Worldwide Financial Planning

If you ask most adults what they remember about childhood Christmases, they won’t list what they unwrapped. They’ll tell you about burnt stuffing. About grandad asleep in the chair. About the year the tree fell over.

People rarely remember the price tag. What they feel is the attentiveness, the sense that you see them, you hear them, you value them. People don’t remember what you bought them 10 years ago.

Warren Buffett once said to picture all the gold in the world shaped into a cube (it's 20m per side). So, two telephone poles on top of each other and the same width and depth to make a cube. That’s it.

Communication from the Fed following this week’s decision shows its priority has shifted from bringing down inflation to strengthening the economy, at least in the short term, causing the dollar to weaken slightly. Still, Powell cautioned against expecting aggressive cuts in 2026.

Today, with gold prices brushing record highs, many are asking the question again: should I own some? Or is it just an expensive ornament from a world which no longer exists?

Japanese stocks fell at the start of the week as a stronger yen affected some large exporters, however, the broad market recovered over the course of the week. Markets now see one or two additional rate hikes in 2026 following a widely expected hike this month and more aggressive rate hikes are something to be aware of.