it very obvious that I'm cutting this two or three in the morning. And it's somehow not you can have you get a bit of an adrenaline boost. And if so we finished about 3:15am. And of course I'm completely buzzing them wide awake. I've just had this sort of a podcast interview. And it was mad. And I sort of stepped outside. Thank God I brought my car. So the City of London is three o'clock in the morning on a Monday night. It's not as even as a Friday night or a Thursday night or something. I can tell you there's a lot of bizarre characters walk around London, it's sort of a bit of a nightmare. I gotta get my car fully locked. There's some pretty strange looking people,

Carl Widger:

including managers or owners you just been sleeping in their office?

Alan Smith:

God, so yeah, that was. So the moral of the story is, first of all, you should just try things reach out to people even it's unlikely that they will respond to you because you never know what will happen. And also, you've got to do what it takes if see if you've got to do a podcast at two or three in the morning. Just do it. And by the way, I had a massive old team meeting the next day where they're sort of Kickstart to the year team meeting the next day. So yeah, Don micronic said, You look a bit tired this morning, Alan, I said, no wonder let me tell you why. So it was quite an experience, but all good. And it's been so far, it's our sort of biggest ever number of downloads on the bulletproof entrepreneur. So thank you for mentioning Nick. But that's the wide world, the crazy world is just referring to getting us back on track to crypto investing Bitcoin, and everything that's attached to that, because you're right, it has had approval by the SEC. I think there's 11 ETFs. Just a point on that as well, just to sort of round it off. It's bizarre that it was expected that as soon as that got approval, the price of Bitcoin, but just when it would take off. And what's it done? It's fallen 15% Yes, yeah.

Carl Widger:

But it did in the first few days and went up 8.6% or something like that, and then it dropped off. But like, Look, if you want to show clients the journey of your Bitcoin investment, and the reason it should only form a very small part of your overall portfolio last week is the perfect example. And you can also now on your iPhone, you can show them the long term journey that the bitcoin price has gone up and just ask people are you comfortable with that level of volatility? Where you might make fortunes, but you might lose fortunes too. So yeah, I think it's, I think the last week tells us everything we need to know about the Bitcoin story and well known on the podcast and I think yeah, for any younger advisors out there, shoot your shot. Right here you have Alan Smith running very successful firms still taking those risks. You never stopped taking those risks. Anyway.

Nick Lincoln:

Okay, thank you. That's last point.

Alan Smith:

Just you know, the Bitcoin the Bitcoin ETF you've never done never buying bitcoins. They're just tracking the price. Just so you know, they're just whatever your price is your own bitcoins

Andy Hart:

off the show. We'll talk about time zones they're

Nick Lincoln:

right next point, Alan next gen Academy

Alan Smith:

Yeah, I'm going to tie two things together here. NextGen Academy is a it's training program run by guess what Next Gen Next Next Gen. For those who don't know me they're pretty well well known in the advisor community particularly amongst the youngsters and they are is a member. Yeah, they've got this, this academy, this training program, which they've completely redesigned. I think, relatively recently. So we've just signed up, I think, I don't know, maybe about 10 people in our team to go through this. And it looks like it's a fabulous resource. Anyone who's the challenge with all of us running relatively small businesses is you know, we've, we've got something grandly titled The Capital Academy, but it's difficult, we don't have the resources and the organization to, to be able to deliver this in the way that someone like next gen has who are sort of dedicated support team and platform. So we've signed up for this. And there's a lot of training through the kind of more logistical and exam based type process. But there's a lot of training also on behavioral behavioral coaching, how to speak to clients, how to build relationships, all that sort of thing. So shout out to the next gen Academy, we'll put a link in the show notes. If anyone is at that stage in their career where they can do with some development and some sort of training, then that's a resource and it is, I think, it's, it's very, very good value for money. On a similar note, I

Nick Lincoln:

just want a family as well. And he's got his finger he wants to say so sorry. So

Andy Hart:

yeah, I've heard great things about it. And I know quite a few people that had been through, I think the big changes, it's gone from being really expensive to included in the membership. I think it was a few 1000 pounds, maybe 4000 pounds or 3000 pounds or something like that. And then they've just included the membership. So I mean, wow, it's a it's an amazing resource. So definitely do check it out if you're a firm owner and have people that need to be trained up more so if you're one of those individuals as well. So yeah, good shout out.

Alan Smith:

Cheers and similar to that, similar but different. You guys know verb, the verb, advisor, incubator. I don't know that I run by Kathy Harrison. I don't know, Kathy. But I see and sort of track their progress online. And I noticed recently that they've got a program called Verve advisor incubators. So and it's designed for anyone who is if you are one of these kinds of young advisors, we've talked about a lot on the podcast, you thinking about getting started you thinking of either setting up your own business, or you are a sort of sole trader, advisor, you're looking to grow and scale maybe to hire one or two other advisors and build a team, all that sort of thing. You should check this out of Verve advisor incubator, it looks like a fabulous resource training, development, mentoring coaching for people going through that stage of their business journey. They also even give you access if you're working from home, but you'd like to go and sort of work in an office two or three days a week, you can get access to that. Again, it's to my mind relatively inexpensive to get on the program. Now I had a little exchange recently with I think it's Haley Healy rabbits, who is the person who delivers this, the day this podcast goes out is the day that that verb incubator advisor incubator is due to close. But because I said to her that I was going to mention it on the program, she's happy to extend it by a further seven days by now this particular now she's as she's this is they do it in cohorts, right, you join it, then I'll do another call, I guess later in the year, but for now. So if anyone's listening to this, and you're at that stage, you know, you think it may be spinning out and starting your own business, or you want to grow the business. So you're that kind of relatively early stage, and you need some mentoring, development guidance, maybe even an office space to operate from someplace, check it out. I think the point of this, both next gen and verve and as a few other things as well, is we're beginning to get to the point where there's no real excuse, you know, we've done a couple of shows about young advisors and taking a risk and so on. To my mind, it seems that there's less risk than was, you know, when when some of us were doing it, because there was none of these resources around. So if you are halfway inclined to doing something entrepreneurial, you know, get on with it, you know, speak to these people engage with these platforms. It is not expensive, neither of them are no excuses crack on Yes, Ultra.

Andy Hart:

Yeah, just on this, I had my annual sort of compliance visit from the company I use. Last week, I was speaking to my contact there about the percentage of people that get authorized now to go directly authorized. There's a bit of a seismic shift going on here. I mean, I went there only authorized in 2017. It was a painful process, but I got through it. Nick, you did in 2008. So I think it was maybe a little a little bit simpler. I've heard apparently only 8% of people that apply now get directly authorized because it's a very sort of arduous process with the regulator. So this is changing things because a lot more people are now having to go by network. So yes, to your point Allah there's loads of resources for build a business As this is how you attract clients, this is how you implement processes. This is how you build a team. But we've almost got a bit of a sort of curtailment of the entrepreneurial spirit, because the regulator is only, you know, authorizing a very tiny number of firms. Yeah, I

Alan Smith:

think that's, I think that's overall not necessarily a bad thing I understand the process has got much tighter, I understand. You've got to write a pretty detailed business plan with forecast future, profit and loss, all that sort of thing. So it is definitely more complex money.

Andy Hart:

And then you have many screening interviews, and they pick you up quite a lot of things that you add

Alan Smith:

to you. And I know somebody who's you and I know someone who's a first class advisor, who actually declined when he declined from the interview process, they say try again, in six months or so I think

Andy Hart:

it cost about 2200 pounds. And if they declined, either, you don't get the money back. So so it's not as if they say, you're close to getting all through authorization, these are the areas we think you need to work on, come back for an interview in three months time, it's like declined, see you later find another route. So think they're going to make it slightly better. Again, I don't know well enough, I'm just sort of dabbling in this space. But

Alan Smith:

But I don't think I don't think it's a catastrophe to go through we've mentioned again, before a couple of the sort of modern style networks to see far more switched on proactive digital style than some of the more legacy ones that we've been familiar with. So it's not the end of the road, at least to get you started, get underway, get all that kind of regulatory compliance support. And maybe whatever, 235 years down the line, if you feel that you want to sort of spread your own wings, then you can do that with a bit more experience and go directly regulated, should you choose to do I've just noticed it, you know, a lot of it is to do with, with trap, I think I think we've kind of opened the doors or the minds of a few younger advisors I'm getting, I'm getting a lot of calls and you guys are as well and messages and things from people in situations and circumstances and organizations that they don't love the you know, they're just they're recognizing there's a better way to operate. And I just there's a lot of movement in the advisor community right now as a lot of particularly younger advisors just looking to evolve change, either set up their own show, or look towards migrating towards a company that read us embrace all the things that you and I we all talk about. So it's an interesting dynamic space right now. And it's great that there's so many resources for people.

Nick Lincoln:

Absolutely the what's available now is that's out there is amazing. Okay, moving on to the next story here. And this was this was brought to my attention by a trapeze fan of ours. And we know this guy's a good guy, John Doyle, he's on Twitter or X, whatever it's called, as at Juniper underscore, John. And, you know, we call this the real advisor podcast right tra P trap, the real advisor podcast. And the reason we call it that, is that what we do, we the four of us believe that real financial planning is about doing the financial planning and the financial planning is paramount and everything cascades off the financial plan off the cash flow, which you then tinker with and alter and adjust over the years to get our clients to a successful financial outcome. But so many advisors still don't do it. It's not integral to their business, and they they'll offer it as an add on. And the story that John Doyle put on Twitter was in ft advisor and as a link to it in the so called Show net. And from about this firm called fairstone, who are a decent sized firm. But Matt Jeffery, their head of office and head of office and independent financial advisor at first Stone said, with the ability to add on additional features such as a twice yearly review, bespoke investment solutions, ouch, lifetime cashflow planning, or estate planning. Our services can be truly tailored to individual needs. cashflow planning, is not something you bolt on for those particular clients who are going to ask for it. By the way, none we're going to ask for it because none of them know about it. So it's still out there this thing where it's treated as almost an addendum thing, sort of box ticking thing for those people that we think it's suitable for I just, to me, I still find it staggering, but it's just a reminder that the real advisor podcast, what we're doing is still I think, relatively niche. And I see H E for our American listeners niche, and it's not the status quo. Any comments on that show move on?

Carl Widger:

Yeah, I have a comment or not. Where does that comment that calls fists are sit with your latest consumer Judy rules, which you boys told me said that the FCA wanted to see cash flow modeling in every single case. So is that not contravening the new rules?

Alan Smith:

I think basically consumer duty is not it's not is guidance. It doesn't say every single person must do by law must do this. That's this is the beginning to expect in terms of delivering a comprehensive either all about value value for money. But I think the point so I think that's the direction of travel The regulator wants the industry to move in. But it's painfully slow. I think. And we said it before. And we'll say it again, we operate in a bubble, I speak to you guys and the only other advisors really that I hang out with, we all know this, they get this, they deliver it to clients. It never ceases to amaze me that without a plan, you don't know how to invest is the whole point. How can you possibly you because the plan is about the direction of travel you're headed in? And the timescales and all that other stuff. So to do it without you to invest without it. It's just a complete and utter nonsense. It's brilliant. It's putting the cart before the horse. And it's Yeah, but that's just so blatantly obvious to us.

Carl Widger:

Yeah, I suppose we all know that. And that's, that's we have to be careful of being in an echo chamber as well, right, that we're just repeating the stuff but so can I just ask the question then, and already are were rules, and everyone had to abide by the rules, whereas the consumer duty is guidance, like how, yeah, so guidances? So that's, yeah, that's pretty what

Alan Smith:

is guidance, but there's actually the FCA is, they have shown their teeth a bit early on, I think they focus initially is around the asset management space. Yeah, and value for money and all this sort of thing. But you know, it is, it is well known. I think I saw Liang cat tweeting out the other day about the feels that this year this year is when the regulator is really going to begin to focus on the intermediary market. And the expectations. I don't think that can ever say you must deliver cash flow model. And I think that's not their their remit. But they will say this is what we would expect to have. But yeah, RDR was you have to be certain level of qualifications, you know, commission was banned, et cetera, that was pretty much you know, a legal regulatory type thing. This is more a value for money direction of travel, that we're going to head in but you write me first on a huge notice a small firm that multibillion their private equity backed national company that I think of in Ireland actually cut Yeah, they've

Carl Widger:

they've they bought a firm in Ireland last year. And they've recently rolled out a new, some kind of buyout option, but it's read the press release. And it said for for firms who are uninterested in a buyout now. And so but I'm sure they've they've all those details mapped out. And I think that the the model they're using here in Ireland, is what they've already, they've already done in the UK. So yeah, it'll be it'll be certainly interesting to see what level of consolidation that brings, but again, makes me slightly pleased because that means there'll be more firms who will be under the ownership of a foreign investor, as opposed to be totally Irish owned. Anyway. Move on.

Nick Lincoln:

Oh, he skirted it. He's scared. Hold on one. Voice. Okay. Final topical tip. We've got Jesus Christ. 33 minutes in and 14 heart attacks. Mr. Hart timeline.

Andy Hart:

Yeah, so there's a couple of points here a story came out last week about the top recommended is de facto listed the top recommended MPs is so model portfolio services. So first shout out is to our good friend Abraham, our concern Yo, brother from another mother in mind. He was number one, the timeline classic 50 was the most recommended NPS fund for clients. So congratulations to him, I think they've just breached 4 billion assets under management. So that's a story in itself. And then below that, you've got a there's a link in the show notes, you've got Bruin dolphin waves and various other people. But the thing that's somewhat concerning is the amount of fixed interest and the lack of, you know, a major tilt towards global equities, which is obviously something I bang on about which is also something that we bang on about on the show quite a bit. So the frequent sort of descriptive terms, you know, show up balanced growth, growth, balanced income and growth balance balance seems to be the name of the game but yeah, so there's a lot of money moving towards these MPs solutions.

Carl Widger:

So you can ask I can ask a question on that Andy. Go for it. I know Abraham Abraham spoke before me if humans under management and these layers went alright the financial comedian went first I know you're putting me on he's a great guy. I just really thoroughly enjoyed his his company full of just timeline. Yeah, follow me he's just he's just a great guy to be around. What does timeline do is timeline a platform and then they also do then portfolios are so maybe answer that for me. Somebody please.

Andy Hart:

They're not a plan. They have they're

Alan Smith:

just to keep Nick on track. Yeah, well, the art Well, full disclosure, Andy and I both investors in it. So it was originally two different companies. There was timeline which was effectively a cash flow modeling system that evolved away from the traditional linear type cash flows and was much more kind of using a more complex methodology, but sort of as a cash flow type. And then the built onto it kind of onboarding tools, Client Onboarding. So you can ask clients information. And the whole thing is designed to be a seamless kind of end to end process. There was a separate company called betta folio, which was effective as NPS thing but they've merged them together. So is it now one of the same thing? So I think, ultimately, I don't know if you know, but in the States, they've got these this idea of tamps, turnkey asset management programs. So it's a kind of soup to nuts. They're the type from the first time you meet a prospective client, all the sort of regulatory staff onboarding, risk, profiling, cetera, et cetera. And then the managing the money where they haven't got yet is a platform. So monies are held on third party platforms, the usual traditional usual suspects, but I can see them heading towards sort of creating their own platform as well in due course, but it's clearly a very, very attractive proposition. And a lot of advisors are using it for billion assets under management so far, I met with him the other day. And I think I don't think this is any secret, I think this is publicly disclosed that they will be on track to head towards something like 8 billion by the end of this year, which is extraordinary, really is. Yeah,

Nick Lincoln:

the timeline past

Andy Hart:

him, but I'm pretty sure he's not going to launch a platform. But as I say, we put anything past him. Go Nick.

Nick Lincoln:

The timeline classic 50. Is that 50% equities? 50% bonds.

Andy Hart:

Yeah, I mean, so again, congratulations to them for clearly, you know, naming it correct. Yeah. Because balanced growth means nothing, at least the timeline. 50 years 50% global equities. Yeah, so the timeline, classic 100 would be obviously 100% global equity. So yeah, they've framed the portfolios correctly.

Nick Lincoln:

Okay, great stuff. Okay. Thank you, gentlemen. We're at 37 minutes in somehow. And we've done the typical trip. It's a good a good day with thrashing. I think it's time to move on to the meat and potatoes of the show, which we haven't even discussed in our pre meeting rambles. And I don't know who's leading off on this. I don't know what the hell is going to happen to be honest with you that will take is being held together with elastoplast and plasticine. But I think it's personal learning

Carl Widger:

about a whole the whole tech is just not working today and it's stressing Nick out. So apologies for some delays and all like me. It's given me a great laugh there comes over

Nick Lincoln:

talking is the TRAPPIST I apologize the amount of over talking today that we have got technical issues which account for some of it, some it's just down to us correctness trap. So personal development, who wants to lead off on this?

Unknown:

I'll give it a go. If you

Nick Lincoln:

like quite safe around the new crack on Thank you.

Alan Smith:

All right now can you go to easy answers and come on cheeky get

Andy Hart:

if anyone wants to ask a question, Allah will answer it, right? Come on.

Alan Smith:

Listen, we've had trapeze, get in touch in the past and see because we're always talking about in the culture, corner books, we've read podcast, blah, blah, blah. So we all the four of us seem to be, you know, consumers of information, knowledge, et cetera. And so we thought we'd share with August, sort of slightly different techniques, we all sort of absorb information differently. But I think for certain it's, I think it's one of the most important things you can do in business, or life in general is to be an eternal student, keep learning, keep listening, keep watching. And so we thought we'd share some of the ideas I just said, just run through quickly some of the technology that I use. I'm not a book, a book listener, I don't use Audible have had it in the past, I don't absorb information in books very well, through listening podcasts are okay, because the more sort of conversational, the books were the same. But the interesting things that I want to remember, it's much harder to do in a in an audible version. So I use Kindle. And I've got a standalone Kindle, that the app is also on my phone. And I read books that way at any given time, I must have like 1015 20 books backed up to read. And as I read them, I highlight things there's often a sentence or a paragraph. I think that is really profound. That's interesting. I could use that again, super helpful. But what you find is you never go back to it. You never listened to you never sort of remember ever again. Probably so I was very pleased couple of years ago to find an app called Read wise. I'm not going to mention Nick as well, because you've sort of got into it again recently. So we read wise, is an app that connects to your Kindle connects that pretty much anything, you know, Google books or even you know, social media tweets and things like that, but what weed wise does is it You can, you can format it in whatever way you want. But I have it sheduled such that kind of first thing in the morning when I'm having a coffee, I get it effectively get an email, and I have 10 randomly selected highlights from any book I've ever read in history, and it just sends them to you, again just sends them you can have more than that you can have less than that you can have as many as you want. I get 10 in the morning and 10 in the evening. And because it's a random this is a thing called in terms of internalizing and remembering some of these things because you forget some book I read five years ago that I completely forgot I read that. This is known as spaced repetition. If you get every now and again, you'll be reminded of something that's the way you actually do internalize it, and you do remember it. And I think and often it's just bizarre because you think for whatever I'm working on, I'm thinking about that particular time, the thing that pops into my email inbox at 630 in the morning, that's actually really relevant and really helpful to what I'm doing. So I use Kindle I use read wise. And I also have for saving other documents I use something called pocket which is another app which if you're reading something online or reading a blog or something online and you don't have time to read it, it save it to pocket and then go back and pick it up later. So that's my opening over to you Nick.

Nick Lincoln:

Yeah, okay, thanks for that I'm just coming on the point that this is gonna get down in the weeds for people that aren't in these apps but you can you know, you can import you can link your pockets to reader reader is the app that read wise I've just launched and read though is like this gathering space for all these things. It's not just your quotes but you know snippets of articles on the on the web, you can highlight stuff on the web and or go into read it as a highlight which you can tag. Okay, I didn't notice it. Well, if you're up at your pavement, you're a subscribing member read wise you have access to the scan

Andy Hart:

your instructions as well Nick

Nick Lincoln:

No, I don't know we'll

Alan Smith:

take it does. It does it does physical books. If you've got a book now it doesn't have to take I was just playing along with that photograph. If take a photograph, it does OCR and it recognizes it and you can share it save it in assembly so you can have your dishwasher your IKEA wardrobe instructions. Anything you want my friend underfloor

Nick Lincoln:

heating instructions, underfloor heating instructions. Helen Hopcroft. If you're having your nails done in your nail boutique right now you can laugh out loud, listen to this underfloor heating instruction store them as a PDF so when you're not around your partner can know how to work it. Yes, continual learning We're all mad on that and we've all got the time to be able to do it as well we appreciate some people are you know, if you're an employee, perhaps you don't have as much free time to do this personal development as perhaps we do. But we're all four of us a massive into it and I read loads of stuff and I, I audible, I take your point out and with Audible. It I don't retain as much if I if I listened to a book. So I listened now, think that I mean, Alan Partridge puts out these are the Steve Coogan puts our books on audible, I listened to those and audible we're not much not much else. And I've gone back to Kindle for the reasons you said that you're reading something. Using your eyes, it tends to the brain tends to retain it and you can highlight stuff and I again, read wise this thing. You know, there's a lot of psychology behind read wise, as you said, spaced repetition that it's okay reading something once but you've got to read it like six seven times before actually it lodges in your cranium and read wise just throws these snippets out at you that you thought were worth annotating, and it brings it pushes them to you anything Oh yeah, that's right, that book, that's where I learned that and that's I've forgotten that. That's really good. It just in terms of everyday stuff, and managing tsunamis, I'm not a solopreneur I'm a solo advisor. So I do it all myself and that's fine. That's the path I've chosen and I love it. But I do need to use some apps to help me just gather my thoughts and gather my notes and make sure I do stuff because I'm terrible at retaining things in my brain and if I if something comes into my brain it'll just be gone. I have to put it somewhere I have to write it down or put it into an app so I remember to do it and I use tu tu tu tu apps that are really key for me and Andy news both of these are certainly did one is very clean and tidy one is much more in depth and the first clean and tidy one is something called Google Keep which is just purely a to do list app is nothing else and you can put it on your phone on your computer and if I'm out walking and you know now and again believe it or not guys the inspiration does come into my head but I haven't got a pen on my milestone home I think ah Christ by the time I get back I know forget about this I just opened up Google Keep on my phone it's clean. Bam put this thought down. And it's there. Good thing with Google Keep is this is a sad thing. That's a good thing. It will buzz you based on your location so I set up Google Keep I have a to do list in there. And it no I said when I get home notify me so obviously it tracks my location on my phone. I'm out for a walk. I come back for two hours. I get back to the front door and my phone pings me with a notification from Google Keep saying this is the to do things that you've notified when you're out in a war. That's just really handy. And the more in depth one is is it nodes 30 favorite which I think might be on its last legs. There's always talk about just collapsing which is Evernote and I use that extensively. I use the paid version of Evernote the prices have gone up quite steeply, but I get a lot of value from it. You can just put it all your life into Evernote. Yeah, things like manuals, but just whatever you want. Maybe you want to put in, you know, PDFs, clippings off the web. It's just a really good data based tool. And you can tag things which I love, which I love, you know, so you can have one one article can have multiple tags in it could be politics could be self development, whatever you want to do. And that's what that's what I use to try and keep a grip of stuff because I say my brain just it bloody it's, I don't know, if I've got, you know, early onset dementia or something, but I just don't retain stuff. I can remember what I did 20 years ago, I can't remember I did last week. So we're having an electronic sort of Lincoln in this cloud, which is a frightening thought it is really helpful for me. And you're obviously you're you're big into your tech and everything and your digits rise, you're gonna say something to slag me off, I can feel it go and get it out.

Andy Hart:

That was fine. Did digital Lincoln, I've just had a little bit of a thought about that. Yeah, I'm just gonna give some some some points. I mean, we're blessed in this mighty profession, that part of it is lifelong learning. You know, it's, it's amazing. We're sort of inadvertently paid to become smarter and wiser over time, which means we can, you know, help more clients, etc, etc. Yeah. So in terms of what information I consume. Yeah, I'm quite big on Audible. So I do listen to most of the books. However, I'm being a bit more intentional 2024 and trying to read, you know, few more dusty books, I believe I retain the information a lot better. I've dabbled with apps like Blinkist. But it doesn't really work for me. I consume a lot of newsletters, a load of podcasts, and we pretty much all read all the main books that come out. And it's a bit mix, isn't it? It's business books, personal finance, marketing, lifestyle, personal development, biographies. You know, we I think I've read about 50 books a year, I feel a jingle coming on. Yeah, in terms of apps, I've got the Kindle app on my iPad on my iPhone. I use Google Keep, As Nick said, and I use Dropbox as well to sometimes store a lot of information. So I mean, the high level thing is, yeah, we're very, very lucky as professional financial advisors that, you know, self employed work for ourselves. A huge chunk of our, you know, week, months years is spent consuming more information. Yeah, we're very, very, very lucky. From that point of view. I don't think all professions do exactly what we do. So yeah, I'm, I'm very pleased that I've landed in this profession accidentally. And, you know, it sort of swallowed me up over the last 20 years. But over to Carl with some final points, or unik.

Nick Lincoln:

Well, just probably to move on to I think Alan Maxim says, well, we've all been very good at that. And not looking at each other. Aren't we on screen and not picking up on the nonverbal cues? We've got it down to an art form. Yeah, Google, Google key, but that mean prosaic story of why Google, he was brilliant for me, I've got a Google keep packing list, wherever I travel, everything is on there, and I use it every time and when I go abroad, anywhere, I always have everything with me, including, of course, my dressing gown, Englishmen can't go abroad without addressing, Penny refuses to keep a list. Penny invariably, whatever, she goes somewhere, leaves something behind. It's just like, why not have a list of

Andy Hart:

rice? We've got him every two weeks for an hour and have it

Alan Smith:

yet just on at this point, as you said, it's around this idea of if you if you run your own business, you can you manage your time. Now, it's regardless because learning is it's so easy to learn that people go for walks, people commute, people go to the gym, people drive cars to compliance, there isn't it's not about time. So if you're an employee of a company, and you got to show up and do your hours, there is no excuse not to learn and it's it's to me, it's the single biggest it has the single biggest impact on people's long term success is learn reading books, reading books, listening to podcasts, just multiple, if you want to watch better YouTube videos, or audio,

Andy Hart:

visual, some books, books, books, books, books, but

Nick Lincoln:

yeah, whatever. So I just want to make that make that point you should be there's no excuse now not that you should be a learner find stuff for that. And there's sorry, the research is in that you're it's the correlation between the amount of books that you read over the course you've allowed to and your success in life, but measured in material terms on your earnings. The correlation is incredible. So you know, households without books generally will be households that don't perhaps live live the more fulfilled life in terms of earnings at least now, Carl, I think you might have a take on this my friend.

Carl Widger:

Yeah, so we have our annual planning day tomorrow. And so I've been thinking about this quite a lot. So this might be a little bit of a ramble. So stand by. The laws also they'll also see that I was deeply uncomfortable with the content of some of today's or going to the Irish versus UK cultural differences. Thanks for that, Nick. Yeah, so for me, the two greatest predictors of success for probably any small business owner, I would say, our number one, resilience. And number two, growth mindset. And one thing I would say I have failed, from time to time, as things got tough, and I had to become more resilient is I forgot about the growth mindset piece. So that's the first thing I would say, the predictors of success are not only resilience, it's resilience and growth mindset. So growth mindset for me is, you know, having that ability to be a sponge, so to take lots and lots of different things in so it's not necessarily about just doing podcasts or just an audible, but I'll talk about a couple of things in a minute. But it's what we all need to understand in this brilliant profession that we're so privileged to operate in, is that we're not inventors. We're not sending rockets into space. Financial Planning exists. And there are so many examples of absolutely amazing people who have been there done it. So I know, Andy will talk about Nick Murray, right, the people who have massive, massive experience, so I think it's totally okay, in terms of the financial planning, learning that you're doing, is to just go and find the people who you believe have the same values as you. So that does lead to a little bit of an echo chamber. But that's okay. If you're trying to build a business and you're trying to learn and you try to have that growth mindset. And it's also okay, to clone, right? I know, we've spoken about this loads of times, right? And, but it is, you know, stuff there are, there are only so many key principles to real financial planning. Yeah, you can't make up anymore. You know, it's just how, you know, find ways how can you deliver these key principles in the best possible way? How can you deliver them to your own team? How can you deliver them to your existing clients? How can you deliver them to, you know, potential clients down the line, they're the kind of things in terms of learning that you should do. And then there's, like, you know, any number of Self Help Help books, entrepreneurial books, whatever you want to do. So, like, in no particular order, and for me, podcasts, and audible probably are the two big ones right now, on the podcast, I don't tend to spread my wings as much as you guys, I tend to keep coming back to the ones that I like. But I have got some great recommendations to be fair from trap. So in the show notes, you know, going back through episodes, and I listened to, to a lot of stuff. And probably because we're in the echo chamber, a lot of it does resonate with me. So I think there's great podcast material to get there. Audible. So I'm the total opposite to Alan and to Nick I find it very difficult to read books, although I'm reading at the moment, one chapter a day, my new morning routine, the diary of a CEO by Stephen Bartlett, I haven't got it in my culture corner because I haven't finished it yet. Andy, it's really good and and I am actually enjoying the the discipline of sitting down. But you see, that's the difference. For me, it is a discipline, as opposed to you boys go and enjoy it or whatever. So maybe I can turn one into the other on Audible, then you know, I might have two, three on the goal at any one time. And in this growth mindset piece, right. So we spoke about the Eckhart Tolle book and I couldn't get it at all right? But I am trying to push myself to read some stuff that will push me a small bit. So one I have just finished. In my long walks that have become part of my routine as a result of my sore back is the Anthony de Mello book called awareness and I can't remember where I saw the recommendation for this, but I listened to that. It's very similar, actually, to the Eckhart Tolle, but probably a little bit more relatable for me, but definitely on the same vein, so I would say, you know, push yourself to maybe go a little bit outside your comfort zone, as like, I would love the atomic habits and the essentialism, they're all pretty much down the same vein, and they're all pretty much telling me the same thing stuff that I already know, but that I should that I thought I should be doing a little bit more of. Andrew, do you want to interject there? Before I keep going, though,

Andy Hart:

I was just saying you mentioned atomic habits mate right on cue. So all good. You Carry on, mate. I've got a book recommendation to share in a minute.

Carl Widger:

Excellent. newsletters, right? So newsletters and finding people and I'm going to give credit to Alan here. So Alan thinks that I don't listen to him all the time. Right. But I do. I subscribe to James Dave Zoller as a result of a trap recommendation. Really good song, man, and maybe not so but hey, does anybody any of us, you know, put content out there that all of it is brilliant? No. And I think you know, so this goes back to the if you want to be the best financial planner, you know, that that's you, you absolutely can be. There's people out there producing amazing content, and you just have to subscribe to their newsletters. And another one that I'm really enjoying, but But it's because it's January, and the mindset is reset and refocus. is done, Marie Surtur is that the one? I think Alan, you recommended that one as well. And if I'm gonna give Andy a plug because it's deserved. Home Premium is just fantastic. And to share with all of my people in here all of the time. So the these, that's a mix of you know, financial planning newsletters, and personal growth newsletters, that kind of stuff, I think could be really good. I've said it, I've said it time and time again, Insight Timer is the best 70 euros I spend every single year. If if you're having any struggles with your sleep, with anxiety, with stress, get onto meditation, and I promise you, if you're having the struggles with sleep, anxiety and stress, it will not work at the start. But stick with it. And there's loads of different types of meditations you can do. Some are guided, you can do yoga, Nidra, but some are just talks that can put you to sleep, Alan.

Alan Smith:

Thanks, Cole. Very insightful, I use calm. And I've been using that for quite a long time, and does all that as well. But just just another point on this innocent again, this is a kind of a confession that I suppose or disclosure and and bring us right up to date. I've just done something over this weekend to hopefully help help myself. I have, I find myself during idle moments like I'm buying a coffee in a coffee shop or I'm just Dude, get my phone out. And I go on social media, and I scroll social media. And I'm very aware of this. And we spoke about it I think last year this dopamine was it called dopamine nation or something to boot this boot. This is very well documented. We know if we see something on social media, you know, the world is obsessed with if I'm on a train everyone scrolling Facebook and Instagram and all that sort of stuff. And it gives you a dopamine hit. And it gives you a little fuzzy like that. And book reading doesn't give you the same sitting down and reading long form books for you know, an hour at a time does not give you that same dopamine high. And I've also been aware of this. And I know that if given a chance often if I'm just waiting in Starbucks for a coffee, I'll flick through Twitter and see what's going on in that. And then I don't like myself for it, because it's detracting from me reading long form books. So the only way of dealing with this, I've just did it over the weekend. I've downloaded an app called App blocker. And I'll tell you what, you can't break into this short of throwing your phone in the bin you can't you I've sheduled it for certain times. And I'm very much limit the time I can use any form of social media was also the way I set it. It also includes WhatsApp. So I don't get all the nonsense from you guys. And it was such frequency. And so I just locked myself up and I can't use it. And it's very interesting, because after a while you think your natural response is I'll quickly jump on my phone and check Twitter or LinkedIn or something, I think Oh shit, I can't I can't What should I do now? I might as well open the Kindle app, I could read 20 pages of a Kindle app because of a Kindle whilst I'm doing that, and it's far better. So I think it's understanding your limitations. As we know it's a bit like we were saying before the DTC platforms bombarding us with information as humans we respond to similar with social media, we get we respond to this stuff, there's no question about, you know, you're only human. So the only way you can deal with that is by eliminating the option of actually doing stuff, which is kind of negative in the short term. And you've got a thought.

Andy Hart:

I'm very intrigued to hear how you get on with that Ireland term. So we'll talk about that as it develops. I'm just gonna mention this. But this, according to me, I believe is the Bible to this mighty profession Nick Murray around the year. It's basically 365 snippets of various things that you do as a financial planner. So in 2023, I try to read a section every day Got two July. So I'm starting 2024 in July to the end of the year. Get your hands on this book, if you can, if you can find it. It's pretty thick. I've been through it about four or five times. Yeah. So it's a massive recommendation for around the year by Nick Murray.

Carl Widger:

You'll be glad to hear Andy that Nick Murray is doing a prospecting conference seminar. And Metis Ireland have signed up to it. So we're all going to watch it together. So that's happening. Everybody should have got that invite. Yeah. So it's really good. It's just a bores me because I've seen so much of it. And I just think it's a lot of repetition. But that doesn't mean that it won't be very helpful for a lot of the new people that we've got in the business, on your point on and about the social media and that kind of stuff. So look, I you put it up blockers and all of that kind of stuff. But I think the first point of all of that is to get really intentional with it. And to, you know, actually talk to yourself about, you know, no social media at night, I started doing it. Like Andy says, let's see how that's going for me in a month's time, right? Because it's January, it's kind of easy. I have to say, I have said this to you guys privately. Twitter is it's definitely not giving me any dopamine hits. At the moment, I am more and more, being less and less intrigued by it. Not loving it at all. And I do see a lot of the people that I would have followed on Twitter are now opening their LinkedIn game big time, Steven partners will be a great example of that. So I'm finding everything that I need on on LinkedIn, and an offline and any that any day I grow any of the people trying to push out their, you know, their views, over and over and over and over and over again, get

Andy Hart:

yourself over to tick tock me that's that's where you learn the most. Overload.

Nick Lincoln:

I'm nearly a year tick tock is

Carl Widger:

nearly two years off Instagram and Facebook. And when I deleted them, I thought it was a temporary measure. And they never ever, ever went back in and as my life better first without question. And I'm seriously considering whether I might be going down the same road on Twitter, and maybe focusing a little bit more on on LinkedIn. And I know Nick your views on LinkedIn which don't agree with mine, but I

Nick Lincoln:

try to try to I am trying so I am trying to get better with LinkedIn. I'm actually they're doing a course that if you guys had emails from LinkedIn, they email me directly to to do content, how to how to how to do content on LinkedIn. And I've got a Zoom meeting zoom thing tomorrow. With with obviously not just me and LinkedIn, but a whole host of people being taught out by LinkedIn people on how to get better content, how to get it out there. So I'm looking at it and I think you just got to, you've got to silo them off, right? Twitter is just, you know, front of mind. Get it out there you see something you think that's a load of bollocks and you tweet it out there? LinkedIn is definitely not for that kind of banter. It's, I mean, it has its issues, as we all know, and there's a lot of self promotion on it. Which is ghastly and there are a lot of recruiters on there because that's their that's their playground, but they're two they're two different things. The sauce like it'd be even more to say calm so I just ramble for a second

Carl Widger:

No no that's pretty that's pretty much me like I'm much more old school and don't do the app so I'll do voice memos to myself to remind me of stuff and I all the time always have my trusty diary and I just write stuff in there so yeah, I'm trying to get more gold more analog and avoid the digital which might make me a dinosaur I don't know but it fears my brain

Nick Lincoln:

my brain is that's the whole point of this session is whatever whatever works for you you know some people will eventually get the results we need doesn't matter what you do and I'm quite impressed call that you can write that's another skill I didn't know you had. So I was gonna say and I don't have an app that blocks other apps but what I do do when I go out for a walk I do put my phone into bloody airplane mode. Just so it's not pinging or buzzing or vibrating I know if I get out of my pocket there'd be nothing on there no notifications I know oh yeah. back my pocket I don't hang

Alan Smith:

on a minute that's that's an obvious one. Ultra told me that years ago remove all notifications which is what I do.

Andy Hart:

A smartphone dumb yeah, I've got no no if you

Alan Smith:

sent me a whole big long it took me about four hours to try and do it you got to you know optimize your phone. If you you can become a victim of your phone. I mean my god my teenage son yet will take his foot off the lid the thing is literally alive. It is vibrates constantly is in your hand is buzzing. I said to him, it just stresses me out even looking at your phone. You so I have no notifications given it

Andy Hart:

back. Yeah,

Alan Smith:

I have no notifications, but then I am tempted. And it is usually those I've got spot five or 10 minutes. Let me scroll through this. And so I have to take action and I have to block myself from doing it and then give myself permission at certain times to do it. So I'll let you know how it goes. So as a technical

Andy Hart:

point on the iPhone on the iPhone, you can remove all apps from your homescreen. So I've removed all of my apps from the home screen. So I go into my iPhone when I'm like, I want to book a hotel with Expedia. I have to find Expedia. When I want to go into LinkedIn, I have to find LinkedIn to get all of your apps off your homescreen. Yeah, that was said that that was in the office, they're not on the homescreen. create friction, if you create just a little bit of friction between you and the thing, that's not a not a good thing to do. But yeah, it's removing Instagram of Facebook. Carl, I'm, I'm, I'm with you on those. They are. They are they are, they are the bad ones.

Carl Widger:

Yes, you have been on the Mountainsmith. That's a lie.

Alan Smith:

I got a minute on what it is I've dipped my toe and both of the water. The thing about Facebook is which I've never been involved in, I'm on it, I've got an account, I've got a tick tock account for Christ's sake. But there are some communities and groups that exist. Like, for example, the dead key person of influence, and it's only on Facebook, so I've had to register for that. And and for whatever reason I'm just I'm very against Zuckerberg at Facebook, and Instagram and that whole kind of ecosystem. I think it's evil, the stuff that they're doing some of their growth, challenges that mainly teenage girls are having with Instagram, et cetera. So I don't I don't love it. But yeah, I've probably got registered for most of these things. But not very active, either. You're right, and the I dip my toe in Tic Toc, and that is just a different level altogether. I had to put it down. It's stressful.

Andy Hart:

It's not a tick tock.

Nick Lincoln:

It's a or tick tock is depends on what you follow. away from anything to do with financial services. So let's not let's let's we can talk about this any anyone could do about this and whenever they want to. There's not more comments in minutes. Okay, I think we've given that a dad with thrashing. We're happy with that and good against we are at one, one hour and seven minutes in. Okay. Carl's give me the thumbs up and it's called the one I defer to. Let's see. So without any further ado, move on to the next section of the show. And as I click the sound for the tracklist questions, of course doesn't work. So dingdong, that must be posted at the door. You know how it works. And she's bought a folding sack of practice questions. We are getting through the Thank you, Andy for that receive the letter opening? Transition works. God, there's an alternative to Riverside. Anyone knows of it. Please, please do? Let me know. The first question, if you want to send us a question, you know, and in on Twitter, that card doesn't look at any more. But on the pin tweet, at advisor podcast, there's a link and you can submit your questions we do go through them. We're now up to October from last year. So if you posted the question in October, November last year, your question will be answered shortly. We've got a long one today from a non practitioner. It's more of a comment than a question but I think it'd be resonate with us as practicing financial advisors or those of us in the advice chain. And the listeners name is Mark A He's on Twitter as this is at a BB 04645603 Catchy. And he says been listening to your great part of track for a while now. I'm not a financial adviser, but I work in telecoms. I had an actively managed company. ABC Wealth Management put me into a standard life CIP. They were an active IFA, they put me into a standard and I've set it with my even with my limited knowledge. A few things didn't feel right. And I had that gut feeling that it was oversold. So a few points to mention traditional pension companies Standard Life or whatever their new name is. They will read your email within 38 days. Some customer service that is your Yes, well welcome to our world. Mark A. His IFA firm, ABC Wealth Management send out a weekly market commentary email, which is massive, and I'm not sure how many of his clients would have time to read it. It's a huge mail and Mark has sent me a copy of the email over and it is just unbelievable. Just economic prognostications that how they're tilting their portfolios based on that week's events it's it's really as the stuff from from from the from the one of the circles of hell. His third point mark said I've been in the ABC active seven fund which is one of the highest risk factors in other words, it's got high exposure to equities. And then Mark goes on to say that we simultaneously setting up my sit we put some money into Vanguard funds directly and they have done better than this actively managed ABC wealth management fund. Lastly, Mark says ABC is funds are pretty much hidden and their portal is useless. So the Trust for me wasn't there. So it sounds like Mark is no longer client of ABC Wealth Management sorry for the essay and hoping none of you are friends with Bob at ABC Wealth Management PS Keep up the good work. You guys are great. So not a question definitely from a trapeze. But interesting insight from someone who's outside of this thing of ours. This is a retail investment clients a punter and his experience of the other side of the IFA nomina Kucera includes such Your broad church doesn't have people and this is this is this is this is a Joe Public guy who's experienced what we would call probably the rougher end. Any any thoughts, gents.

Andy Hart:

Is that the biggest red flag or weekly market commentary email? Is that is that it's one of them. It's an investment side, are we saying that's the biggest red flag to avoid?

Alan Smith:

There's so many red flags in that. Why would you use standard life ie the old Phoenix life? For example? Why is he emailing them directly? Not going through his advisor, which is paying handsomely for Yeah, weekly updates. I mean, what the hell on a seven day cycle, we're going to move out your funds, or we think now's the time to go to emerging markets. It's not me, I read the whole thing. And Sad to say, you know, we do get some flack for being critical, as we have said in the past and calling out and of course, we it's not actually Bob from ABC, and it wouldn't be appropriate for us to share the name, but it represents all the things which are wrong with this with our sector. Unfortunately, this kind of relentless focus on fund management activity, moving stocks and bonds and funds on a weekly basis. And in doing so significantly underperforming, is Vanguard funds, just buy and hold long term. It doesn't sound like there's any structure, any financial planning, it's, it's, it's suboptimal to use a nick Lincoln word, and just disappointing and I'm glad that we're able to sort of, you know, shine the light on this and mark, a, hopefully he's learned a bit from our ramblings over the last year or two.

Carl Widger:

It sounds like on the question, that he's left this firm, and he's now hopefully, if he's listening to us, he's gone to a real financial planning firm. Wouldn't it be amazing to hear from him to say, this was my experience with active management, blah, blah, blah. And here's now my experience with financial planners. And it gives it would give us a really good insight as to the I suppose the key things from a client's perspective as to what we should be focusing on in terms of messaging.

Nick Lincoln:

Nick, well, funnily enough, Carl, I've actually got an email in my inbox from from Mark, I hadn't I sent him an email this morning. So I will ask him that question. I'll just say just, you know, you no longer with them ABC? And if so, what is the firm you've gone to like, and what experiences do you want to share is and that so I'll get an update. And if he comes back to me, I will bring it into a future show for sure. Andy?

Andy Hart:

Well, yeah, now he says about this weekly email being huge, and as if any clients have time to read it. Even if the client side all the time in the world, it would add nothing to their outcomes. This again, is the misconception. I wish I had more time to read more investment market commentary and therefore I'd make better decisions. No, it's the opposite. It's very weird and countercultural and counterintuitive. So again, our message is, you know, polar opposite of what, you know, mainstream financial and investment media want to sort of pollute clients brains with so yeah, it boils my blood.

Nick Lincoln:

Okay, so we're gonna be out. We're at 173 minutes and we've got another question in the hopper. Chris Bowers, we will answer your question my friend in the next episode of trap episode 38. But for the moment I think that's it and we should pretty much with haste move on to culture corner he clicks and waits. And there's no sound or culture corner either this is great, isn't it? Okay, so culture corner. Yeah, thanks. Go. Culture Corner. We'll start off with cart. I'm not gonna tell you what it is gone. What's your culture corner car.

Carl Widger:

It is Kitces pull the mic, Michael Kitsis podcast, where I can't remember the lady that he interviewed. But it's basically around. There's a massive problem in the financial planning profession, whereby advisors, planners, are trading wealth for health. And it was just perfect for me for January. I think everybody should have a listen to this. You need to make sure as you're progressing through your career, that you don't leave the health space to one side. Because all you're going to do if you don't make time for exercise, nutrition, fitness, mind your mind now, you're going to have to make time for illness down the line. That's for sure. So yeah, I thought it was really good. Having listened to Kitces actually for a while, but that one kind of grabbed my attention. And really enjoyed that one. Perfect for January and New Year's resolutions and all of that. So there you go. Very

Nick Lincoln:

good. Thank you. Thank you for that call. My one is a book that I read on Kindle. And it's a book called dead in the water murder and fraud in the world's most secretive industry. And the shipping industry really not figured to live It really is, is another world in our world. I mean, the oceans, what are they 80% of the world's surface is ocean. And we don't know half of what goes on under the under the sea. And what goes on on the sea is just another world and our dependence on on the super tankers and these massive container ships is I don't think we understand how dependent we are on them. And this there's a really, really good story. It's 300 pages about a ship called the brilliante virtuoso, which was allegedly attacked by pirates in the, in the Gulf of Aden, which is the news limited because our unelected Prime Minister not elected by the populace or the party members, is trying to start World War Three by taking some bombings out where he thinks he can throw the Red Sea can't control the English Channel, but there you go. Anyway, just so between Yemen and Somalia, this ship was allegedly attacked by pirates in 2011. Turns out it wasn't actually as straightforward as that and the story is fantastic. It's it's it goes into everything that goes into the Lloyds of London market, what you're doing for your high net worth. It involves the Met Police, the City of London police. And the whole shipping world is not you know, these, the flag of convenience phrase was comes from stuff that's equity, random, you know, so you have these massive ships that are they, they fly under the flag of Liberia or Panama, typically, because they have very lacks regulations about the state of ships. The ships are owned by companies that are based in Bahamas or NASA, because for tax reasons, the directors of these shipping companies are they're based somewhere else, typically Greece and for historical reasons, Greece has a lot of shipping magnets and the whole world is it's just really, really difficult to know what the hell is going on at any one time. And the people who run these ships, you know, you've got to be a certain way and they're met, they're new, they always mail you've got to be a certain mentality to go on these ships. It's hard, bloody work. You're away from your farm for months on end is dangerous. And this story is really interesting. And it pulls everything together and it kind of links to our world because it's to do with the city. It's to do with insurance. It's done with Lloyds of London, it's money, it's fraud, and I would really, really recommend you don't have any interest in this in shipping and I'm happy to find this an engrossing read, so I highly recommend that. There we go. Mr. Smith.

Alan Smith:

Yes, good shot, Nick. I don't know but I've got that book. I don't know how I've got it as you must have seen it elsewhere. I haven't read it yet. But it looks very, very intriguing. Just Just a quick point with all these glitches and technical faults and everything this time. Thank God the trap is love them because I remember being going on we will have a chat I think at home last year spoke to a bunch of people and I said yeah, it's a bit scrappy. We don't really edit it because no we we love that we love the the amateur nature of it, then this is definitely not what you call a highly overproduced slick, professional show. And it's unfortunate with the technology, you're writing it you're doing your level best there, but the Tech has let us down in terms of the drops and all the rest of it. But hey, help. There we go. Someone who has gotten

Carl Widger:

our echo echo chamber. Yeah, we're loving it.

Alan Smith:

The someone who has got this kind of this whole kind of content thing down to a fine art is the author of my recommendation for culture corner, a close personal friend of mine, Nick, right. Got it Yeah, a guy called Ali Abdol, who I've had a few chats with the last year or so I'd love to get him on my pod. And he may well do that very entrepreneurial guy. He's a guy who was qualified as a doctor was top and Cambridge. And started as a side hustle a YouTube channel, which is obviously nobody's doing full time highly successful. Or the information is called a he's doing about 5 million revenue a year as effectively a tiny small media company creating high quality content on YouTube and other places. His new book just come out is called feel good productivity. And just read it and it is really good. It's not one of these boring productivity books about I don't know get up early in the morning and do time blocking and stuff is backed with a lot of evidence or a science, which I like. And really as the title would suggest it is about being productive while also enjoying it and feeling good. So he has some very useful tips, tactics and recommendations to make your work better, more enjoyable and indeed a far more productive process. It is worth reading is a good book, Ali Abdol feel good productivity. Thank you.

Nick Lincoln:

Great stuff. Thank you. Yeah, Ali Ultra.

Andy Hart:

Okay, I've got three recommendations. The first one is visual capitalists, they've put out a recent article called the top 10 Retirement Planning mistakes. This is by a company called Natixis who I believe is a French company. I'll read out the first two or three. Number one, underestimating the impact of inflation number two, underestimating how long you will live. Number two Three overestimating investment income. This is a sort of list of why we exist basically. So I do recommend checking that out. And he comments on that while

Alan Smith:

just Well now that's just mind blowing move on. Well and you go Okay two more to go Next

Andy Hart:

I've got you are no are Harare who is the author of sapiens is on Diary of a CEO podcast as a YouTube link there. And finally it's a book recommendation that I'm reading at the moment quite sort of actively it's called the Family board meeting I don't know if any of you have come across it it's the sort of subtitle is you have 18 summers to create lasting connection with your children so yeah, it's got a whole sort of process and weigh around how to spend quality time with your children and also it's quite a relevant for entrepreneurs that have children and was hit me between the eyes basically this book I don't know if you boys have dabbled in this in the past but it's a strong recommendation for people to have young kids that also run their own businesses they're my three culture corners Okay,

Alan Smith:

I just love the way that you you share them with there's so much energy passion it's incredible it's I'm buying that book right now brick

Nick Lincoln:

in that's just freaking culture

Andy Hart:

corner me it's just a links to interesting things. Culture

Carl Widger:

corner, not culture corners.

Nick Lincoln:

Leave Ultra. My father fractured his femur at the end of last year is recuperating. And he's reading it's not been a great read. He doesn't he hasn't loads of books but specialist subjects. Um, but he's just started really heavily in this rehab thing and he read these threads. He said we read this book Sapiens or Sapiens, I said that yeah, you so it's just he's just finished that and he's that you thoroughly enjoyed it. That's why That's Harare is well known book, isn't it? The How do you say Sapiens

Andy Hart:

saved this, he's, I think he sold homosapiens. He sold 18 million books. I think he's the highest selling sort of modern author. Staggering.

Nick Lincoln:

Okay. When you go, right, gents, we're at two minutes in and this catastrophe that we call the real advisor podcast, so I think I think we'll make it a wrap for this episode. As part of trading, definitely spend the time go on talk over me one on

Carl Widger:

one on YouTube. You need some visuals for this.

Nick Lincoln:

Somebody's visual Come on. Thank you. For the love of God review on iTunes six out of five stars. It's fantastic. If you watch us on YouTube, please do subscribe as well. That'd be great. But until the next time from the wrap from the rat pack from the Track Pack even it's an EOS and take care of the folks as licked Lincoln reaches for the final outro clicks it

Andy Hart:

absolutely

Nick Lincoln:

happens.

Alan Smith:

For a shambles, absolute shambles. Right Okay, let's go. I've done I'm done. See you later. Bye.

Andy Hart:

See you later. Bye

People on this episode

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Nick Lincoln

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Alan Smith

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Andy Hart

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Carl Widger

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