Retirement

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

However, ahinton confessed to having absolutely 'no idea' so the chances of him knowing anything at all about the matter are remote indeed?

I do think we should take ahinton at his word here.

I agree - but you are not doing this: his "no idea" comment was in response to the question if anyone else here lived on your planet. This is not a "confession [of] having no idea" about said planet, merely ignorance of whether anyone else on the Forum lived there. Therefore, taking him at his word, your desire to read "pig ignorance" into his comment is without foundation.

On the contrary it clearly establishes it, at least on the planet which I inhabit.

Apparently one in close proximity to a sort of "negative black hole" which expels copious information (for want yet again of a better word), but repels any from getting in.

[P. G. Tipps]

I agree - but you are not doing this: his "no idea" comment was in response to the question if anyone else here lived on your planet. This is not a "confession [of] having no idea" about said planet, merely ignorance of whether anyone else on the Forum lived there. Therefore, taking him at his word, your desire to read "pig ignorance" into his comment is without foundation.


Apparently one in close proximity to a sort of "negative black hole" which expels copious information (for want yet again of a better word), but repels any from getting in.

Well, if ahinton, like others, doesn't even know what planet I live on and where it is situated (existence requires proof, after all!) why should he even begin to ponder on who or how many others here may inhabit this non-established planet? The very ponder is nonsensical and meaningless without prior demonstration of actual existence?

If ahinton DOES know anything about the reality of this planet, and is not telling us, don't you think we should be told? On second thoughts ...

As for 'negative black holes' I'll simply have to bow to your greater knowledge on that fascinating yet quite separate subject.

[Nick Armstrong]

There you go again ... Caliban is retiring not going through a complete physical and emotional crisis, ahinton. At least I hope not.

I'm happy to confirm

Although reading the last few pages of this thread (which I haven't) might start to bring on the contrary effect.... (though I was glad to glimpse in passing the "vellum-veal" link, which had never struck me before, and which of course is so central to the theme of this thread.... )

[vinteuil]

... Caliban is retiring not going through a complete physical and emotional crisis ... At least I hope not.

.

I'm happy to confirm

... glad to hear it -

... the only way to retain sanity.

"The main business of a lawyer is to take the romance, the mystery, the irony, the ambiguity out of everything he touches." - the late US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in a speech at the Juilliard School in 2005

[Nick Armstrong]

... the only way to retain sanity.

"The main business of a lawyer is to take the romance, the mystery, the irony, the ambiguity out of everything he touches." - the late US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in a speech at the Juilliard School in 2005

I failed to acknowledge this, amid the welter of vellum, parchment and other writings over the last few days...

Not sure the late and somewhat unlamented Mr Scalia was right about much but he may well have been about that. I'm happy to say I think I managed to keep business separate from pleasure, most of the time anyway. Soon, even less danger of overlap!

[ahinton]

... and yet, our Laws are ultimately written on calf skins

Bull***t! Not these days, surely? I heifer nother theory about that and will re-veal it to you in a PM should you wish.

[ahinton]

Are you inferring then that the financial "expert" would look after his/her own interests first and foremost regarding everyone else, but would very generously make an exception in my case? Have you a telephone number?

No. I inferred nothing of the kind. You must be imagining this idea.

Financial investments are not a science, ahinton, they are very much a gamble of sorts. All carry risk to a greater or lesser degree. The first financial expert that comes along and says he/she will guarantee my investment in a signed legal document I promise to let you know!

I didn't say that financial planning of any kind is a "science", let alone an exact one; I simply stated that it is a complex field of activity in which its participants will for the most part have studied as long and hard as do practitioners in the legal, accuntancy, medical and other professions. Yes, of course there are varying degrees of risk (as in most things in life) and this is one factor of which any financial planner will take due account in assessing each client's attitude to risk from time to time.

That's precisely the point! Of course I would consult legal professionals in such circumstances. However, even legal professionals cannot predict the future of investments. My guess is as good as theirs and, from my own personal experience, sometimes even better!

We're not simply talking investments here but financial planning a a whole. So you would consult legal professionals if you needed legal advice but not financial services ones if you required financal advice. No one suggested that lawyers could predict the future of any aspect of the financial markets. I assume, however, that, even though you would consider consulting lawyers, you wouldn't consider consulting financial advisers because, in the latter case, you believe your guess to be as good or better than theirs. Well, there's arrogance for you! At least it's not consistent.

I see plenty of offers regarding self-employed pensions in the press. I'm sure I would have the ability to make enquiries for myself if I were self-employed. I would them make up my own mind on the available evidence and the experience of others in my position.

So you say - and you'd be welcome to it. But why do you suppose that financial planners are different to other professionals in that you reckon your guesses to be as good or better than theirs when you don't have the same view about other professions?

That has not been my experience when employed, ahinton. My employers were always quick and ready to offer unsolicited financial advice ... some of which I accepted and the rest graciously declined!

Then I am surproised at your experience with your employers, unless, of course, they were in the financal services profession. The financial services regulator is undoubtedly a flawed organisation, but it is charged by government with the duty to regulate financial advice and I doubt that they'd take a positive view of your employer providing such iof they're not authorised by that regulator to provide it.

And if I accept, and my money quite possibly goes down the swanee on the 'expert's' paid advice, what happens then, ahinton ... ?

You would then need to take advice as to whether you were mis-sold and, if you believe that you have been, issue a formal written complaint against your advisor; if not responded to to your satisfaction after eight weeks, you could take your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If, on the other hand, you took financial advice from an employer not authorised to provide it and your money found its way down the same river, you would have no legal means to seek redress.

I feel confident that most members will already know all that ...

Perhaps so, but not everyone does; far too many people still associate pension planning only with retirement whereas the reality is different and less black-and-white than this.

That is precisely where we disagree when it comes to deciding where I should put my hard-earned cash, ahinton!

I have no view on where you should or should not invest your "hard-earned cash"; I didn't even know that you were paid in cash! The point that I was making is that you seem to be prepared to take professional advice about medical, legal and accountancy matters is, as and when the need might arise but not financial advice because, in that field as distinct from the others, you appear to believe that you know better than the advisor.

My employer and bank are both my own choices and I don't need a legal professional to help me decide on either. I feel exactly the same about financial investments!

You confusion here seems wilful! You choose your employer as an employer; that's a career issue. Your bank is also a matter of personal choice, although you should be wary of seeking full financial planning advice therefrom. No one suggested that you need a lawyer to help you decide which employer to work for or which bank to bank with. There seem to be increasing numbers of Scottish red herrings around here...

Indeed, though a lifelong experience in business might just increase the likelihood of gaining a bit more wisdom at least when it comes to looking after my money!

I'm not suggesting that you know nothing about it; indeed, if you didn't it might be argued that you oughtn't to have any (although I would not argue that myself). The issue remains, however, that whatever wisdom this "lifelong experience in business" appears to have bestowed upon you, it is not sufficient to prompt you to rely upon suchever medical, legal or accountancy expertise that you might have acquired during your working life but you reckon that it's given you enough expertise in the world of money to be able to manage your own financial planning yourself. As I said, at least you're not being consistent.

There you go again ... Caliban is retiring not going through a complete physical and emotional crisis, ahinton. At least I hope not.

I did not mention him; I merely pointed out to you the clear distinction (of your own making) between what you appear to accept as a comparative lack of expertise on your part in other professional fields and your assumed knowledge and command of financial services (at least where your own planning is concerned) despite your (presumably) not having trained, qualified and been authorised in that profession. Either you have some explaning to do (not least to yourself) or inconsistency must presumably remain your watchword.

[Nick Armstrong]

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This is all too heavy for me.

[P. G. Tipps]

[ahinton]

Same here. I'm just relieved that I'll never be faced with retirement and so won't need any Tipps towards this state.

[ahinton]

'Music addresses us from beyond the borders of the natural world'.
Roger Vernon Scruton, FBA, FRSL. (English Philosopher)

Tippster addresses us from another planet whose air some of us find hard to feel from time to time.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Looks like you've retired already, Cali!

[teamsaint]

Looks like you've retired already, Cali!

Looks like an afternoon after a " working lunch" to me.

[Serial_Apologist]

Tippster addresses us from another planet whose air some of us find hard to feel from time to time.

It seems to be a planet whose air completely lacks grace of any kind.

I sometimes envisage Tipster's eventual encounter with St Peter at the Pearly Gates - in which I presume he believes:

St Peter: And what did you spend you life doing, Tippster?
Tippster: Arguing with people.
St Peter: And what did this arguing with people do for you?
Tippster: Oh, it made me feel good - in the end there's nothing better than knowing you are always right!
St Peter: But what good did it do the people you were arguing with? - an important entry qualification here.
Tippster: Oh at least as much good as it did me, I should think.
St Peter: What makes you reach that conclusion?
Tippster: Well, it would have made them feel good because the way I presented my arguments was to twist their responses to my points by for example changing the subject midway through my pretend-reasoning, and thus confuse them. They had to give up, in the end.
St Peter: But... how did that make you feel good?
Tippster: By always being able to outwit them.
St Peter: Is being able to outwit other people the way you now feel able to justify your argumentative existence?
Tippster: Well that's the only way to survive in that world - and I succeeded.
St Peter: But, what if everybody was to adopt such a strategy for surviving?
Tippster: But they do, don't they?
St Peter: (Sits down in despair, head in hands)