I help people through financial coaching.
Here’s how it works.
Whether your goal is achieving financial freedom, planning for early retirement, career change or just making your money work harder for you, everyone needs to take control of their money and make the best of their situation.
I can teach you to manage your own money better. Or act as an independent sounding board to discuss career, finance and investment challenges.
I have a degree in economics, I’m a qualified chartered accountant and I worked in corporate finance in the City over 20 years and reaching partner / MD level…whilst managing my own portfolio and finances to financial independence.
My approach is very different from traditional financial advice. I’m not on commission and I never try to sell you anything. I work with intelligent people who want to learn and make their own decisions.
I don’t provide regulated investment advice or product recommendations or hold client money.
During lockdown I’ve run most of my coaching sessions via Zoom. I’ve done this for people in the UK, America, Dubai, UAE, Finland, France, Portugal, Singapore, Switzerland, Sweden, India, Thailand and Australia as well as from all over the UK.
I can also meet face to face in central London (Portman Square W1) or in Farnham, Surrey.
What clients say
“My husband and I had a coaching session with Barney…and he was fantastic. He added so much value…”
“consider a meeting with Barney. He’s a good guy, very easy to talk to, speaks plainly, and makes a great sounding board”
“unique combination of impressive financial knowledge with the softer side of personal development. Thoroughly recommended…”
“I got way more from the session than I ever thought possible”
“the value you will get from him is beyond money”
Previous clients
You can check out more client feedback in the comments below.
It’s good to talk
Yes, I’m biased but you should talk to someone about your plan. The best plans are simple and robust and have been looked at and challenged by someone that’s on your side.
Yes, it’s possible for some people to do it on their own. You can learn from your own expensive mistakes (as I did). But it generally works out cheaper to get help and learn from other people’s mistakes.
Price is what you pay and value is what you get and the value should be >10x the price over an investing timeframe.
How you benefit
You get to pick the brain of someone that has already faced the issues that you are facing. You get to ask questions and bounce ideas off someone who has achieved financial freedom.
You get the confidence of knowing whether you are on the right track. You get transparency from me (I will tell you anything you want to know about how I invest, spend less and earn more). You get total confidentiality.
There are lots of different areas where I can help. The coaching is holistic in the sense that money issues are personal, they depend on an individual’s values and unique circumstances and they overlap with career, health and wellness.
We can focus on what is most important to you but here are some of the things that I have helped people with:
- learning about investing
- moving country (many clients are internationally mobile)
- career change / transitioning to freelancing / self-employment
- slashing investing fees and costs
- how to spend smarter and make your money go further
- how to start & grow an online business or lifestyle business
- how to deal with stress at work or overcome financial anxiety
- how to think about asset allocation, diversification and volatility
- transitioning to financial independence / retirement- how much is enough?
Am I offering a shortcut to financial freedom?
Yes and no. There are no get rich quick schemes and no gimmicks. You still have to do the work of spending less than you earn and investing wisely. But if you want to greatly accelerate your progress, you can pick my mind in a few hours for what I learned over the last 25 years.
Why have financial coaching?
For the same reasons that all top sports people and business executives have coaching.
Reading books and blogs is great, but its not enough on its own: we learn best when we combine reading with a mixture of Q&A, personal interaction, accountability, discussion, encouragement and practical guidance.
Getting to financial independence is as much about psychology and motivation as it is about the simple mechanics of earning more, spending less and investing wisely and on a tax efficient basis. Talking these issues through with someone that has been through them before is hugely beneficial. Everyone has blind spots and you don’t know what you don’t know.
Here’s what Vanguard say on the subject of financial coaching:
Clients may not realize they need coaching, but many do. In the investing world, clients’ otherwise sensible instincts and habits can fall short.
Vanguard
Everyone is different and has different areas that they want to focus on. The coaching sessions work best when you have identified beforehand what areas you would like help with.
To ensure you get best value from the time and to structure the conversation, I ask clients to email me beforehand with a list of discussion topics that we can use as an agenda.
Financial Coaching plus Escape Manual subscription
This is an annual subscription and the cost is £420 per year. This includes 2 hours of one to one coaching time over Zoom plus access to all of the articles, spreadsheets and charts on The Escape Manual.
I’m flexible how you take the 2 hours (e.g. 1 x 2hr session or 2 x 1hr sessions or 4 x 30m) and when you take it within the subscription period.
I do most sessions over Zoom but am happy to do one of the sessions in London face to face. Or, if you can come to Farnham Surrey, I can do one or both of the sessions face to face.
Your subscription will renew automatically each year until cancelled. There is no long-term contract and you can cancel the auto-renew yourself anytime via your Paypal account.
Once you are a member, you can then buy extra coaching time (at a reduced rate of £120 per hour) if you need it.
You can pay securely by Paypal. To pay, click here or on the Paypal button below:
Alternatively, you can pay securely by debit or credit card (processed via Stripe) using the button below:
I can also design tailored packages for those that want a bespoke coaching programme for their particular circumstances. I’m also happy to meet face to face in central London (Portman Square W1) or in Farnham, Surrey.
A holistic approach
One of the great things about doing financial coaching is that no two clients are the same. Different clients want different things from me. Some want a sanity check on their Financial Independence spreadsheet, some want a sounding board for their financial plan, some want to learn about investing, some want help handling a stretch promotion.
If clients want me to stick to personal finance then I do. But some clients want to achieve changes that might overlap with their career, health or relationships.
Most of my financial coaching clients are high-performers and / or people who want to achieve their full potential.
I have a holistic approach to wealth and so I am interested in health, happiness, wellness and the science of high performance as well as helping you get richer.
If you have any questions, please email me on barney.whiter@gmail.com
Barney Whiter
Important regulatory notice: I don’t give regulated investment, tax or legal advice. I never try to sell you anything. I don’t give product recommendations and I don’t take your money away to invest. You have to make your own decisions. In short, its about teaching people to “fish” rather than selling them fish.
The Escape Artist 
To anyone interested…I’ve had one coaching session with TEA, which exceeded my expectations and more than vindicated my decision to reach out to him. The session was very constructive and thought-provoking, while also being casual and enjoyable. What I think is unique is the combination of a very credible and impressive financial knowledge, with the softer side of personal development and wellbeing. In short, thoroughly recommended to anybody, especially if you’re on the fence and thinking of giving it a go. I’ll certainly be back in touch once my circumstances warrant it.
Had a coaching session with the Escape Artist. Really useful session that gave me the confidence to actually invest as I had become paralysed by infomation overload. TEA will give you some really simple ‘low-hanging fruit’ tips that you can implement straight away – that will save you a small fortune over the years.
My husband and I had a coaching session with TEA last week and he was fantastic. He added so much value and he sent a follow up email the next day with even more amazing nuggets of wisdom which was above and beyond given that we already felt we got massive value from our face to face meeting. Have already implemented one of his ideas and looking forward to putting more of his guidance into action!
This Coaching service from the TEA will make a difference to you and is exceptional value.
Here is why:
1. The TEA service is honest and straight forward.
The blog shows the TEA has a passion to spread the word of his success. Turning a punishing career into a life of better choices. That required transparency of the whole aspect of his living, including financial management.
You will receive this from a man who has changed his own circumstances
2. The Coaching is about helping a three step journey:
• Review and Understand – current life choices as well as money
• Formulate Objectives – rationalize these in realistic order
• Assess options – all parts: income, expenditure, investments
3. This is an Ongoing Process
• You can come back as often as like, by phone, e-mail or at the table, and continue the process at your own pace, it’s your own journey after all
4. You will come out better equipped, more confident and energized to take control of your own future.
I have enjoyed three Coaching sessions now. Two by telephone (from my new home as an ex pat in the US) and one in London when back to the UK for a brief visit. The face to face was excellent but not necessary.
The coaching sessions addressed understanding the basic premise of what is Financial Independence and Financial Security. How either can be achieved but only if that is what’s wanted.
Alternatively just look at the ‘how-to’ and change a lifestyle to reap the benefits of FI but still work. It is not a lecture it is discussion and education.
I have cleaned up my finances, simplified my investment vehicles and TEA shared ideas on better options (even comparing bank account structures to manage income, savings, dividends across busy households).
UK and US advisers all want something different: your money to invest…not to help you improve yourself.
That’s the huge difference here.
The coaching is under priced considering the cost savings made on your assets alone.
But investment in me, through my understanding of personal cash management, is the real benefit with TEA Coaching.
Everyone’s journey to FI will be different. Personally, I was looking for ‘another pair of eyes’ to review where I’m currently at on my journey and then look further down my FI path. Let me tell you, TEA has good eyes. For our session we focused on the following
– Assessment of current investments
– Building a robust portfolio
– Analysis of Vanguard funds
– Reviewing spending habits, and being aware of how emotions are a huge influence in how we spend our money
– The maths behind early retirement
The session was a huge help. Highly recommended.
TEA’s coaching service has been invaluable, I have got rid of my FA, I am now formulating a plan to reduce the fees involved in running my SIPP. Its work in progress but with TEA’s coaching and the suport of the FI community, I feel equipped to take that step off the edge of the cliff, that was paralysing me into taking no action for the past few years.
Had our first session with TEA yesterday and he identified our immediate pre FI challenge with care and patience. We highly recommend TEA coaching to anyone who is at any stage of FI and is looking for guidance to pick up the baton and run with it. Considering all the people/organisations we have grown to mistrust over the years, TEA is instantly trustworthy. You hear it in his voice, he will tell you straight, firm but fair, and he is passionate for justice. Its a real no brainer, read all his posts, then contact him!
My main activity is giving technical guidance and advice to business owners. Often it’s not the actual technical implementation that confuses my mentees but the wider, broad picture stuff. The mindshift required often confuses and challenges their world view.
TEA walked me through the necessary elements of his FI mindset, goals and implementation and a lot of it aligned with my own global viewpoint, chiming with my own thoughts on many subjects tangential to the subject matter. Whilst no one can know the future or predict outcomes he has a very refreshing and insightful understanding of the global markets.
Looking forward to further input from TEA and his service and would suggest you at least have a conversation with him if you are seeking to relieve yourself of the burden of the daily grind.
Great first session with TEA. Very insightful, clear and passionate about the approach. Debunks the myths and confusion created by the FS industry. Highly recommend a session.
Further session with TEA face to face. Straightforward, passionate, structured review and advice. He’s shone the torch on the path, now we will take it step by step. If you approach TEA, you too will learn its never too late to change. The value you will get from speaking/seeing him is beyond money…….
TEA has helped me with high level strategies, deep dives into instruments and more. I think the thing that sets his coaching apart is his extensive experience in finance coupled with having clearly the same passion in his ‘hobby’ as I do with music!
His understanding of company boards was also very relevant in my decision to subscribe to his portfolio subscription service.
His views on asset managers and wealth managers resonate with my own – he has helped me confirm my belief that there is no ‘magic’ – just simple maths and some planning to enable me to take control!
Highly recommended.
I wish I had met with TEA years ago – I have spent far too long thinking pensions and investments were too complicated for me to understand and so have ended up spending small fortunes with IFAs. With the advice of a colleague that it is not rocket science, I did start to make some small steps to take direct control but after just one session with TEA, I felt confident enough to be able to get rid of my IFA and look to manage my own finances.
Meeting with TEA has been a game changer for me – his insight, ideas and passion in the coaching session has made me re-assess how I manage all aspects of my financial life – and he even kindly gave me a useful pointer to sort out a weight issue!
I cannot recommend his coaching service enough. I plan to continue to work with him as I develop more knowledge and skills around investments.
I also want him to meet with my kids when they start working as to have the knowledge and tools he provides at the start of their career would provide them with some critical life skills that would prove invaluable to their future.
My meeting with TEA was a real boost to my confidence. I’ve forever carried around the idea that managing my personal investments needs to be hard, and it’s great to be able to put that thought behind me. If your financial situation is doing your head in, consider a meeting with TEA. He’s a good guy, very easy to talk to, speaks plainly, and makes a great sounding board. I wouldn’t hesitate to schedule another meeting when I feel the need – where else can you get an unbiased voice of reason that isn’t trying to sell you something?
This session was incredibly valuable to us. I have been spurred into action after months of research and procrastination and my partner gained confidence and trust that we are on the right path. The coaching consolidated some of our current thinking and gave us new ways of looking of our options for the future. We would highly recommend this opportunity to anyone plotting their escape!
My wife and I had a very productive session with TEA last week. I am sceptical about taking financial advice and was hesitant to make contact for fear of being ripped off. – The reality was quite the opposite. Our session was highly productive and I have made more progress on my escape plan this week than I did in the last year. TEA provided honest, unbiased coaching based on his own personal experience and didn’t try to sell us anything. – If you are planning your escape and are looking for an experienced guide, I can highly recommend TEA.
I had a really interesting and useful coaching session with TEA today. I am already well on the FI journey but this session help to reinforce current actions and give me a wealth of new books to read/ podcasts to listen to to. I also had a very useful discussion about portfolio composition and what the right asset allocation is and how to construct this for myself. The advice from TEA is high quality, unbiased and anybody interested in Financial Independence and how to be a good investor (and who isn’t) would benefit from a session with TEA. Highly recommended.
I had a great session with TEA, which helped make the complex simple. It also helped reflect back to me the stories I’d been telling myself. I got the most out of it and next time I’ll be better rested and fed beforehand, as I found its an emotionally dynamic process. Despite the low blood sugar and me over-analysing and resisting the bloody obvious, I received a summary that has helped me gain the much-needed direction and simple next steps.
After much procrastination I’ve lit the blue touchpaper and am standing back and looking up.
Thanks again TEA
Recently had a coaching session with TEA. Immensely useful. I knew bits and pieces about investing but had lots of questions and gaps to fill to enable me to be able to make a plan to move forward with.
After one session with TEA I had all my questions answered, a roadmap to move forward with and had selected the best tools, funds and approaches for the job.
It’s really valuable to have access to someone so knowledgable whose interests and motivations are completely aligned with yours. He’s also a lovely guy, easy to talk to and great at making the complex simple.
I would highly recommend anyone considering a move towards financial freedom to invest in one of his sessions.
Why wouldn’t you seek guidance from someone who has; this level of experience, complete independence, an ability of explaining financial concepts clearly and who has already achieved FI i.e. proven success? My only issue was that I didn’t seek it sooner!
The edited highlights of my two hour session; I learned that I had unnecessarily incorporated ‘100% Downside Risk’, I was reaching for yield, had blindly become over exposed to one sector, over-complicated my portfolio and been incurring avoidable costs. TEA explained all of this (plus a whole lot more) with great clarity and helped me shape a plan that is elegant in it’s simplicity.
If I were to pick out one headline from the session it would be that TEA has helped me identify fee savings of £8,000 per year! The session cost £175 – I call that a good return on investment.
My session with TEA was really valuable. His advice not only helped me reassess my financial position, setting me on the way to financial freedom, but also how to fit this into a more considered lifestyle.
I now have a clear plan for my financial future – I am actively investing for my retirement (at the ripe old age of 37) and am implementing my first steps, to true financial freedom.
I met with TEA this weekend. I got way more from this session than I ever thought possible. TEA doesn’t just talk about the best methods to invest but also helps you understand your deep-rooted psychological money-beliefs. Our conversation covered investing, philosophy, psychology and even The Walking Dead (all topics were relevant to FI)! I’ll be updating my budgets to include regular meetings with TEA.
If that wasn’t enough, he gave me information that will save me tens of thousands of pounds over the course of my investing lifetime – that’s a decent return for my outlay of £175!
If you’re on the fence about meeting TEA, get off it and into a chair opposite him in a coffee shop. You won’t be disappointed.
I had my first session with TEA this week and it was excellent. I didn’t quite know what to expect but was very excited to meet with him. We chatted about investing principles, platforms, charges, asset allocation etc. All of which were very useful and which I will take away and put into practice but what I found more useful was our discussions on self development and improvement.
TEA has provided me with some self development recommendations to look at and to take forward. I’m confident that if I need support or if I have a query he will be there and that’s what makes this service so fantastic.
I would thoroughly recommend a session with TEA if you’re considering it.
A meeting with TEA has been an invaluable stepping stone for me. Having someone to speak with who at last, is genuinely on your side, is the vital catalyst that I have needed to set out on the journey to manage my own financial affairs. TEA has given my that reassurance that I can do this, but even more valuable, has been the understanding he has given me, of the mindset which underpins the changes I am about to make..
We came across TEA’s blog and were immediately drawn to his philosophical position on money and life matters.
We have come into some money which was spread across multiple banks with several advisors. It was all very overwhelming . After speaking with TEA for an initial introductory conversation we felt assured that not only was this a real person (not a sophisticated computer algorithm bent on swindling people) but that his counsel would benefit us greatly. Now that we have spoken with him in a thorough full-length consultation we feel well equipped to manage our finances. Before reading his blog and speaking with him personally, we were heading down the path of least resistance which basically meant handing money over to advisors and spending without thinking of future implications. We are grateful to TEA and would recommend his services. Also, we are based in the US and found his advice applicable to our situation and he was upfront about which specific tax laws he was unfamiliar with which we appreciated very much.
I met with TEA recently and he was fantastic! He didn’t make me feel like an idiot about my lack of financial knowledge, but gave me key questions to focus on my stage in life & values, to help target the next actions. He gave me a series of easy to follow steps, and while I’m still working though them, I feel like it was such a good investment in my future and that for my family.
I like his philosophies about money and life and what truly matters- that really resonated with me.
Thanks so much, TEA!!
Myself and my good lady had a coaching session with TEA recently. We very rarely look for help / advice outside our immediate network, so this decision did not come easily. We were finally inspired to seek advice after reading the post “Get Unstuck”.
https://theescapeartist.me/2016/04/18/get-unstuck-the-freeze-response-in-finance/
This was the nudge we needed.
The coaching was straight forward and to the point. We had some very specific questions that were answered quickly and efficiently. TEA also provided further things to think about that we had not considered.
We are now working through the points that were provided in the follow up e-mail.
If you are looking for financial coaching, TEA is probably your best bet. He has nothing to sell you, so won’t be after a commission / looking after his own interests rather than yours. There are a lot of sharks out there.
The session was not expensive at £175. Stop thinking about it and get on it. We wish we had done this sooner.
Who’d have thought talking about investment could be good fun, straight forward and inspiring? The Escape Artist manages to do all this. Thank you!
Recently my husband and I received financial coaching from TEA. In the weeks leading up to the meeting we had the opportunity to ask the question/topics we wanted TEA to cover so all the stuff that’s most important to us was discussed. For us, we had some specific investment questions we wanted an expert opinion on, and also more generally, review of our overall financial plan. The advice we received has helped us to review what we must focus on in the short term, and also the fine tuning we can be doing for the longer term.
I honestly don’t believe it matters how far (or close) you are from financial freedom, the session is tailored to your situation, and the most important thing you can do for yourself, is to make sure that you’re on that path. The guidance from TEA puts you firmly on that path. My husband does most of the financial planning in the relationship, and I still found the session to be useful! I highly recommend to anyone, with or without a finance background. We can all take control of our own financial situation!
My wife and I met with TEA yesterday and it was two hours and money well spent. TEA has no axe to grind, no products to push and no sales targets to hit. That means you can trust what he says safe in the knowledge that you’re not going to get ripped off further down the line.
During the session we covered everything from 1) investing more wisely 2) cutting spending 3) maximising income and 4) working out how much is enough. We came away with some clear action points and improvements to make. But we also came away feeling reassured that we’re on the right track and financial independence is not as far away as we thought.
If you want to develop financial independence and escape the prison camp, then give TEA a call, because he’s already dug the tunnel.
Myself and partner met TEA earlier this week for coaching and we left absolutely delighted with the session!
I had been in the procrastination phase for a little while before booking the session but now I’m wondering why I ever did. TEA thoroughly explained answers to all our questions and spent more than enough time with us. It was an absolute pleasure and no question was ‘dumb enough to ask’.
When we started the session, we were eager to get our questions answered but we’re really glad now that TEA took the session step by step and understood our situation before getting into the nitty gritty of our questions. This gave us a whole wider understanding of FI than if TEA had just answered our questions straight away.
By the end of the session, we had exhausted all our questions for TEA and now have a clear executable plan on how to get to FI. The session was worth every penny and I cannot recommend him enough to anyone who wants to achieve FI. Thanks again TEA!
My husband and I recently had a coaching session via Skype which worked really well for us. We found the session extremely useful and found that it enabled us see a clear pathway through the information saturation situation that we were currently stuck in. Thank you TEA. If our figures are correct it looks like we may be FI in a little as 2 years!
My wife and I recently had an initial coaching session with TEA and we both found it extremely uplifting and came away optimistic and excited about our financially independent future. The session certainly helped ” the mists clear “. Looking forward to the next one a little further down the line. Wholeheartedly recommended.
I would echo the other very positive comments.
I’ve been meaning to sort out a plan for investing for a while but didn’t know where to begin; I found there is almost too much information on the internet and different strategies to investing.
The Escape Artist was one of the websites I’ve been reading and saw TEA offered financial coaching which is exactly what I wanted, to talk to a person who has done it themselves and to listen/learn from their experience so I could then formulate a simple plan to follow.
I had my first coaching session yesterday. I found it extremely useful and informative speaking to someone who has the experience and credibility of reaching their goal of financial independence at a young age. TEA is open, straight talking and explained things clearly (me being a layman when it comes to investing).
I came away with a clear and simple approach/plan/mindset to becoming financial independent.
I’ll definitely be having a follow up session/sessions.
I’ll also be recommending TEA to my friends/colleagues as I think the majority of people I know would hugely benefit from his coaching and expertise.
Hello – I met with The Escape Artist for a one-off consultancy session to discuss a financial plan I’d put together. He’s a good listener, thorough and savvy. He does a useful introductory call (at no charge) to check beforehand whether he’ll be able to help . I would certainly recommend him.
1.5 hours with TEA is money extremely well spent. Since seeing him my finances are much more streamlined, and doing so was extremely easy. I kind of knew I was doing ok, but now I truly know where I stand, I’m more in control and have shed some pretty expensive investments in favour of low cost equivalents.
You’ll see in the posts that he takes a pretty holistic view of life and finances. Our conversation was no different. I expected a conversation about money and I got one, but we also talked about lifestyle, and 2 months later I’m carrying 4lbs less body weight as direct result.
He’s not a financial advisor but don’t let that put you off. The last IFA I saw told me I’d never retire. I thought this was premature because at this point he knew nothing about my finances. Don’t see an IFA, they’re salesmen badly (but often effectively) disguised as people who seek to help us.
Price is what you pay and value is what you get. This guy knows how the system works, and has done the RE thing. He’s great value! Thanks TEA
I had a coaching session with TEA a couple of weeks ago. It was immensely valuable on multiple levels. It has helped me “get unstuck”, be able to view my overall situation in a different light, highlight the options I have and identify the main risks to reaching my goal, all what real coaching is about. I have been busy since making the first tranche of changes. I fully intend to have a follow up session. Extremely worthwhile and I would highly recommend. Many thanks TEA!
In a similar vein to the above – TEA comes highly recommended following a hugely beneficial and informative session with Mrs B & I that lasted 2.5 hours- great value for money!
Eloquent, efficient and able to tailor his guidance either to very specific investing questions or to give a broader overview and steps to consider for those less financially aware, he has no axe to grind other than a desire to help you make the best of whatever your situation is. The session was followed up with a comprehensive email full of action points and useful links etc. Thoroughly recommended regardless of your situation – worth every penny.
I had a coaching session with TEA earlier this month which was really useful. There is so much information available, it was really helpful to be able to sit down and talk openly with someone with his experience. The discussion gave me more confidence in the approach I was taking (some parts) as well highlighted some risks/costs which I had not fully appreciated. Some of the issues seem obvious in hindsight – that’s where a conversation was very helpful – it brought those ‘should I, shouldn’t I?’ debates into sharp relief and I now understand the right financial approach (for me). A very useful session, and his follow up email helped point me towards other useful and relevant information.
I had a coaching session with TEA a couple of months ago. It was such a valuable and delightful experience: I was expecting to get financial coaching, and I got that and so much more.
In the 2 hours meeting, we thoroughly discussed my financial situation and came up with actionable points. I don’t have a background in finance, and TEA was so good at explaining, in layman’s terms, a lot of the underlying technical concepts.
More than just crunching numbers, we spent time discussing the investor’s mindset, and how seemingly simple life choices affect FI in the long run; I’d call this model “therapy meets financial tuition”. And it’s great. I got what I came for – an investment plan – and I felt refreshed.
All in all, I had a blast, and I feel I got much more than I paid for. Highly recommended.
I had a session with TEA last month and just want to share what a useful and motivating experience it was. He took my concerns/questions in advance so he could structure the conversation (although it still ran to 3 hours – I guess I got a bonus). As well as the sensible guidance you’d expect on frugality, financial planning and investment, he advised on a broader range of subjects such as diet and lifestyle, and how they tie in to financial independence. Overall it was a brilliant session, nicely encapsulated in his follow-up email with further reading. I’d recommend it to anyone who needs a kick up the backside when it comes to money.
Mrs BB & I met with TEA and it was the best money I have spent in a long time. Had a quick call beforehand to get the lay of the land, sent him some info in advance – but that was all personal choice, you don’t have to by any means. He also asked me to send a list of things that we would like to cover in advance of the session and that in itself proved an invaluable exercise.
My wife and I both went and that worked really well as we have had divergent views in the past. In the session we were able to convey our perspectives in a safe environment and get some unbiased feedback and thoughts.
The session itself was wide ranging and thorough (he made sure we covered all the points on the list) and not just about investments and money.
I had made some moves before to start to simplify things and take more control and this session gave me the confidence and push to get on with it.
I’ve spoken to lots of friends about this and when it lands in the right place (as in the person is receptive) it is remarkable the change that you see.
For us, The Number is now a ‘thing’ and we both understand what we mean by it. It’s also quite nice to be able to walk down the high street and not be tempted to buy stuff just because you can!
I’ve also had some email and phone call follow-up on specific things and that in itself if useful.
Overall, would I recommend it? Yes, without reservation.
Just do it.
I had a coaching session with TEA last week.
It was a very valuable experience, TEA’s knowledge about Finance and Investing was very apparent during the meeting and having the opportunity to talk to someone that not only gives valuable guidance, but follows that himself, it’s a great plus for me.
During the meeting, we thoroughly discussed my financial situation and discussed action points for me to take in the coming weeks.
I have never invested before, as I was too scared to lose money, but with TEA’s help everything finally made much more sense, and I am taking my first step!
I had a fantastic time, and if you are thinking of having a session with TEA, just stop thinking and send him an email! Highly recommended.
I can’t recommend a coaching session with TEA highly enough! As a relatively new student of the finance world and total newbie to actual investing, I had hit the point of complete ‘analysis paralysis’ – overwhelmed by all the information and unsure how to move forwards. In just a couple of hours with TEA I felt confident and clear in my next steps. So apart from also being a really nice and approachable guy, his ability to explain things in a such a graspable manner is priceless. Totally worth every penny and no doubt a good move and worthwhile investment before investing! Thanks to TEA I’m excited, eager and clear on how to move forward. Highly recommended.
I had a really useful first session with TEA over Skype last week. I would say that I’m about 40-50% of the way to financial independence. This was a great time for a ‘check up’ and reality check of what I’ve been doing and my future plans.
I’ve found it relatively easy to find information on how to get started, and even what to do when you arrive, but knowing that there is someone with TEAs knowledge and experience to help me as I proceed along the journey has made me feel much more confident I am going in the right direction.
As you might expect from his posts, TEA is plain talking and no-nonsense in his approach, which I found really valuable. We discussed my specific situation and plans, and he helped me see some better ways I could be doing the things I’m already doing, and what I should avoid doing.
I feel that I totally got value for money from this session (and follow up email and call!). I would highly recommend him to any one thinking of having a session.
I can’t speak highly enough of TEA. I have devoured all of his posts and his advice has literally changed my whole world view on money (and life?).
I was also fortunate enough to have a brief chat with TEA on the phone. Top bloke and some incredibly useful (and frank) advice. I’m a lowly graduate at present, but as soon as I get a little bit of extra cash I’ll be investing in some coaching.
Really good session with TEA. Lots of good ideas and good questions to make you think. Very open and honest, all delivered in a down to earth manner. Highly recommended.
As a professional woman, I wanted to speak to someone who was not going to patronise me, confuse me with rhetoric or technical jargon. For an outsider, the financial services industry can seem dominated by guys in suits who want to convince you how much they know.
TEA listened with genuine respect, authentic interest and a proper understanding that half the pensions/investment in any country can be held by women who have their own financial goals, plans and aspirations
I am completely self taught as an investor. I’ve read books, blogs, articles and social media and feel I am a beginner. But when I searched out regular pensions advisers and regular financial advisers, I was shocked to discover they knew less than me.
I wanted someone with whom I could speak openly and receive honest, real replies; not empty power-point platitudes. TEA provided all this and more in a down to earth manner. He is a motivator, cuts through all the industry noise and illusions to provide a simple, straightforward, and logical approach.
The coaching session gave me the reassurance and the confidence to continue taking decisions for myself and proceed down the road to Financial Independence.
A great meeting, highly interesting guy. I will definitely be having a follow-up session when I need the next stage of guidance on my financial journey.
Thoroughly recommended.
Having reached FI and left my soul sapping job in late 2015, Mrs Shandy has now joined me having left her (less but still fairly) soul sapping job. This comment is an update from that given in December 15 following both a phone and face to face session with TEA then. While we had been with our (we now know) blood sucking IFA for 26 years, the sturdy seeds that TEA planted in our sessions, which will be fully grown next month, gave us the ongoing confidence to take control back of not only our money (saving around £5000 per year alone in % fees) but our actual lives.
Even though the fees have gone up since our sessions, I cannot recommend TEA highly enough to anyone who is either wanting to reach FI, or has already done so but needs a long term strategy for low cost passive investing. You will not necessarily see instant results, and will have to commit to doing a lorra lorra work yourself, but by golly it will be worth it.
If you are reading this site or any other similar FI type site, you could have the right mindset to want to change for the better, financially and in all areas. To steal a phrase from jlcollinsnh, at 51/49 it feels AMAZING to have F You and FI money. While i could wish I’d found TEA earlier, I’d rather focus on the fact that I did and made the leap of faith to contact him. Invest in YOURSELF first, then you too will have the freedom to choose what you do and when and be able to say no to ANYONE toxic in your life (even family, perhaps especially family!!!) or equally importantly yes to anyone or new things you dare not have even thought were possible when you were tied up at work.
The coaching session that we had with TEA late last year has proved to be both enlightening and valuable. As our affairs are relatively complex, the process of getting them to where we now know we would like them to be is slow. Our meeting gave us the vision and helped to clarify how to get there. I cannot recommend the coaching service highly enough, particularly if you know that something needs to change but are uncertain how to make it happen. Top notch!
I had a coaching session with TEA recently to review my retirement planning. I’m selling up my properties to live off investments directly so I have more flexibility and choice for the next decade or so. I wanted to discuss my portfolio and whether I am set financially to do this safely. It turns out my main risks are not financial but social and psychological. I have been investing a lot of time and emotional energy on planning my finances since retiring 18 months ago and not prioritizing my physical and mental well being. The principal benefit, and chief aim, of achieving financial independence is that money worries can be put into the background, and although I am in this position practically, I am not sufficiently relaxed about it. We agreed I should CTFO. The key outcome of our discussion was to give more thought and energy to using my financial freedom to contribute to a happy and fulfilled life. So it was a useful exercise and I am now refocusing on discovering what is really important to me.