The way I work, and a rare day out in the countryside.

Today's news is dominated by the Government's decision to nationalise Northern Rock. They say it is the right thing to do right now as it is a good platform from which to stabilise the bank and repay billions of pounds of state loans.The move follows advice from investment bank Goldman Sachs, which concluded a temporary period of public ownership better met the Government’s objective of protecting taxpayers. In reality, the NR situation affects 3 kinds of people (ignoring all us taxpayers for a moment): savers, borrowers and shareholders. For savers, all deposits are now government-backed, however much you have on deposit. That arguably makes Northern Rock the safest bank to have savings with in the country. If your money is in a different bank, it is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) which guarantees 100% of the first £35,000 of savings. For borrowers, it is "business as usual" in the sense that you should continue to pay your mortgage as you normally do. The only difference now is that, if you missed payments and ended up having your home repossessed, ultimately it would be the government who owned your home. I cannot imagine that Mr Darling would come knocking at your door should you miss a mortgage payment, though! For shareholders, they stand to lose out the most, as shares have been suspended, and therefore cannot be sold, and who's to know what value they will be at should the time come to de-nationalise the bank. As investment advisers tell us, "The value of your investment can do down, as well as plummet" (he said, jokingly) and, sadly, this is a case in point.

Also in today's news is the McCartney/Mills divorce case. It seems that the eventual payout could be a British record for divorce settlements. Not the kind of record Sir Paul would want to make. Let's wish them both happiness in their future lives apart.

On a personal front, I'm taking a day out on Wednesday, as my 'other half' is going on business to Cornwall, and I'm being allowed to tag along. As I don't get out much(!), being home-office based, it's a lovely way of seeing some of the countryside. I'll have my phone on 'divert' so I'll be contactable when people call.

This brings me onto how I actually work. Firstly, a bit of background. After 25 years in the financial services industry, in early 2006, I decided that I would do what is most efficient in every manner for me and my clients. After re-assessing how I work, reading many articles about 'efficiency', I decided to actually put it into practice. ( I hate the word 'practice' as much as I hate the work 'try'. If something needs doing, then do it. Don't 'practice' or 'try' doing it!) I decided to cut out all 'waste of time' elements from my working day, and the biggest waste of time of all is travelling. At a stroke, I gained about 4 hours a day back into my working day. Travelling around a hour there and an hour back, twice a day, was not only a complete waste of time, but not very good for my health or the environment. The absolute heart of my business is dealing with people and solving their situations in the most effective ways, and by effective I mean not only financial but also in my working habit. As in any relationship, it has to work both ways, for them and for me. Also, people nowadays don't necessarily want face-to-face advice, and are happy dealing over the phone and using email. The psychological aspect is that there is no 'sale pressure' and everyone is on the same side, wanting the same results. Also, with busy working lives, people would only see their financial advisers in the evening, after a long working day, so by their very nature, they were not always at their peak of thinking, able to make rational decisions about their financial planning, decisions that could affect them for many years to come. Couple that with dealing with mortgage lenders and insurance companies, and efficient working practises becomes mandatory for me. Nearly every mortgage lender and insurance company nowadays has an online system to 'do business' with. From getting a lender's 'decision in principal' to arranging an insurance policy, it can virtually all be done online nowadays. Instant (ish), efficient, friendly to the environment, lowers costs of running the business, and less stressful. I have a very low carbon footprint! I am also 'paperless' as much as possible. I don't even own a filing cabinet! All post is scanned and put into computer files, and then shredded, and then re-cycled (or into the compost bin).

Being a sole trader, and now being able to deal with people all around the UK, and by cutting out travelling, I have helped people with their mortgage arrangements as far away as Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Glasgow, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, as well as those in my original 'patch' of London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Now, try getting to some of those places and back in a working day from Berkshire! I do have a stock phrase 'I'm not super-glued to my chair' and so I do go to see people should they demand it. They just have to pay for my time and expenses. See, it's better for everyone to work the way I now do business !

Till next time,

Des