​One rainy afternoon in 1940, an inspired 15-year old boy named John Goddard sat down at his kitchen table in Los Angeles and wrote three words at the top of a yellow pad, "My Life List." Under that heading he made a list of everything he wanted to achieve.

​In the words of that celebrated US Philosopher, Elvis Presley, “we need a little less conversation and a little more action please”.

Attention is a precious resource.

And as with any resource, scarcity creates value.
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In the digital age where noise is everywhere, those who can capture the most attention are said to win.

In Leo Tolstoy’s great novel ‘War and Peace’, a Russian general charged with defeating Napoleon and expelling the French from Russian soil argued against rushing into battle, saying the strongest of all warriors were “time and patience”. 

The truth is, ambitious goals can intimidate and demoralise as much as they can motivate and inspire. Big goals can seem overwhelming. Sometimes, it’s just simpler and less stressful not to make any promises!

“It can’t be that simple, surely”, is something I hear a lot. 

People just assume that money management is complex. That’s no surprise really, as the traditional financial industry is built on the premise that complexity equals value or to be more pointed, the more complex the solution, the more someone should pay for it. The industry is very willing to sell you this crap. The media don’t help either as eye-grabbing content sells.

Success for my parents, was having a fair day’s work to do, for a fair day’s pay.  Success was having money left in your pay packet at the end of the week after the bills were paid.  Success was being able to take care of your family and helping those around you – and mostly in ways not measured in pounds, shillings and pence. ​ Success was having pride in a job well done.

Think about how many hours you’ve wasted over the years worrying about investment markets, or trying to predict what might happen next. That private angst when your numbers wobbled. Can you name one time when you’ve gained by obsessing like this? ​

At 50, financial questions begin to shift from “what are my goals for the future?” to “where have my past decisions led me?” Financial adviser Tony Sandercock explains.

This blog was originally posted in "Slice of Life".

​Just because political or financial news is a diversion, a challenge or even entertaining, doesn’t mean it’s actionable. In fact, what people outside the media rarely appreciate is how many of the headlines you see every day are effectively meaningless. And it’s been really getting on my goat lately! So in this article, I’ll interpret some of the most common headlines and what it actually means for your investments.