I’m Michael Beamon, I’m 63, and I’m retired. I started life in the commercial property development business and then went into consultancy, building on what I’d learned from both businesses, which should have been the early 80′s from memory. This happened to coincide with the first time in which I was actually earning enough money to save a little bit.
About that time when I was looking around for things that appeared to be worth more
than they cost, one of the features of the market was investment trusts, which like now, weren’t very widely known about and at the time you could buy global trusts with discounts of perhaps 15 percent or more.
So I got into some of the trusts on the back of that, and they served me well over the years so I hung onto them and developed an interest in them. I currently hold three Janus Henderson Investment Trusts; I have held Bankers on and off for 20 years.
I hold the Henderson Diversified Income fund to give me some exposure to the type of bonds honestly which I could never buy on my own, and which again provide the type of income us retired people tend to like.
Also Henderson Far East Income for much the same reason. What I have learned is the best way of making money is to avoid losing it. So what I do is I scan the investment horizon for the next pitfall and I carefully avoid those and then with that in mind I then try and diversify as far as possible.
So for me it’s not all about just trying to make as much money as possible. It’s also about avoiding risks. You sometimes get asked if you have an interest in this, for some advice on what to do with the money.
The main thing is that people need to think about what they’re investing for. I want an income that is going to grow over time with inflation and that means that the things I buy and hold, tend to be a bit different than they would be if I simply wanted to try and beat the market.
So my advice to people would be don’t just think how can I beat the market. Think about what you want from your money. Investment has been quite an important part of my life really.
I mean it’s certainly the reason why I am retired now and I could retire early and I do value my time more than the money.
It means I can spend more time out in the countryside on my bike now which is great, it’s what I really love doing, and it meant that there’s a chance of my boy being able to get through university without being encumbered with too much debt.
