Unlikely inspirations

A week ago I went to an excellent conference organised by the Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement Income.   These are the people that bring you (among other things) the Sorted website.

Inspiration can came from the most unlikely of sources.   I have never really been a fan of military stuff, largely due to the behaviour and intellectual calibre of the army trainees ("squaddies") that menaced my home town at the weekends when I was a teenager.    We lived a few miles away from a very large army base in England.   My interactions with squaddies were usually along the lines of whether I may have spilled their pint. 

So, when Air Commodore Robert Brown from the Australian Defence Force was on the list of speakers, I wasn't expecting much.  

Yet he turned out to be very inspiring.


He was saying all the things I wanted to say, doing the things that I want to do and demonstrating how valuable and life-changing financial literacy is to people.   That's exactly what I think, too.

If I was given his time slot, I would have said the same things and made the same points.   But I wouldn't have been as effective.    Nowhere near.   I am about to do it...and he has been doing it for years.   I think it works...he knows that it does and can prove it.   

Later on in the day, like a gushing teenager, I told him he was like a big blue angel flapping down from heaven.  He gave me a funny look.  On reflection, I am not surprised.  He's about 6 foot 6, in full uniform and halfway through his lunch.   I'd have given me a funny look too.

His sessions involve no selling, no jargon and no conflicts of interest.  And they are very good.    You can see them here .  

They tried having financial services providers doing these sessions for free - but the audience 
didn't really trust that they were getting truly independent information.    

I like the practical sensibleness of it all - the unrefutable good common sense that runs through
the material.    

The parallels with what my company, Truly Independent Financial Advice NZ, is going to do are remarkable.   

In order to make a go of this, I need employers to agree that financial health and safety is important for their people.
   

Work is all about money - the financial health of employees is all-important.
   
I can be booked in from 4 July 2013.    My website is here