Q&A: How I wrote the book on retirement

Like most new business owners, Solomon Forman was prepared to take on most new clients who came his way when he first established Forman Financial Services.

That was back in 1994. Sixteen years later, he started Forman Accounting Services, and wrote a book, Securing Your Retirement Dreams.

Over time, he’s developed a niche and been able to focus on clients that fit within his speciality area.

“I focus on retirement income and work with people who want to preserve or build their wealth to prepare for retirement,” says Forman.

“I’ve now got to a stage in my career where I don’t take clients on if I sense that they don’t have realistic expectations about how I can help them preserve or grow their wealth. As time goes on, the demand for your services gets bigger than your time. So you can become more discerning and focus on doing what you want to do.”

Public Accountant spoke to Forman about why and how he wrote his book, what he’s learnt from the process and the impact it’s had on his business.

Q Why did you decide to write a book?

Having worked in the finance industry for a long time, I had first-hand understanding of how people fund their retirement. I found an approach that worked for my clients so I wanted to share that message with a greater audience. I found I was often talking to my clients about three key strategies that could help them in retirement.

The first is called ‘river flow’ – the investor produces cash flow out of their assets and that cash flow covers day-to-day living expenses. The second, ‘fruit picking’, involves investment in growth assets and aligns spending with the returns on that investment.

For example, let’s say a client wants to travel. They would invest in growth assets and then let the market dictate how they’re going to travel. If they’re getting a good return from their assets, they can travel business class that year. If it’s an average year they might travel economy. If it’s a bad year the decision might be more about whether or not they will travel. The overall point of the ‘fruit picking’ strategy is to let the market dictate what you can do, rather than you dictating your lifestyle.

Finally, the ‘harvesting’ strategy is chasing big rewards, with a low probability of success and high level of risk.

I’m always trying to educate people and get them to a position where they’re empowered to make good financial decisions.

Q Can you tell us about the process of distilling your years of practice into a book?

It was a long process to finish the book. It took me two to three years to write and involved many drafts. It took me a while to figure out how best to express concepts in a way that was easily understandable, but that also had the minimum amount of technicality that was needed.

I had an editor who looked at all the information about superannuation and investing, and covered the big topic areas. The second editor came in and helped to connect the chapters and present the information in the most interesting and educational way possible.

It was fascinating to go through the process of trying to express my ideas in writing. You end up with a final product that you feel very proud of. It was emotionally extremely rewarding and I’m very glad I took on this challenge.

Q Aside from the rewarding aspects of the achievement, did the publication have an impact on your business?

Many people have limited knowledge of investments. I explain a lot of the fundamentals of investing in my book and take readers through it in a stepwise way. My clients have said the book really helped them to understand some basic financial principles, including investing and market fluctuations.

This educational piece is really critical because it can help clients ride the ups and downs of investing. If the market fluctuates and someone’s assets are falling in value, it can elicit a very strong emotional reaction. The major challenge as an adviser is to hold their hand through the difficult times, to help them not to panic and sell at the wrong time. Being by their side through the tough periods is one of the most important things an adviser can do.

I’ve given the book to prospective clients and it’s helped them to understand my approach. Writing a book with my own unique ideas about investing helped to elevate my profile. I think it helped to convert some people into clients.

Q What do you find most rewarding about being an accountant and financial adviser?

I was recently having a philosophical discussion with a good friend of mine who is a surgeon. He said that he feels very honoured to work in his profession because people trust him with their medical care.

People trust me with their life savings as they prepare for retirement. People listen to and take my advice for the majority of their wealth. It’s a huge honour for me to play that role in their lives.

Q We’ve heard you’re an avid golfer. Have you been able to apply any lessons from golf to the business world?

There are good days and bad days in golf. It requires discipline and patience. It can be very rewarding at times and frustrating at others.

Golf is all about strategies. Golf courses are designed in such a way that you need to find the solution for how to get the ball into the hole through only a certain number of shots. There are hurdles everywhere and there will always be challenges in business too.

You have to practise and show a lot of discipline. There’s no such thing as being an overnight success. It’s all about working hard. You have to really enjoy the process.