Without trying to be judgemental of some of the ‘case studies’ in the Media and without being patronising, one thing it shows that is sadly lacking in our Country is basic financial guidance for people to help them budget better and understand and plan their financial life priorities, whether they have lots or little (though it would help the poorest the most).
This isn’t about being Scrooge but prioritising the necessities and then spending on the discretionaries after you have put something aside for rainy days as well. Just because it is ‘there’ doesn’t mean you can or should have it, if really you cannot afford it.
It might sound boring but is a constant life struggle of expensive debt on cards, hire purchase and loans to buy the latest advertised product and a hand-to-mouth existence that creates really better than knowing you are making sensible financial provision to help weather the inevitable storms?
We do offer a small number of free financial guidance slots to those brave enough to ask for help… if we can assist someone who otherwise may be in financial misery and to help put them on the straight-and-narrow, then we are pleased to be able to do so.
We also reflect upon the World’s largest ever one-day drop in the value of any quoted company. Yes, Facebook (Meta) fell by 26% wiping $230billion from the Company’s value (yes, $0.25trillion). Ouch. We have not one share in it, nor any funds which have any either. The last biggest was Apple in 2020 believe it or not. It could happen again!
What’s curious is that at the same time as such ‘tech’ is faltering, oils, banks, miners and tobacco stocks have been recovering fast. This will add to the woes of investors seeking ‘ESG’ solutions as many of these chunky tech companies are erroneously deemed to be ethically friendly… and companies specialising in green energy have also been hit very hard these last several months (over-priced by all the short-term hype and too much money chasing too few stocks).
Again, we’re okay on that front with our negligible ‘tech’ exposure, thank you! This reminds me with investing – it’s not only where you gain but where you don’t lose that makes all the difference.
