Translation: “What the bloody hell is this??!?”
For those of you who don’t know Very British Problems, sorry for the rudeness. There is even a series on Netflix to explain things better.
What does this have to do with finance? Everything!
How many times have you talked to a financial planner or an investment broker and they hand you their final report, you cannot tell me you did not think:
“What the bloody hell is this?”
yet, you most likely said something much more, socially acceptable like:
“Could you explain to me your reasons behind this?”
or better still, if you get a dose of backbone,
“It’s not quite what I had in mind.”
Seriously, this has never happened to you? I had one investment person tell me, “There is this new interesting stock that you should look into, it has got some really good press, it’s called BRE-X“. Even I (at the time pretty much as naive as a newborn babe when it came to investing) knew this was dodgy. I had another chap try to convince me that Enron would be a good place to spend my hard-earned money.
Never, ever, feel that you cannot be incredibly blunt with folks regarding your money. Do not tip-toe around folks’ feelings when your hard-earned income is involved, say what you mean, no need to be rude, but no need to be overly vague either. You worked hard for your money, stand up for it.
Ah yes VBP . I have watched that series, as British lady financial planner living working in Canada for 12 years I think Canadians are far too polite!
In my engagement agreement I state you can only be a client if you ask questions and disagree with me from time to time.
I always say its your money , no one cares as much as you , get angry , get passionate , have an opinion! The mass apathy I encounter is saddening .
http://www.yournwm.ca
if you won’t stand up and defend your hard earned money then you likely won’t have it for long.
Very prophetic! and well stated. If you don’t stand up for it, someone else will gladly take it.
Been there, done that. Now I do it myself.