Greg’s story

Greg had been on the half-lookout for a course about investing for a while before he came across my course. But the options for learning about it didn’t appeal.

[They were] dominated by a load of identify-that-deal-and-jump-on-it finance bros who I’d probably want to lean through my monitor screen and strangle during the first session.  Nicola works in the same industry as me, is also freelance and, from what I could see, was unlikely to constantly bang on about how much bigger her yields were than mine or anyone else’s. Both she and her course seemed like a very good fit, and so it proved to be.

There are other ways to learn about investing but, as Greg says, there’s a lot to be said for learning from someone who understands where you’re coming from. I see a lot of common themes running through the finances and money mindset of people in ELT. And I recognise them because I share most of them! 

Typically my clients are coming to me mid-life because the adventurous spirit that goes with TEFL life usually means money is a tool for funding adventures not the future. And, let’s be honest, there isn’t any input from employers, teacher trainers or professional organisations to even hint that maybe pensions would be good for us.

The good news is that, although it’s even better the earlier you start, you can make a significant impact in yours 30s and 40s, and a lot of improvement in your 50s and 60s.

For Greg, those changes and results look like this:

• His emergency fund has gone from earning almost nothing to earning 5%.  
• He’s earned “beer money” from alternative investments.
• He chose an ISA on a low-cost platform we’d looked at on the course. And he had the knowledge to choose his own funds, again, low cost.

I can now read Investment Information Documents like I’m reading an entry about squirrels in a children’s encyclopaedia. Whereas, previously, I would have just gazed at the words in the same way a cow stares at you when you run past it, flapping your arms and screaming.

Now, I know what I want and don’t want from a potential investment, and I am able to evaluate whether I can rely on it doing what I expect it to do as time progresses. In this sense, I have come to see investing as similar to choosing my underwear in the morning.

Greg’s results

In the 15 months since finishing the course, Greg’s seen a 20% gain on his investments. Those returns are very good because when he began investing, after the course, there was a period of stock market lows. But he knew to stick with it and continue adding money every month. That meant, when the stock market recovered his money went up too.  

Like a lot of people when they’re thinking about doing the No-Stress Money Plan, Greg wondered if he’d have time. But he got stuck in and, now, like anyone who’s learned how investing works and knows how to set it up, he does basically nothing, barely looking at his accounts, leaving it alone and letting the interest add up.

I knew I’d get the most out of the course if I could dedicate a good amount of thinking and research time to it, so I was concerned how I might fit it in amongst everything else. But I finally just said to myself, “come on, that interest won’t accrue itself. Just sign up and do it!” 

So I did, and the first thing I learnt was that interest actually does accrue itself, and I felt a bit silly for ten minutes. In any case, the upshot now is that, genuinely, I only wish I’d done it sooner.

More case studies of people who changed their financial future with me