News & resources

The Pareto Principle and your finances

October 8, 2017 - 5 minutes read

I am fascinated by an Italian called Vilfredo Pareto

Born in 1848, Pareto was an economist obsessed with efficiency.

He argued that “80% of the outcomes of something generally comes from 20% of the the causes”.

This later famously became the “Pareto Principle”. Sales people have used it for years to describe that 80% of sales often came from 20% of their customers.

The lesson from Pareto?

What is your Harajuku moment?

August 24, 2017 - 3 minutes read

Around 4 years ago I fell out of love with financial advice.

I found out that my father had been mis-sold pensions and investments by people he trusted. The whole family finances suffered because of some very slick salesman who sold a very complicated scheme. The result was disastrous.

I walked about for about an hour and I had quit the profession in my head.

Money Marketing Profile – Adam Carolan on Building NextGen Planners

August 7, 2017 - 6 minutes read

It goes without saying that young advisers learn from those who are older and more experienced. But what is perhaps less obvious is that advisers in the early stages of their career can learn a lot from each other.

That realisation and the lack of opportunities for younger advisers to meet and share best practice inspired Xentum director Adam Carolan to launch NextGen Planners with Postcard Planning director Rohan Sivajoti.

What do I think good Financial Advice looks like

August 2, 2017 - 4 minutes read

I have been pretty vocal about being disappointed about the state of the financial advisory profession. I even co founded a company to help shape the future of Financial Advice called NextGen Planners.

I do however think we are starting to see a sea of change in the financial advisory world.

Quiz for Entrepreneurs – Are you on track with your Personal Finances?

July 30, 2017 - Less than a minute read

As a business owner, sorting your own personal finances can be difficult. This 10 minute quiz gets to the bottom of whether you are giving your personal finances enough time and effort.

Investing for your children

June 5, 2017 - 4 minutes read

If you have read my blog for long enough now, you will know that I like to start off with a story.

When I was 16, my father gave me £2,000 to invest. The money was really his but it was up to me to find the stocks to invest in.

So off I went, into the back of the Daily Mail (don’t judge me). Towards the back of the Daily Mail in the Business section, are a number of different share prices and companies with some brief performance figures. I had made my mind up

Do you know your F you number?

April 12, 2017 - 5 minutes read

Everywhere I look at the moment, I seem to find a business guru showing entrepreneurs how to “scale up” or “grow” or “plan your exit” and all those popular buzz terms.

I have a different phrase that needs to be addressed by a business owner - “Do you actually know your F you number”

Why are You Doing This?

March 14, 2017 - 3 minutes read

Whenever I meet a new business owner I always ask them about how they started their business.

It usually goes something along the lines of:

“I just had an idea that I thought would help people” or “I wanted control over my week” or my favourite “I wanted to change the world”.

Everybody’s story is different and is always fascinates me to question why someone started a business as it gives me an insight into their mindset.

The idea of Low Cost / High Return

January 17, 2017 - 5 minutes read

I often get asked:

“How much return do you think you can get me Adam?”

I will tell you my answer - I don’t bloody know :). No one can predict the markets, if they tell you they can, I would run a mile. All I can do is look back at what has happened previously and I can advise on what I think gives you the best chance of making a decent return - Hint, it is usually just buying a cheap global index tracker.