Ex Gurka Major Confounded by the Financial Markets
I’m scared…” My Uncle Jon was venting to me about his fears of getting started with Investing.
“What are you scared of?” I asked.
I figured he would say he was afraid of losing his life savings, or something like that.
But his answer surprised me
He said, “I’m scared of jumping into the unknown!”
And I thought to myself, “that’s a first for him!”
He’s an ex-army Major who has traveled all over the world and commanded hundreds of troops.
He even spent time commanding a Gurkha unit and lived in Nepal with his wife and my two cousins Claire and Sarah for two years.
It was disconcerting to see him so unsure of himself.
But then he continued talking and it started to make more sense…
He went on: “I’m a strategist at heart but feel that I haven’t even been able to draw up a battle plan for this malarky.”
Now obviously his concern was valid. There are millions of potential investors who are unsure about investing, and every one of them is trying to avoid losing money or even worse being scammed out of their pension!
But then he told me something even more surprising…
He’d been putting off getting started on investing for five full years. He’d left the tax free lump sum drawn from his pension pot sitting in an ordinary savings account at 0.5% as a result of that fear!!!
And, based on what he told me in our conversation, he wasn’t sure if he would EVER get started.
So, this is what I said next…
I asked him, point blank“What exactly are you so afraid of?”
To which he replied: “Because I hate not knowing what I’m doing, it’s alien to me. When I look online there is so much information, I hardly know which way to turn.“
At this point, I gently pointed out to him that he’d spent years not succeeding on the stock market anyway!
If you think about it, he was trying so hard to avoid failing, that he basically went so far in the other direction as to basically GUARANTEE that he would not succeed anyway!
So personally, I’d rather take a risk and try to succeed, than stay on the sidelines and guarantee failure.
But I also get that it can be nerve racking to jump into an unknown situation.
So, I really felt for Uncle Jon and I wished there was more I could do for him.
So, I grasped the nettle and did some research online checked out various websites.
I even had a look at the FCA’s scan smart list I also spoke with friends and colleagues that had investments.
A financial newsletter was mentioned several times. The Motley Fool came highly recommended.
Now I don’t know about you, but a personnel recommendation from a trusted friend carries far more weight than any marketing a company can undertake.
With a little nudge and the 1st seed of belief having been planted Jon took out a subscription to The Motley Fool UK.
He reads it voraciously. Jon bought his first selection of shares a few months ago and is now looking forward to many years of sage advice and happy investing.
In fact, he has confessed that it is now his favorite hobby and he researches the markets akin to a general planning a battle strategy.
I feel he has benefited tremendously from this course of action, and I am so pleased that I was able to help him in this way.
Just hope he doesn’t lose his shirt, or my cousins will kill me!!
Claire Ann Wheeler
Spot on Copywriter
© 2021
This was written for an email spec campaign. It could also be used as a blog post.
With more images added.