This inspired me to read about the Fire (financial independence, retire early) community and was the start of my journey to investing, understanding risk and diversifying.
Like for so many, the birth of our daughter had made my wife and I stop and consider what we wanted in the future.
We were asking questions of ourselves such as 'do we want more children, do we need a bigger house, will she go on to university and how can we help her with that?', with the big question being, 'how do we best allocate our resources to make that happen while still having a fun time in the now, creating those valuable family memories?'.
Just some of these life experiences so far, along with those of friends and family, have made me understand the value of sound financial planning and solidified my position that a financial planner role is something that would give me a lot of personal and professional satisfaction.
Transferable skills
My time in the Royal Marines has put me in an array of situations, giving me a chance to develop many skills that transfer to the financial planning profession.
Analytical skills for problem solving, an ability to work under pressure in a calm methodical manner, passion, organisational skills and attention to detail – if I was to pick a stand out skill, interpersonal skills would be it.
Every two years we are moved to a new location, where, in the first instance, you need to make new friends, but also establish new working relationships with key stakeholders at that organisation.
I have spent a lot of time in the military training personnel, from junior members to young officers. In each scenario, I needed to adapt my methods depending on whom I was speaking to.
Being able to produce ways of explaining complex processes in a clear, concise and understandable way is something I look forward to putting into practice with my future clients.
Carving out a career path
Having decided to pursue a career in financial planning, I started to research the different qualifications I would need to study.
After speaking to many people, and scouring job adverts, I came to the conclusion that I would study the CII exams.
I chose the CII for several reasons, firstly, it was by far the most referenced qualification when I looked at job advertisements.
Secondly, by choosing the CII I left myself with more options should I apply for an academy place at SJP or M&G, for example.
During my last 10 months of service, I started to self-study R01 outside of work hours, which I passed in a few months. After passing R01, I started to look at further training opportunities.
