True wealth has cash value of nil

Covid has made us realise just what’s important

What a year it’s been. Here are my reflections on some of the events of 2020, and what we can take forward into 2021...

The unexpected interruption We started 2020 in a strong economic position, following good growth the year before. Investors were enjoying an outstanding run by the world stock market with a nearly 23.5% annualised return.

And then, from a town in China, few of us had heard of, came a virus which caused a global health crisis and severely impacted our economy. I talk to my clients about catastrophes that could derail their financial plans every day, but I didn’t often discuss pandemics.

However, our personal financial position can be derailed by the sudden death of a loved one, a prolonged period of illness or an interruption to our income.