Hey Dad, how’s your week been?

Life is a little like Snakes and Ladders. You never quite know where the next throw will take you.

Well, Morganne, where do I start?

It’s Friday again, and I can barely remember what happened on Monday!

It’s been another eventful week at Silke. Compliance meetings, technology, catching up with clients, some difficult conversations, some wonderful ones, and the usual assortment of things that never quite go according to plan.

But I suppose that’s what makes life interesting.

Snakes and Ladders

Somewhere in the middle of this week’s conversations, we ended up talking about Snakes and Ladders.

Remember that game?

You throw the dice, move forward, climb a ladder, and just when you think you’re getting somewhere, you land on a snake and slide halfway back down the board.

I couldn’t help thinking how much that resembles life.

We spend years building careers, families, businesses and financial security. Sometimes things work out beautifully. Other times, something unexpected changes everything.

A health issue, losing somebody we love, an unexpected expense, or simply discovering that life hasn’t quite followed the plan.

And then, occasionally, a ladder appears.

An opportunity, a new relationship, a child graduating, an investment paying off, or a decision that changes the direction of our lives.

The interesting thing about financial planning is that we can’t control every throw of the dice.

But we can prepare ourselves to deal with what happens next.

And perhaps, Morganne, that’s a better way to think about what we do at Silke.

We’re not here to promise that people will never encounter a snake.

We’re here to help them navigate the board.

The conversations that matter

This week we spent time with several clients, including some we hadn’t sat down with for quite a while.

I particularly enjoyed our conversations with Michael and Stella.

As people get older, their priorities often change. The conversation becomes less about accumulating wealth and more about how best to use what they’ve already built.

How much income do we really need? Should we keep the family home? What happens if our circumstances change? And are we making the most of the years ahead?

These are important questions, and they rarely have straightforward answers.

Sometimes, the best thing we can do as advisers is simply sit down, listen and help people see the choices available to them.

We also had conversations this week that reminded me how financial planning is about much more than investments.

When families experience loss or significant changes in circumstances, the financial and administrative responsibilities don’t disappear. In fact, they can become more complicated at precisely the time when people are least equipped emotionally to deal with them.

There’s the estate, tax, property, family responsibilities and a lifetime of memories.

And there’s grief.

Something I’ve learnt over the years is that you can’t put a timetable on grief.

You can help somebody organise their affairs, but you can’t organise how they feel.

Sometimes being present and listening is more valuable than having all the answers.

Behind the scenes

We also had our quarterly compliance review this week.

Now, Morganne, I know compliance doesn’t sound particularly exciting!

But it’s an essential part of running a financial services business.

It’s about ensuring that we do what we say we do, that our records are accurate, that we meet our responsibilities and, most importantly, that our clients are properly protected.

We’ve been working hard on improving our internal processes and technology, and we’re starting to see how everything fits together.

Our discussions with Allan Gray about simplifying the investment onboarding process were another encouraging development.

The objective isn’t to introduce technology for the sake of technology.

It’s to reduce unnecessary administration, improve accuracy and give our team more time to spend with clients.

We also had meetings around our fiduciary and estate administration work, including our ongoing discussions with Legacy.

There’s still a lot to be done, but we’re making progress.

And I suppose that’s another lesson.

Building something worthwhile is seldom one enormous leap forward. More often, it’s hundreds of small improvements made consistently over time.

The people who become part of our lives

One of the nicest moments this week was seeing Dieter, who lives overseas, bringing his wife along to visit us.

I love these encounters.

Over the years, clients become much more than names on an investment statement.

We get to know their spouses, children and grandchildren. We hear about their travels, their homes, their challenges and their successes.

And sometimes they simply pop in to say hello.

Those are the relationships that make this profession so rewarding.

It’s also why I enjoyed catching up with some of our older clients this week. There’s a richness to conversations with people who have lived through so much.

We can learn an extraordinary amount from listening to their experiences.

Lest we forget

Wednesday was 11 November, Remembrance Day.

Poppy Day.

A moment to remember those who served, sacrificed and, in so many cases, never returned home.

I’ve always felt there’s something important about taking a moment to remember.

Not just the great events recorded in history books, but the individual lives behind them.

Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands and wives.

Ordinary people whose lives were interrupted by extraordinary circumstances.

It puts some of our daily frustrations into perspective.

And perhaps it reminds us that the freedoms and opportunities we enjoy today came at a cost.

Lest we forget.

Another chapter closes

And then there’s you and Tiaan!

You both wrote your last exams yesterday, and that’s it. You’re finished for the year!

What a relief!

It’s been quite a year for both of you, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next chapter brings.

There’s something wonderful about watching young people work towards their futures.

It takes me back to the conversations we’ve had about Georgia moving into her own home, and how Carolyn and I are adjusting to having two independent daughters.

As parents, we’re constantly learning to let go a little more.

Not always easy, but certainly rewarding.

And now, with the year-end approaching, everybody at Silke seems to have put in their leave!

I suspect we’re all looking forward to a little breathing room.

And a little time for ourselves

On a lighter note, Carolyn and I have been swimming and preparing for the Midmar Mile next February.

There’s nothing quite like getting into the water to clear your head.

Of course, swimming a mile in open water is a rather different proposition from sitting comfortably behind a desk discussing investments!

But it’s good to have a goal.

Something that requires a little discipline, a little discomfort and, hopefully, a sense of achievement at the end.

And this weekend, there’s Springbok rugby to look forward to.

A bit of rugby, family time, and hopefully a Springbok victory.

So, Morganne, what did I learn this week?

I think I’m coming back to that game of Snakes and Ladders.

We’ve spent much of this week talking to people at different stages of their lives.

Some are climbing ladders. Others have encountered a few snakes.

Some are beginning their careers, others are retiring, and some are navigating the loss of someone they love.

And here we are, somewhere in the middle, trying to help them make sense of it all.

But perhaps the most important lesson is that life isn’t really about getting to the top of the board first.

It’s about the people we meet along the way, the relationships we build, the challenges we overcome and what we do with the opportunities we’re given.

And sometimes, when you land on a snake, you discover something about yourself that you wouldn’t have learnt climbing a ladder.

So here’s to another week of learning, living and making a difference where we can.

And to remembering that, whatever the next throw brings, we don’t have to navigate it alone.

Until next Friday.

Love,
Dad

Kind Regards

Shane Thom, CFP^® GTP(SA)™
CEO | Key Individual | Integrated Wealthcare Advisor
Registered with: FSCA | SARS | CMS
Member: FPI | SAIT | COMENSA | CFA Institute

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