Welcome to 2026! How are you feeling?
I hope you had a wonderful festive period to cap off a cracking 2025 and are excited about what 2026 holds for you.
Before getting into the main topics of this month’s newsletter, as January represents a new start for everyone, I thought I would serve up some timely reminders.
There are three reasons you won’t be able to spend money doing the things you love, in the future:
- You have died - Someone else is spending your money then. It may be your family, and potentially 40% of it will be the government.
- You’ve become ill- you’re no longer healthy enough to spend it. Similar to death but you get the added bonus of living with the regrets. "I could have…"
- You only have enough money to live. The frills that bring the thrills are no longer affordable.
My belief is if you have got to number 3 before 1 or 2 have struck then you have smashed life. You’ve done everything you possibly could.
But, if you’re staring at a pile of money, most likely pixelated on a screen then there's a chance that represents:
- Tonnes of experiences you have missed out on
- Joy you could have brought to other people through gifts or timely help
- Good feelings you could have enjoyed through helping others
- Places you could have visited
- Time you could have spent with people you love
This is my new year’s resolution for you:
2026 may be your last year where you are able, so whatever position you are in now, good or bad, there is still some time left, so go out and do what you can do and do it now…
Remember the words of this song:
Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think) - Guy Lombardo
You work and work for years and years, you're always on the go
You never take a minute off, too busy makin' dough
Someday you say, you'll have your fun, when you're a millionaire
Imagine all the fun you'll have in your old rockin' chair
Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think
Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink
The years go by, as quickly as a wink
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it's later than you think
You're gonna take that ocean trip, no matter come what may
You've got your reservations made, but you just can't get away
Next year for sure, you'll see the world, you'll really get around
But how far can you travel when you're six feet underground?
Altruism - Alternative Truths?
OK, now you have had a little singalong in your mind, let’s look at some more serious matters!
Currently, it seems the world is turning against one another and seemingly preferring the self - egoism - over helping others - altruism.
It’s easy to make money if you ignore all environmental concerns and employee welfare for example, as well as the impact of whatever is being done on the wider world or health of other people, organisms or habitats.
"Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness."
- Martin Luther King, Jr
But, I believe this is short-sighted and here is the alternative truth of altruism. Altruism, or helping others with no apparent reward, has evolved in humans and been part of what has made us come to ‘rule the world’ over other species.
If helping another person means you are less likely to survive / reproduce then why do it? Throughout our evolution the circular nature of altruism means that we are all more likely to survive (I’m moving on from the ‘reproduce’ bit. You’re all lovely people but there’s only so far I’m going to go!) if we help one another. Survival in modern terms can be equated to prospering.
I’ll scratch your back if, at some unknown time in the future, you scratch mine.
Which is what has also driven human development and the global economy for thousands of years. As Adam Smith pointed out, the division of labour makes us all more productive. His theories that form the base of modern economics is that the market, guided by people doing what is selfishly best for them, will produce greater quantities of goods. The evolution of altruism, on the other hand must dictate that helping others with no specific help in return means that we will all be better off. If you help me do something that you are better at (division of labour) I might not be able to help you back, but if I can then help someone else then round and round it will go until the extra benefits / extra production are experienced by all.
“Karma - what goes around comes around“
- a core concept in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism and a saying beloved by stoned students / hippies
Typically, our altruism starts at home with our family. First immediate family and then extended family. I was reminded of this recently at a clients’ wedding. They say it ‘takes a village to raise a child’ and knowing 3 generations of this family, some by sight but many of the third generation only by name and the financial plans that have been swerved/ designed to help them, I could see and feel the effect it will have on them, now and in later life. A massive cocoon of love (after the football had finished, of course) that some of those people will benefit from for the rest of their lives, and they are unlikely to ever know who had helped and by how much. Each and everyone of us has experienced and benefitted from this in childhood. Whether it be family, friends of family, teachers, society or the kindness of strangers.
We are all in this position, people we do not remember, or never met, or lived years before we even existed have helped us all. We will never know and we will never be able to pay it back, but we can pay it forward.
"What place has this in a financial newsletter, Stevie?!", I hear you ask.
We all want certainty, but in life as in financial markets there is no certainty. When you invest, providing capital to a stranger in the expectation that it will make you a higher return, ‘certainty of return’ and ‘higher returns’ are mutually exclusive. There is no higher return without more uncertainty.
Long-term investing gives people the opportunity to use your capital in a more productive way than you, to live out the dreams of their invention, grow their business, employ more people etc. Through this, you hope that they will earn more and through fulfilling their goals, you yourself will receive a higher return. But it’s not certain you will! You are scratching their back in the hope that one day they can scratch yours. In a global economy where there are billions of backs to scratch it will not necessarily come immediately from that one place. But the law of karma says it will come from somewhere.
"Steve, have you been smoking something dodgy with that student?"
No! Bear with, darlings.
When we invest your money across 13,000 different companies, we don’t know exactly where the higher returns are going to come from. But historically they always have come with only brief pauses and temporary declines. That’s the uncertainty.
"Altruism is the best source of happiness, there is no doubt about that"
- The Dalia Lama XIV
As 2026 starts, i beseech you to carry on with your altruistic acts and if possible, do some more! For the most selfish desire of wanting to feel happier is most surely achieved through helping others.
As the new year starts, I’d like to thank you and assure you of how grateful we all are that you entrust us with your wealth, your dreams and your family. You’ve scratched our back, we’ve got your back, and the altruistic investments of your time and money will scratch your back in time.
Thank you once again and Happy New Year.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute financial advice. We recommend that you speak to a qualified financial planner for advice tailored to your individual circumstances and goals. Financial markets may go up or down, and you are not guaranteed a return on your investment. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance.
