Full Transcript for PODCAST LIVE: Protecting Your Financial Future, Diane Watson

affects us more than ever now because so many more of us are running our own businesses. 00:06:28.180 --> 00:06:54.976 So lots of us have moved away from employment, where we have all the lovely benefits that people have, who work, work for big corporates or in the public sector, and it's made us more vulnerable than ever, because I talk to women every day who are not in the least bit thinking about their own situation, what might happen if they can't work, how that might impact on their family life, on their partners. 00:06:55.971 --> 00:07:04.239 So in many ways, we are more vulnerable now than we've ever been, as more and more of us, you know, set up our own businesses. 00:07:04.239 --> 00:07:28.779 And usually what happens in my experience and hopefully you can all think well, that's not me we embark on a journey of running our own business and we don't always think about some of the things that we need to put in place, because our business is new and we're getting it off the ground and we'll think about that later, and then, unfortunately, things happen, you know, which can make us incredibly vulnerable. 00:07:28.779 --> 00:07:41.394 So part of the challenge is to try and help both male and female but obviously, particularly for me, women understand what the sorts of things they need to think about and put into place. 00:07:41.995 --> 00:07:42.998 Yeah, yeah, and it is. 00:07:42.998 --> 00:07:47.878 It's a two-way street because, you know, men will find themselves in this situation as well, possibly. 00:07:47.878 --> 00:07:50.806 But um, yeah, it is, it is. 00:07:50.806 --> 00:07:58.921 Women are notorious, notoriously not the ones generally in charge of certain things. 00:07:58.921 --> 00:08:15.971 You know, from that, from the patriarchal society that we are moving away from, it has been the men that have been in control of everything, which is why I know you've said, a lot of women that you've connected to through your work have found themselves in these situations, which is why you're so passionate about bringing it to women. 00:08:15.971 --> 00:08:17.411 But it happens to men as well. 00:08:17.411 --> 00:08:29.490 So, as business owners, oftentimes when we think about money, our focus is how much are we bringing in, how much can I spend, what do I do with the surplus? 00:08:29.490 --> 00:08:33.000 And those are the kind of questions that we are asking and focusing on. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:36.019 So what are the things that we're not asking that we should be? 00:08:37.770 --> 00:08:44.163 So typically we're not thinking about the things that I would want people to address, which is what happens if something goes wrong. 00:08:44.163 --> 00:08:47.056 You know what's going to happen to my business, what's going to happen to my? 00:08:47.056 --> 00:08:50.082 You know my personal financial situation. 00:08:50.082 --> 00:09:00.312 I mean, typically one in two of us will get a cancer diagnosis in our lifetimes a cancer diagnosis in our lifetimes. 00:09:00.312 --> 00:09:18.860 So any vulnerability around being ill, being unable to work, is something that I'm really passionate about trying to get women and men to address, because, unfortunately, if you read the book, you'll see there's lots of stories of women in there who have had serious illnesses and who have been very vulnerable because they haven't done anything about putting those things in place. 00:09:19.591 --> 00:09:25.562 I mean, just as an example, I have a lovely client who I went to see. 00:09:25.562 --> 00:09:28.114 She said you need to come and see me at home with my husband. 00:09:28.114 --> 00:09:34.756 And when I went through the things that she needed to do, he he was very clear we're not doing that, she doesn't need that. 00:09:34.756 --> 00:09:36.821 I can sort the will out. 00:09:36.821 --> 00:09:37.903 And she got. 00:09:37.903 --> 00:09:54.292 She got cancer and I see her regularly and she said if only I'd listened to what you said, I wouldn't be in the situation that I've been in, where I had to go back to work sooner than I should have done because I didn't put those things in place. 00:09:54.419 --> 00:10:09.747 So I think, when you've experienced a lot of that and obviously based on what you were talking about this morning, you're so keen to help people at least understand what they ought to be thinking about doing. 00:10:09.747 --> 00:10:15.590 And you know we are our biggest asset. 00:10:15.590 --> 00:10:31.807 I mean, we all insure our cars, we insure our homes, but you know, without our income whether it's a combined income or individually you know we can be put in very perilous situations if something happens to us, and I'm sure you've got them down here. 00:10:31.807 --> 00:11:02.557 But we have a charity called Maggie's and they build centres near oncology units around the country and I'm very connected to the one in Yorkshire and during the last cost of living crisis they were telling me that people were cutting short their treatment, who were running their own businesses because they felt they couldn't take any more time off work, and for me that is such a sad situation for anybody to find themselves in it's it's. 00:11:02.918 --> 00:11:05.141 It's a big one, it really is, and I think it's. 00:11:05.141 --> 00:11:18.754 It's so sad that we have to think about these things, but we do, and that's why it's important to have the conversations, because, as much as you know, it'd be nice to just talk about how much money are we bringing in and how much can I spend, and all of that good jazz. 00:11:18.754 --> 00:11:24.372 These are the things that we don't think about and they can cripple us, like literally cripple us. 00:11:24.372 --> 00:11:30.879 So is there anything different between being a woman who is married and a woman who is single? 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:38.473 Is the advice different in terms of what we need to be thinking about and looking at when it comes to those options? 00:11:39.519

--> 00:11:53.007 I mean, I guess if you're a single person, then you are the only breadwinner in your family, so you do need to be really, really careful that you are protecting yourself, need to be really, really careful that you are protecting yourself. 00:11:53.007 --> 00:12:05.786 But equally, in most married or cohabiting relationships, and especially if there are children involved, one or other of you being unable to work is is can be catastrophic, particularly as often happens, the person who isn't well needs caring for by the person who is able to work. 00:12:05.786 --> 00:12:11.649 So it's really about sitting down and and making sure that you understand all the things that can. 00:12:11.649 --> 00:12:13.826 You know all the curveballs that can be thrown at you. 00:12:13.826 --> 00:12:25.986 I mean, I know we're talking focusing now on illness, but you know I'm also passionate about people having wills, about people making sure that they've got shareholder agreements if they're in businesses with other people. 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:35.449 Most people do none of these things and they have no clue about what might happen, and I'm sure lots of you here today have got children. 00:12:35.449 --> 00:12:46.269 I did a talk in Hertfordshire in January and we did a show of hands how many people had actually got wills, and I think about a third of the women in the room put their hands up. 00:12:46.269 --> 00:12:56.145 You know, if you have children and you don't have a will, you leave issues with regards to what happens to your children and they were really shocked. 00:12:56.145 --> 00:13:06.463 You know, a lot of this is just about making sure that you understand, you know the what-ifs, the things that might happen, so they don't give you a problem yeah, absolutely all right it's incredible, and. 00:13:06.644 --> 00:13:18.168 But the thing and one of the things I want to point out and and I know this because of people in my network who, um are will writers, um is that a will is important, even if it is not about it's not about just dying, is it? 00:13:18.168 --> 00:13:21.298 That's there is I can't remember what it is. 00:13:21.298 --> 00:13:22.841 Anybody wants to shout it out? 00:13:22.841 --> 00:13:23.962 Please do, um. 00:13:23.962 --> 00:13:36.071 But if you are taken ill and you can't look after yourself, you have to have given somebody else the rights to make those decisions for you, and it needs to be somebody you can trust. 00:13:36.071 --> 00:13:40.353 So it's not just about what happens with all your stuff when you leave this mortal coil. 00:13:40.353 --> 00:13:53.572 So it's really important to have those things, and I don't think enough of us think about it at all, like, or we do, but we think, oh, that's not going to happen to me, it, that's not my time of life, I can wait, I don't need to think about that. 00:13:53.572 --> 00:13:55.379 So I think it's really important to consider it. 00:13:55.379 --> 00:14:01.831 Um, what do you want women to focus on when it comes to their money? 00:14:02.632 --> 00:14:02.872 I want? 00:14:02.872 --> 00:14:09.783 Well, I want them to be very clear about what they're spending, very clear about where they where they're heading in terms of their business, but also you know if they're we try. 00:14:09.783 --> 00:14:19.549 Very clear about where they're heading in terms of their business, but also, you know, we try and help clients plan an exit or a retirement, whenever that is although I know we were talking about whether retiring is a good idea or not. 00:14:19.549 --> 00:14:24.269 I want people to be more women and men, to be more understanding of the journey that they're going on. 00:14:24.269 --> 00:14:29.545 And you know, if you start doing things when you're very young, you don't need to do anywhere near as much. 00:14:29.545 --> 00:14:33.177 So you know, I think sometimes people feel overwhelmed with money. 00:14:33.177 --> 00:14:37.288 They feel it's something that they haven't got their head around and that maybe it's too late to do anything. 00:14:37.288 --> 00:14:38.651 And it never is. 00:14:38.651 --> 00:14:43.048 If you start early enough and you do small things, then it does make a huge. 00:14:43.048 --> 00:14:44.992 It makes a huge difference. 00:14:44.992 --> 00:14:53.904 So I think trying to help people understand um, a lot of people say I'm not, I'm not really good with money, I don't really understand money. 00:14:53.904 --> 00:14:54.807 We all can. 00:14:54.807 --> 00:15:04.096 We just need to put some time in to, to work through those things and to make it easier to to understand. 00:15:04.096 --> 00:15:09.107 I mean, I have a challenge because I think that there's a connection with women and maths. 00:15:09.107 --> 00:15:16.991 I think a lot of women don't think they're very good at maths and therefore they spill that into managing their own financial affairs. 00:15:18.121 --> 00:15:21.191 My mother was the eldest of nine children. 00:15:21.191 --> 00:15:25.792 She was very poor and my father was also very poor. 00:15:25.792 --> 00:15:26.965 My father was a joiner. 00:15:26.965 --> 00:15:28.665 He was very militant. 00:15:28.665 --> 00:15:30.821 When I was growing up as a joiner he was very militant in the when I was growing up as a child. 00:15:30.821 --> 00:15:39.389 He was always on strike and my mother decided that she didn't want to rely on a man to keep us financially secure. 00:15:39.389 --> 00:15:46.050 So she went back to college and she trained to be a teacher and she, you know, was very much of the opinion. 00:15:46.091 --> 00:15:52.029 So the messaging I was get was getting as a child was very much around the fact that a man's not a plan. 00:15:52.029 --> 00:15:55.645 You need to make sure that you sort your stuff out, don't ever look at your dad. 00:15:55.645 --> 00:16:04.890 I mean, my dad was a very lovely man, but you know, in terms of the finances my mum took over and that messaging in a lot of homes

is not there for girls. 00:16:04.890 --> 00:16:10.841 So they grow up thinking if they hear things like you know men sort money out. 00:16:10.841 --> 00:16:12.586 If you want anything, go and ask your dad or whatever. 00:16:12.586 --> 00:16:19.347 They grow up very disconnected from the idea that they can be responsible for their own financial well-being. 00:16:19.347 --> 00:16:40.688 And then when you add into that things like this misconception that lots of young girls have that they're not very good at maths and therefore they won't be very good at managing their money, it it makes it much harder, and it's just not true, because I'm not very good at maths and I've been a financial advisor for 31 years, so you can get your head around it. 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:42.045 Love that, love that. 00:16:42.045 --> 00:16:45.610 Ok, so I had a couple of questions come in for you. 00:16:45.610 --> 00:16:52.864 Is there a certain percentage of our income as business owners that we should be put in a way for retirement? 00:16:54.047 --> 00:17:09.250 I mean there is no specific percentage, but you ought to be doing something, and I think it's about sitting down with your advisor and working out what is affordable for you to do, but not not to do anything you know. 00:17:09.309 --> 00:17:11.842 So you know, work out what you can afford to commit. 00:17:11.882 --> 00:17:27.462 I mean, we're at tax year end this week, so you know, most of our clients in the last two or three months have been looking at what they've, what they've got in their business or what, if they're self-employed, what they know, what they've drawn and what, therefore, they can afford to put aside. 00:17:28.405 --> 00:17:49.348 Having said that, if you can do something on a regular basis because when people get to the end of the tax year, there's always something that they can spend their money on so if you can get into the habit of doing small, regular amounts and then maybe topping up at the end of the year, but just having this idea that you'll rely on something in the future, like I mean, who knows whether the state pension will exist in the future in any event? 00:17:49.348 --> 00:17:56.768 But on something in the future like I mean, who knows whether the state pension will exist in the future in any event? 00:17:56.768 --> 00:17:58.071 But you know, we just we don't know, we don't know. 00:17:58.071 --> 00:18:05.766 I mean, you know, I've just started drawing my state pension, but um, you know, just making sure that you are committed to putting something aside is the important thing okay. 00:18:06.187 --> 00:18:20.881 So the other question was consider, let's take it that with a pension sorted and that that's all growing lovely, if we have a spare hundred pound a month chance to be a fine thing, um, what would you suggest we do with it? 00:18:22.463 --> 00:18:28.170 so I'm a great believer in in accruing assets but also paying off debt. 00:18:28.170 --> 00:18:34.746 So I would try and

encourage my clients to reduce mortgage debt but also save as well. 00:18:34.746 --> 00:18:44.369 So going exclusively for one strategy rather than another, in my opinion, is not the right thing to do, and interest rates at the minute are higher than they have been. 00:18:44.369 --> 00:18:46.648 They're nowhere near as high as they were in the 90s. 00:18:46.648 --> 00:18:49.609 But I would say do something of both. 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:57.588 So build capital via a pension or an ISA or a savings account, but also try and manage your debt down at the same time. 00:18:58.150 --> 00:18:58.511 Brilliant. 00:18:58.511 --> 00:19:00.788 Have we got any questions from the audience? 00:19:00.788 --> 00:19:04.227 Carly Catherine's coming to grab her mic. 00:19:06.795 --> 00:19:08.701 Thank you, diane. 00:19:08.701 --> 00:19:15.764 I've read your book and lots of the scenarios, um, where the things have happened are. 00:19:15.764 --> 00:19:26.757 A lot of the women are would have been great to put the advice into place before, and sometimes you don't realize that you need the things until it's too late with your. 00:19:26.757 --> 00:19:33.369 So you're giving advice to people and you've already said you know you've had that occasion where the husband's like, no, no, she doesn't need all of that. 00:19:33.369 --> 00:19:35.480 How do you deal with this? 00:19:35.500 --> 00:19:47.868 I think this is something that we probably have in similar ways in our own businesses, when we can see really clearly what somebody needs and they're like, yeah, you know what, I'm not going to do it, um, and it can eat away at us or we just have to let it go. 00:19:47.868 --> 00:19:48.670 How do you deal with that? 00:19:48.670 --> 00:19:58.086 Because you can see so clearly what they need and you know the outcome if things don't go well for them and they'll be like, oh, it will never happen to me maybe. 00:19:58.086 --> 00:19:59.291 How do you deal with that? 00:19:59.291 --> 00:20:04.365 Do you carry that or do you try and highlight to them, or do you just have to let it go? 00:20:05.381 --> 00:20:07.163 I think telling stories is really helpful. 00:20:07.163 --> 00:20:24.990 So I think when I'm talking to women let's say female clients and that we're having that conversation, then I try and share a story with them that might help them see themselves in that position, because that is the most powerful thing that you can actually do. 00:20:24.990 --> 00:20:29.468 I'll give you another example, and I have used this in the last couple of weeks. 00:20:29.468 --> 00:20:37.947 So when I published the book, we have a little petrol station in my village that they fill your car up for you, and I always say that if we don't use it, we lose it. 00:20:37.947 --> 00:20:55.903 And Louise is the girl that fills my car up and I gave her a copy of the book and in October last year she came out to fill my car and she said to me I've got breast cancer. 00:20:55.903 --> 00:20:57.207 I read your

book and I didn't bloody do anything. 00:20:57.207 --> 00:20:59.776 Now I'm sharing that story with other people because we all think that these things won't happen to us, but they do. 00:20:59.776 --> 00:21:09.676 So I think when you can share a powerful story that resonates to something that you're trying to help people make decisions on, it does make a difference. 00:21:10.257 --> 00:21:16.256 Lots of my colleagues in protection, as we call it, I'm passionate about life insurance and critical illness cover. 00:21:16.256 --> 00:21:18.461 Lots of my colleagues aren't. 00:21:18.461 --> 00:21:27.695 It's a much harder sell than helping people put me into their pension, and for me it's the bedrock of everything that we do for people. 00:21:27.695 --> 00:21:34.617 You know, if none of that's in place and something terrible happens, you know you really are a shit creek without a paddle. 00:21:34.617 --> 00:21:35.781 Um. 00:21:35.781 --> 00:21:45.092 So I think if you're passionate about your message, you need to find a way of telling and sharing the story in a way that people can buy into and engage with that that's good. 00:21:45.211 --> 00:21:45.692 That's great. 00:21:45.692 --> 00:21:47.554 Sharing the story is a good example. 00:21:48.415 --> 00:21:56.182 Thank you go for it trudy 00:21:56.942 --> 00:22:01.867 if you wanted to make investments like, but have no clue. 00:22:01.867 --> 00:22:04.014 Where do you even start with that? 00:22:04.014 --> 00:22:06.881 Where do you go to get any information that can help? 00:22:07.942 --> 00:22:10.977 I mean, ideally, you need to find somebody that you can trust. 00:22:10.977 --> 00:22:15.014 People do do it themselves, and I'm not going to be critical of that. 00:22:15.014 --> 00:22:26.153 Um, I think what disappoints me is that we all have our own businesses and yet often people say, well, I don't really need somebody like you because I can do it myself and that's fair enough. 00:22:26.153 --> 00:22:43.937 I think having a relationship with someone who who you trust, who is on your side, is really important and there's lots of places you can go to find somebody to do that and who has your best interests at heart, because ultimately, that's what you want. 00:22:43.937 --> 00:22:50.917 You want somebody who's there for you, who you know is giving you the best advice they can for you and not for themselves. 00:22:54.931 --> 00:23:11.600 So that's what I would I would say, and marie louise um, last year I was pregnant and in in may I had a bit of a scare and it made me think about you know what if the worst could happen? 00:23:11.600 --> 00:23:23.298 We live in a modern age with lots of great medical advice and support, but, you know, giving birth has its risks and in my family I'm the main breadwinner. 00:23:23.298 --> 00:23:39.011 So at the top of my mind, as I was frantically trying to wrap things up before the birth of my child my second child, um, I wanted to make sure that if the worst would happen,

that my husband wouldn't be like well, who are the clients? 00:23:39.011 --> 00:23:39.732 What do we do? 00:23:39.732 --> 00:23:41.495 What happens with the money? 00:23:41.495 --> 00:23:49.857 So I did take out critical illness cover and life insurance and I've continued it because it's like it's now done. 00:23:49.857 --> 00:24:00.001 It was on my to-do list for years and so I had that, that push pardon the pun to uh, to take that out. 00:24:00.261 --> 00:24:01.403 Uh, we do have a will. 00:24:01.403 --> 00:24:07.682 It was one of the first things that we invested in when I got into do my business and networking. 00:24:07.682 --> 00:24:09.813 It's like, oh, I know someone who can do a will. 00:24:09.813 --> 00:24:18.310 So we've got a mirrored will, um, which encompassed and includes any future children, because at the time we just had the one. 00:24:18.310 --> 00:24:23.701 So we'll probably revisit that at some point, but um, yeah, I can tick that off. 00:24:23.701 --> 00:24:25.471 Do I get a gold star Diane you? 00:24:25.730 --> 00:24:33.264 definitely, we get two, two gold stars for that, actually thanks I actually have a question. 00:24:33.304 --> 00:24:41.992 That's all right, because I so I'm sat here listening to you and I'm thinking I'd love to work with diane, and then I'm starting the whole. 00:24:41.992 --> 00:25:06.859 Perhaps I'll do it next year when I've earned a bit more money, or or I can't afford her, or what, and I'm and I'm saying this out loud because I know that maybe in this room I'm the only one, but I know that on the podcast, I'm not going to be the only one that's thinking this, other than reading the book which I am halfway through, what's like step one Since this morning. 00:25:06.899 --> 00:25:07.990 Bloody hell, you're amazing. 00:25:09.194 --> 00:25:10.538 It's on my Kindle. 00:25:10.538 --> 00:25:11.974 Oh yeah, I forgot. 00:25:11.994 --> 00:25:25.252 Yeah, I pre-ordered it I think the most important thing is to recognize that you need to take some action and there is no point keeping on keeping on delaying it, because literally none of us know what's around the corner. 00:25:25.252 --> 00:25:29.321 Yeah, you know, and I mean I'll give you another example. 00:25:29.321 --> 00:25:35.777 I went to see um a couple for lunch and one of their for lunch, and one of their colleagues, their lawyers, and one of their colleagues said to me I think they're going to tell you that they're having a child. 00:25:35.777 --> 00:25:37.596 They've been trying for a baby for ages. 00:25:37.596 --> 00:25:41.797 And I sat down, the guy was there first and he said I've got something to tell you. 00:25:41.797 --> 00:25:47.996 And I was really smiley and he said I've been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and he was 39. 00:25:47.996 --> 00:25:50.320 And she was pregnant with twins. 00:25:50.320 --> 00:25:58.470 Right, he's never worked a day since Now. 00:25:58.490 --> 00:26:17.295 Before that, some months before that, when I said to them you've got a mortgage and you've got nothing to pay the mortgage off, they went and talked to their parents and their parents said you don't need what she's telling you to do, right, fortunately, they did do what I suggested, and thank goodness they did, because can you imagine? 00:26:17.295 --> 00:26:27.384 I mean, I don't know how old John is now, he's probably in his late 40s, but he can't work, you know, and for any of us to be in that. 00:26:27.384 --> 00:26:31.694 So I'm not a great lover of people saying I'll do it next year, I'll think about it then. 00:26:31.694 --> 00:26:37.632 You know, because you should be doing these things now because we just never know what's. 00:26:37.632 --> 00:26:40.901 You know, we could, we could, you know, we're all, most of us going to drive home tonight. 00:26:40.961 --> 00:27:10.001 You know it's not just illness, you know, if you think about I always use the analogy of Kate Garroway's husband who got COVID, she didn't have a power of attorney, she couldn't access his money when he was ill all that time in hospital, you know, people have accidents, things happen in people's lives and I'm, you know, to try and encourage anybody to take action and do something rather than keep saying I'll do it next year. 00:27:10.001 --> 00:27:20.011 I mean, my kids are 37 and 35 and both married, both with children, but they've got wills, they've got powers of attorney, they've got life. 00:27:20.011 --> 00:27:20.471 And critical. 00:27:20.471 --> 00:27:21.094 I mean my daughter. 00:27:21.094 --> 00:27:25.159 If you read the book, my daughter talks about how she's always talking to her friends. 00:27:25.159 --> 00:27:32.378 You know, because they, a lot of them, are just so casual about everything and most of them have got children now because you just never know what can happen. 00:27:32.378 --> 00:27:41.959 You don't want to be one of those people who says I wish I'd done something amen to that right. 00:27:41.979 --> 00:27:43.721 sorry, that's a bit depressing, but it's. 00:27:43.721 --> 00:28:02.169 But it's reality and I think if we all take that on board in this room and do something about it, make that phone call to the financial advisor, to Diane, like reach out to somebody and start that conversation and get it going, then we all don't have to be that story and that is amazing. 00:28:02.169 --> 00:28:05.841 So thank you, diane, so much for coming and speaking on the stage. 00:28:05.841 --> 00:28:07.111 Thank you, thank you so much.