Clouds

Today

It’s Thursday 16th February 2017. It’s a typical weekday. I’m out of the office, but in contact with Melissa and Lucas. As always, any emails I receive are never greeted by an out of office reply.

Investments

The FTSE 100 closed down 0.34% at 7,277.92. The highest climbers were; Coca Cola, Shire, Smurfit Kappa & Capita. (We hold none of them)

The biggest fallers were; Astra Zeneca, Shell, Antofagasta & BP. (We hold none of them either)

For every £100,000 invested into our portfolios, today:

• A Cautious investor has lost £19.76
• A Moderate investor has made £12.93
• An Aggressive investor has made £41.28

A pretty typical, un-remarkable day for our investment portfolios.
Client assets that we now manage reached over £65 million.

Clients

Over the last week I have helped clients with;

• Urgent, non-urgent and regular investment withdrawals.
• Top-up investments.
• Further investment recommendations into our portfolios.
• FaceTime calls with clients.
• Answered queries related to Inheritance Tax Planning and the Annual Allowance.

I have also dealt with

• A company called Fairstone assuring me that even though I have politely declined his interest in our company that I will be selling my business to him in the future. (Whatever)
• The usual batch of “Special” investment opportunities that land in my in-box.
• Regulatory returns.

A pretty typical week so far on balance. But…

This week I was in Antarctica. Isn’t technology amazing! If we can get wi-fi here, then we can get it anywhere I guess. A bargain for $399.

So what else happened this week?

Personal

• We traversed the notorious Drake Passage. The area of sea between Cape Horn & Antarctica.
• We attended lectures on whales, penguins, seabirds, glaciation and historic explorers.
• We had our outer clothing inspected to ensure we didn’t introduce any Bolton flora to the 7th continent.
• We kayaked amongst icebergs.
• We were encircled by inquisitive young penguins
• We watched humpbacks and killer whales

It’s been a great week bringing a big tick to our personal bucket list. It’s technology that allows us to start our personal bucket list early. It’s technology that means we will be able to comfortably work forever. It’s also technology that is usually a source of our investment profits, however our Legal & General Global Technology Index Trust was down 0.11% today.

Clouds & Pavements

Many individuals worry about running out of money. Not having enough in our old age to pay our bills. Clients of mine have heard me refer to paying our bills as our “Pavement Costs”. The goals, hopes and ambitions are the “Clouds” we chase. (Please book an appointment with me if you need reminding of my Pavement and Clouds model)

This week Lesley and I made memories that will last a lifetime. Over the weekend we will arrive at another destination on our Cloud list, The Falkland Islands. Never stop dreaming and creating your clouds. A wise client told me

We may run short of money, but we will run out of time.