Meet Mike Allen: The Financial Advisor you didn’t know you needed

It’s liberating, it’s painful but it’s also possibly the most valuable insight into your life and how you live it.

If your interest is piqued then a holistic financial planning session with Mike is something to consider, but be prepared for the continuing thread of advice that’s often woven through his narrative.

“Stop lending yourself your own money.”

An explanation of this is best done over a cup of coffee in Mike’s office when he gladly draws a graph or two to hammer home the point.

London-born Mike definitely doesn’t have a preachy, judgmental approach to your financial plan. And he doesn’t spout out jargon that will leave you feeling a little bit inadequate.

Mike calls himself a rough diamond – carved out from from a world of investment banking in the heady days of the 1980s in London.

He’s far from being an Oxbridge educated boffin that delves up financial lectures on how you should do it. His common sense financial advice comes from a life of lessons learned himself.

Mike calls himself a rough diamond – carved out from a world of investment banking in the heady days of the 1980s in London.

Landing in the middle of foreign exchange markets, bonds, shares and stock options was about as far from the days of seeing action in Belfast with the British Army that one could get.

One day he was writing Morse code, the next he was deciphering numbers as pounds on the balance sheets of wealthy clients. He loved the banking world and climbed the ranks to eventually become Head of Investment Banking for the Middle East and Europe for Merrill Lynch.

But a midlife crisis of sorts materialised in Mike’s 40s in the form of a Harley Davidson and then during a work junket with a group of banking clients.

“Here I was flying down the Grand Canyon, just thinking and talking about business – to me at the time, it was everything.

“I went from thinking business was what was important to realising that actually life is the most important thing.”

It was after this that he met a Kiwi lass, married her and moved to New Zealand.

Business and banking has morphed into his unique style of financial planning as an adviser to anyone who needs it from DJs to surgeons, builders to chief executives. Now life plays a big part in his business. He might run into a client on the street and they tell him with absolute honesty that his valuable advice is bordering on full blown dependency.

“I had one lady say to me once, ‘Mike I feel like I can’t buy a teapot without you.’’ Both of them saw the funny side to her reliance on his trusted advice.

The dependency is maybe a side effect to following Mike’s plan but many clients happily report back to him post planning and advice that they reached their goals or were at least on their way.

However, Mike is quick to point out that he’s not the silver bullet and there is no magic pill to success.

When you walk into his office – the hard work and hard truths begin.

“This is about you making some changes that create wealth over time.”

How intrusive was the process?

By this, Mike means the gathering of a client’s financial information.

“For some people, it’s the first time they’ve got all their bank statements together and what I am looking for is whether they found this process so painful that they feel it’s something they didn’t really want to do.

“A lot of the time I am the bearer of the bad news – I’m the one who has tell them that their spending is out of control,” he says.

The team at SurePlan ensure they have done due diligence with you on garnishing how you spend money and more importantly where you spend your money. There’s no way of sugar coating it – in order to nut out your finances – there’s an element of transparency in order for Mike to come up with a suitable plan.

“A lot of the time I am the bearer of the bad news – I’m the one who has tell them that their spending is out of control,” he says.

It goes a little against the Kiwi way to just lay it all out there – we’re a bit prudish when it comes to talking about our money.

Actually education around finance in this country isn’t great according to Mike.

Which leads to his second question aimed at clients sitting around his office table.

What’s your plan?

Many of us flinch at this question. It’s prompting us to reveal things we’d rather not discuss because we know that while we might have a few thoughts milling around in our mind – putting it on paper, or even just telling someone, feels like a commitment we’re not ready for.

It might be a plan to pay off the mortgage, invest in property, upgrade to a better car or ensure the family goes away on regular overseas holidays.

“So you want to spend $10,000 a year on travel – is that a must or just a nice thing to have? That question of financial goals means I start to get a sense of their reality,” he says.

There’s no wrong or right answers here just so you know. But, it all goes into how Mike comes up with his final query.

Are you willing to work with some changes?

So here you are, at a juncture. Out in the distance is being debt-free, on your way to retirement, paying off your house and a whole raft of other financial goals clients have successfully achieved.

Mike’s quick to point out: “I’ll structure anything you want to get there….but I won’t let you lend money to yourself!”

So you’ve now got the exclusive heads-up on Mike’s modus operandi, on how he delves into you and your finances. The next step, of course is all up to you.

To get in touch with SurePlan or see Mike: start your journey with a free no-obligation consultation or call us on 09 551 9071, we would love to hear from ya.

A big thank you to Mike for letting us tell his story. All our clients love working with him. Start your journey with us today