In 1988, I achieved minor celebrity status in the staff room during my GCSE mocks.
The reason? One very particular answer I gave in my biology paper.
The question: “What is the Latin name for duck weed?”
One of those delightfully irrelevant questions the old school system loved. Faced with it, I instantly knew four things:
- I didn’t know the answer.
- I had never known the answer - this wasn’t something I’d forgotten.
- You don’t get marks for leaving it blank.
- So I might as well guess - and not waste time doing so.
And my answer?
Duckus Weedus.
It got a laugh, of course. But looking back now, I realise it also reflects something that’s become a core part of my work.
When planning someone’s financial future, you’re often confronted with questions that don’t have a perfect answer. Or any answer at all. Not yet.
But we don’t sit still. We don’t leave it blank. We think clearly. We act proportionately. We make a judgment. We move forward. And crucially - we do it in a way that makes sense to the person in front of us, not just the textbook.
Sometimes, the wisest move is knowing what doesn’t matter. And sometimes, it’s having the confidence to say: "We don’t know for sure - but here’s the most sensible thing to do next."
That mindset - pragmatic, honest, human is what we bring to every financial plan we build.
Not a Latin name in sight.