25 years

Early this morning I received a phone call from the Managing Director of AMP. This is a person that I have known to exist but he has never spoken to me directly – so my first reaction was “Oh, oh – I am being sacked!” Why would the Managing Director be calling me first thing in the morning?

It turns out that tomorrow, 6^th April, I complete 25 years employment with AMP. Traditionally, the financial planning industry has high turnover, so to find people around for 25 years is a great achievement - a milestone. And I have noticed it myself as every time I attend AMP functions I am seeing less and less familiar faces – the old timers are retiring in droves.

Now let me tell you that 25 years may sound like a long time but not to me. I feel like I have blinked and here I am. I remember the first year very clearly – our three children were aged 5, 2 and 1. And now they are 30, 27 and 26 and I am also a grandfather. The kids wouldn’t know much about what I had to go through to build up my business, as they were too little, but in those days I had to make lots of “cold calls” in the evenings, set up my appointments and then go out and meet people in their homes. Every now and then I would be lucky to make a sale. I started with no clients, no income and little savings and from memory it took me more than 3 years before my income reached the level of my previous employment. It was tough.

Of course, things are different now. I no longer have to make calls and I no longer get paid commission for any sales I make. Today, it is all “fee for service” which has been quite difficult to come to grips with as most people are not in a position to pay for financial planning. This is how the Labor Government wants the industry to be in the future so who am I to complain – I will just keep going….

While I miss the old system of working my business I am also aware that things do change over time – as Bob Dylan sang – “times, they are a changing”.

So here I go - looking forward to the next 25 years………