Oscar Wilde is quoted as saying that he was so clever that sometimes he did not understand a single word of what he was saying.

Have you ever gone back and looked at something you did or wrote many years ago and now wonder at the knowledge that you used to have but have now forgotten? That has certainly happened to me. A few years ago, I was looking through one of those boxes that you move from house to house as you moved around and never really looked at what was inside. Anyway, on this occasion I stumbled upon the report I had written at university as part of my junior honours year for my degree.

I am one of those people that only really decided on a career after I had finished full time education and had been working for a couple of years. My degree was in Geology. It wasn’t a bad degree and seeing what geologists can get paid, I wonder if I should have stuck to that career, but I did not.

On this day, I found my project report about Stromatolites in the rocks of Orkney. It was fascinating. I hardly understood a word of what I had written all those years ago. We spent a couple of months on these projects as well as doing field work. I remember it being good fun. But I did not stick to Geology and started my training as an accountant, which I have now done for virtually all of my working life.

Mind you, for most of that time I have worked for myself. I am not sure if I could ever have settled to working for an employer. I was not a good employee!

That is something I recognised in myself very early.

My school reports always said things like “could try harder” but I think that applies to most people. However, I think that I have worked hard at building the businesses I have been involved in over the years, but I am sure I could have worked harder and smarter. Nobody’s perfect.

But Helen and I seem to have done not too bad.

How about this for a bit of advice about retirement: “Work until your bank account looks like a phone number.” There was no name attributed to it. It sounds good, but it would probably mean very few of us ever managing to earn enough to retire. Still, it sounds good.

Have you seen those adverts asking whether you can retire with £250,000 or £500,000 in investable resources. I have seen plenty of people who have retired with little else that their state pension. It’s not that unusual. Hopefully, if you have been working for yourself, you will have been putting something aside through the years. It may be that you have taken the gamble that the value of your business is your pension. While not being very prudent, it is not uncommon. However, these days, changes in technology or customer habits could have drastically reduced the value of what you thought you had.

Most people think their business is worth more than they will actually ever realise. It used to be that if you owned your own premises, that would add a lot to the value of the business. But, with changes over the years, it can be hard to sell retail or hospitality premises.  If you were wise you will have backed both options, investing in your business and also setting money aside in a separate pension. However, few of us have ever done that properly.

Is it time to talk to a financial planner?

Alan E Long

The Long Partnership

07770 738770