Graham Day, Independent financial adviser

An introduction to Graham Day

Your career to date?
I joined the industry as an adviser in 1986 and I have continued to develop my knowledge - achieving advanced qualifications in retirement planning, investment portfolio management, taxation and trusts. I also hold a Diploma in Performance Coaching in Business.

I limit the number of clients I look after at any one time to ensure I can maintain beneficial long-term relationships. I have a friendly and helpful approach to financial planning, whilst still telling you the truth about money!

I am married with two sons and live in Epsom. My interests outside of work are travel, golf and Formula 1.

Graham Day represents Telos Advice which is a trading name of Honister Partners Ltd.

What do you specialise in?
Occupational Pension Transfers, Values Based Financial Planner (Bachrach Associates)

If you could offer one piece of financial advice to an individual, what would it be and why?
Life is not a rehearsal, so it is important to have clarity about what's truly important to you. So work with a financial planner you trust and who can help you get 20:20 vision as to what that is. Once your values are clear, decisions become easy.

Which areas of financial planning do you feel an individual should be addressing in the next 2 years?
I would recommend getting help to draw up a financial plan or strategy. In the grand scheme of things, money is not that important. It’s only significant to the extent that it allows you to enjoy what is important to you. And not worrying about your finances is critical to having a life that excites you, allows you to nurture those you love and fulfil your highest aspirations. Just consider for a moment what would your life be like if you had a financial strategy based on what was truly important to you, where your investments and insurance programme were working in harmony to achieve your goals?

What is the most common mistake you find individuals make in financial planning?
When I meet many people for the first time I find they don't have a 'encompassing strategy'. Instead they have a hodgepodge of financial products purchased one by one over the years from various salespeople, newspaper advertisements or based on tips from friends or information in brochures. In practise many people end up reacting to events, rather than designing and implementing a financial plan. To compound this, most people don’t have unlimited time to devote to their financial affairs. Even if they did, they might chose to spend that time in a different way. They need someone to help relieve them of this responsibility, get them on track and keep them on track year after year - consider us as your 'financial coach'.

As an independent financial adviser what, for you, are the main benefits of being a part of Honister Partners Ltd?
Not only does Honister Partners provide Telos Advice with a compliant infrastructure which allows us to focus all our time and energy on advising our clients - it also provides us with a vast resource of knowledge and experience from other advisers (and our Research Department) within the Honister Group.This value of this in-house resource to our clients is unquantifiable but incredibly valuable.