I’ve spent most of my life in Sussex, and had a great childhood there, with my mum, a full-time stay at home mum, as was typical of her generation, and my Dad, a project engineer. Financially, my parents were very conservative, living within their means, and didn’t believe in debt with the exception of a mortgage on their home. In terms of decision making they definitely ‘played it safe’, whereas I’m more entrepreneurial and willing to take sensible risks for an upside! I also enjoyed working hard to play hard and developed a taste for a few of the finer things in life.
At school, I wasn’t a natural academic but stayed an extra year to get the qualifications that would bag me a decent job with a big company. My real forte was economics and commerce, so when I left school at 18 I got my first proper job in retail banking for Lloyds. I’d already had a school weekend job at WHSmith where I’d picked up some good social skills with customers, and learnt to be responsible and organised which was handy!
My career at Lloyds saw me promoted from being on the till then to back office, then eventually to a financial advisor, but I felt only being able to work with the Lloyds products was constraining. I, therefore, took a job in a financial services company, where I could work across more financial products, including pensions, life insurance, bonds, unit trusts and shares. It was great training for my own personal finances! I’d already seen that the wealth was concentrated in the older generation, and those who didn’t learn the necessary financial skills were left behind. I also saw the boom and bust of the 1980s and knew of many people in negative equity. In fact, when I purchased my first flat, I remember interest rates of 15%, unthinkable now!
I felt I had achieved all I could in financial services, and wasn’t interested in being a branch or area manager for the bank. A friend invited me to work in media, for a company with outdoor advertising spaces on the tubes and buses. I was seeking a more rounded commercial experience. I also liked that there was a commission element to the pay which appealed to the entrepreneur in me. It also enabled me to purchase my first buy to let property, near Gatwick airport, which despite costing £50,000 had a monthly rent of around £600 and thus had an attractive yield. A shame such returns are no longer available in the property market, hence me diversifying into crypto.
Around 2004 I started working in property investment to indulge my love of property and worked for the UK’s leading company in educating property investors. It is interesting to me that it can be quite challenging to learn about crypto, which is why I was very interested to be introduced to Dacxi by a long term business acquaintance and ate up all the free information that was offered!
I went on to work for another property investment business, and launched my own, and learnt a lot about packaging property, and always negotiating a discount. I would be modest enough to say I was OK at it as I was the top producer in two companies which were the market leaders! Of course, everyone wants to buy low and sell high, and I believe that purchasing crypto now is a once in a generation opportunity for wealth creation. One of the interesting responsibilities I was given in property was to set up a VIP advisory service for high net wealth customers. They were often interested in a variety of property investments including land, new builds, and overseas property. Spreading risk is certainly a good idea, and one of the reasons I have split my interests between property and crypto.
Crypto has been a crucial part of my personal wealth planning. I purchased earlier this year in the autumn and I am already 143% up. I’ve also talked to my contacts about Dacxi – when you think something’s great it’s hard to keep it to yourself! At my age, I am looking at boosting my retirement plans – the earlier I can stop working the better! Currently crypto outperforms all my property investments so I am planning on liquidating some of them to divert the capital to crypto.
In my opinion the outlook for crypto is very positive, and whilst I’m already comfortable, I am looking for crypto to make a serious change to my standard of living in the next 3-5 years. I am a bit car fan, I already own an Audi S3 as a “daily drive” and have a Porsche 911 Carerra 4s, but I’ve certainly got room in my life for an Aston Martin DB5 and a Range Rover Vogue or Velar. I also like the flexibility that crypto offers – much less hassle than running a buy to let property, which leaves me lots of time to go to the gym four times a week which is a key part of my health strategy. I also enjoy golf, holidays and nice meals, all of which require a certain level of cashflow.
In conclusion, property and crypto have been the cornerstones of my wealth strategy. Education and timing are everything, and I have been fortunate to benefit from being in the right place at the right time. If you are on the fence about crypto, do it now, before it’s too late – in my opinion, there are only a few years left to take advantage of it.
Dacxi is proud to support people on a path to prosperity with crypto. If you would like to find out more then please join us at dacxi.com. We’re here to help.