You can’t always get what you want

by | 25 Mar 2022

TRANSITION You can’t always get what you want With loss of influence comes loss of control. Get used to it. And have a plan B. Last week I had a rude awakening: things don’t always go to plan. The Centre for Corporate Governance at London Business School had been a...

Have I lost my edge?

by | 25 Jan 2022

TRANSITION Have I lost my edge? As my main professional career recedes into the past, new priorities emerge. Before I left PwC, I was chatting with a colleague who said of my decision to retire early, ‘Aren’t you afraid of losing your edge?’. He went on to...

Moving on, financially

by | 25 Jun 2021

TRANSITION Moving on, financially Forsaking your monthly pay cheque can be a nerve-wracking experience. Here are some steps to get you comfortable. In February 2020, four months before I was due to leave PwC to embark on a new portfolio life, markets started to fall...

Changing Gear

by | 25 Jun 2021

TRANSITION Changing Gear Transitioning from your main career to a new phase of life is a major psychological challenge. Changing Gear, by Jan Hall and Jon Stokes, helps you prepare for what you may face. Life throws up a few major discontinuities. Being born, having...

Moving on, a year on

by | 25 Jun 2021

TRANSITION Moving on, a year on Reflecting on the first year of my new life, more’s gone right than wrong. The key is preparation. On 30 June 2020 I shut down my laptop for the last time as a partner at PwC. It was a strange ending. No wistful final walk out of the...

How do Nobel laureates approach retirement?

by | 14 May 2021

INVESTMENT How do Nobel laureates approach retirement? Rules of thumb adopted by the financial advice industry are found wanting by two titans of financial economics. William F. Sharpe, Nobel laureate of Sharpe ratio fame, has called drawing down income in retirement...