Mend, Maintain and motivate, how we take you from the Casualty Department to the peak of living. MMM…
We are fortunate as financial planners, we get to meet all sorts of people and find out about some really interesting lifestyles, workplaces, and ways of making a living. Also, family gossip and other intriguing things that really deserve to be in a soap opera. Indeed, if a Soap Opera was in it’s death throes as an ‘art’ I reckon I have enough stories to write 20 years’ worth!
However, the majority of the time people come to us is because there is some kind of emergency going on, and these can be less fun, often traumatic meetings where we suck up the fears and pain of the person in front of us and try to do something about it. We mend then, once people are mended, as enter a period of convalescence where ostensibly everything is ok! Which is great! This period we call the ‘maintain’ period. This could last a few years. Once your original problem is fixed by our emergency department, a time of relaxation should ensure you to get used to your new life in finances and settle into it. But who wants to stay that way forever? You think you come to us to be mended, but you actually come to us to be Motivated!
This is what we see as our objective for you. To ‘mend,’ ‘maintain’ and ‘motivate.’
MMM…
Lucent Financial Planning Casualty Department
First and foremost, in many people’s eyes, we are the surgeon in the casualty department. Waiting to accept all trauma and try to make it better. Money worries are acute and can then produce physical symptoms too! So we want to take care of these patients that require mending and quick smart! They arrive to us with the inflictions life bestows upon us all at some point…
Divorce
Redundancy
Death of a loved one and perhaps an inheritance
Requirement for a care home
Serious illness
Transitioning to retirement
All the nasty stuff you can think of, that affects your finances. But sometimes, they are great things…
New additions to the family
Lottery wins!
Transitioning to retirement
So, what do we do? We bandage them up, prescribe the appropriate antibiotics and do a bit of emergency resuscitation sometimes.
Bandages – you need to stem the blood flow! Reduce out flow of meaningless spending, paying too much tax not earning enough in your investments.
Antibiotics – we are the antibiotics! We slip you the pill of good advice and help you fight off the nasties so you don’t get even more infected and eventually, start to get healthier.
Emergency Resuscitation – sometimes we need to avert imminent disasters like tax penalties or running out of money. This is where we apply our defibrillator of good planning!
Maintain
Once you’re out of casualty, we put you into our wards where you can adjust to your new life of financial security and the joy of spending your hard earned money in the comfort of knowing you can absolutely afford it and more to the point… you deserve to and bloody well should do!
This the comfort blanket of cotton wool that we provide to you. It’s warm, cosy and you know nothing bad will happen. I might even slip a little hotty-botty in there for you and give you some hobnobs to dunk in your tea (filthy people, I am not down with dunkers!!). Life is nice and comfortable.
Casualty Regular Attenders!
Sometimes, people get successive problems. They really do; it’s horrendously bad luck sometimes. We repeatedly see them needing emergency care to get them better and back to the maintenance ward.
Sometimes, the stresses of dealing with money can weigh heavily, causing people to make more regular trips to casualty. It maybe, psychological issues are worrying them. In which case, we have Jess our psychologist to help with that. She will apply her super strength, MRSA (Money Related Stresses Anxiety) superbug killing antibiotics to get you the healthy heads you deserve.
But sometimes, people just like being in casualty, don’t they? They leave things for too long, don’t make the decisions they need to (come on people, we make decisions for you! You just should agree with our medicine!) and it gets too late and you need emergency help again. This is hard for us, we like helping you, but we would rather our nerves weren’t shredded by having to do things at the last minute. If you are procrastinator – please just tell us! Do not spread your pain.
In short, we want to see people in our emergency room once. When they first meet us. After that, disaster may occur through external forces, but you will have a plan that covers these things off, so you should never require emergency treatment, just a few minor adjustments.
Motivate
Once you have been in the maintenance ward for a while, you are then ready to jump to the next step! Well, you may not be, but it is our job to push you!
It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting – Paul Coehlo
We want to open your mind to possibility. Initially, when we met, you were most probably concerned with survival. You had a financial mess and we did a great job to put that right, get you what you immediately wanted, whether that may be:
To stop working
To buy the home you wanted
To help the people you love with gifts
Or just to put your mind at rest from the pressure of life and finances.
But guess what, you survived! And now, things are just dandy. So why push on? Well, there’s a whole world of things out there that you could do and we want to show you what is possible.
You like playing golf? Well visit and play on all the best courses in the world! Like Royal Portrush, St Andrews, Troon and Hatchford Brook. Why not make it your aim to play at the top 20? Here’s a link to Golf Digest 75 top 100 golf courses. https://www.golfdigest.com/story/worlds-100-greatest-golf-courses-2024-2025
"Wealth is the ability to fully experience life". —Henry David Thoreau
You like travelling – well do it with a difference! We can help you with that, with our travel agent Lisa Savage, of Travel Counsellors (find her on Ubuntu in the ‘Holiday Review section for regular tips on great holidays!) Or at her website: https://www.travelcounsellors.co.uk/lisa.savage/
You like helping people and reducing your inheritance tax bill – Set up your own charity! Receive immediate inheritance tax exemptions and do something meaningful. There is financial legacy and ‘life legacy.’ Be remembered for the great things you did with your money, not just leaving a lot behind.
You want to maximise your inheritance for children? Give it to them now! They do not need it when they are approaching their own retirement, they need it in their 30s.
"It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving". —Mother Theresa
There is so much you could do with your money; it is not all about survival. You have enough to survive, and you may very well have enough so that you, your friends, and family can thrive! Let’s go about doing that. Let us push you to the next step of exploring life’s brilliance.
"Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort". —Franklin D. Roosevelt
We are there to be with you in the creative effort, give you devised plans, elaborate on your ideas, to stretch the limits of your and our imagination to get some truly outstanding outcomes.
Here’s a cheers with a mug of tea and a hobnob to smashing life. Let’s go…
About us
We are financial planners that deliver on life and do it with a flourish! We will mend, maintain and motivate you to live brilliantly and do it with a flourish.
The end of tax year is nigh, if you need to enter our casualty department for some last minute planning, please contact us on info@lucentfinancialplanning.co.uk
We will need you to have your details ready and with minimum fuss as we haven’t much time left.
What is our flourish?
It’s the help of our lovely psychologist, Jessica Schlupp Taylor of My Exceptional, whenever you need your head to be made healthy again.
It’s one of the 15+ separate in-person events we have put on. Whether that be walks, drinks, parties, or educational events.
It’s Ubuntu! Our online community where you can interact, see information on Investments etc. talk about your hobbies, watch live steams or more recently holiday adventures from Lisa Savage.
What this means for you:
We are ready to help you more than ever!
This is your one life, what do you want to do? Let us help you do it!
To help your friends and family that may be:
Approaching retirement
Worried about money – have they got enough?
Going through a separation / impending divorce
Have suffered the loss of a loved one they were financial entwined with
Have an established business and want to understand how to make that work for them.
Want to know if they ‘have enough,’ ‘how to get enough,’ ‘have more than enough and want to look at helping others.
End of tax year… it’s the final chance to:
Make the massive income tax savings that pension contributions allow.
Make ISA contributions so that your money can grow in a tax efficient environment.
Benefit from 30% income tax refunds in VCTs.
Sell assets with capital gains tax and invest tax efficiently and use your £3,000 capital gains tax exemption.
New Podcast – 6 – ADHD, Overwhelm and Avoidance – Taking back control of your mind and money with special guest Sarah Morgan
We launched on the 2nd of January and despite some hiccups in recording, we are loving doing it. This is the first interview podcast we have done with the marvellous Sarah Morgan, in which she describes me as ‘fabulous… but frustrating!’ Well I never. Oh, I did… many times actually. Sorry Sarah!
Rmsdisobe
"Really enjoying the podcast so far. It has a great balance between being funny but also giving you plenty of information. Would definitely recommend to other people."
This article does not constitute financial advice. We recommend that you speak to a qualified financial adviser 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.
About the author
Steve Rowe is the CEO and Founder of Lucent Financial Planning, an award-winning provider of financial services to individuals and business owners in the Midlands region. We want to be the Financial Advisers that change your life, not just the financial adviser that changes your ISA.
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