Paul Tobin

PERMANENT TEXT My background combines my 2 professional passions of Finance and People Development. I am a qualified accountant specialising in tax with more than 30 years experience in the UK and overseas. I am an accredited Advanced Executive Coach and combine these 2 skills to help my clients understand what they want to achieve with their finances, and how they are going to get there. I always say money is simply an enabler so we need to start with WHAT you want to achieve - the HOW to get there then becomes much easier. I work with Octopus Money Coach (OMC) as I share their values in trying to '"democratise" access to Financial Planning. I am not selling anything and do not make specific investment recommendations. I am an experienced buy-to-let investor and having built a modest portfolio, and after a long career in finance, I am very fortunate to be financially secure so I don't work with OMC to make money for myself - there are easier ways for me to make money if that would be my motivation. I work with OMC as I believe I have a lot to offer to people who need support with their finances, and I'm keen to help as many people as possible get access to good financial advice at an affordable price. I also work with OMC in providing this service as I know there is a demand for a more holistic discussion around long term financial planning that goes beyond specific investment advice provided by traditional "wealth managers". I have many clients (including chartered accountants) who are financially sophisticated and more than capable of planning the numbers - but need (and get) a broader discussion around whether they are doing the right things - one of these clients described this as needing "a sounding board to challenge and validate my plans" - these clients find the coaching aspect of the service invaluable Away from "work" (I'm lucky to be able to consider this a hobby) I'm an avid sports fan and attend as much football, rugby and cricket as possible. I have a season ticket at Brentford F.C with my daughter but watch Swansea City F.C. whenever they are in, or close to, London, and attend most home Wales rugby matches. Beyond that my other passion is travel, particularly road trips. We were lucky enough to live on the Continent for 17 years so were able to drive all over Central Europe, the Balkans and down as far as southern Greece and Istanbul. I am also a part-time taxi driver for, and ludicrously proud father of, my 2 teenage student daughters who work as lifeguards at some very anti-social hours!