Smart enough to want to help people

John Sloan

You may not have heard of Rahul Doshi, I know that I certainly didn’t until recently, however he is one of the child stars of the Channel 4 TV show ‘Child Genius’ (a show where young people work on a series of mental challenges).

With an IQ of 162 you would think that this 12-year-old prodigy would be considering changing the world and want to grow up to become an astrophysicist, architect, surgeon or something else that incredibly intelligent people are meant to do.  Not young Rahul though.  Rahul, it seems wants to help people.  He feels that it would be ‘selfish’ not to help people using his skills and abilities, especially as he loves mathematics.

So, what does this young man want to do to help people?  Does he want to become a doctor, a scientist, a spaceman? None of the above – Rahul wants to become a financial adviser.

In an age where we are regularly bombarded with scaremongering and horror stories about financial services (not all of it unwarranted), how thoroughly refreshing it is to see a young man like Rahul grasp the very essence of financial planning – helping people.

As Financial Planners, we are here to help people to plan for their future.  We spend a lot of time understanding the complexities of financial regulations and their impact on the recommendations we make for our clients.  More importantly however, we spend a lot of time understanding our clients, their needs, building relationships, learning about their families, their businesses and even their pets.  We become trusted advisors so that when people ultimately feel they really need someone to turn to, they call us, without hesitation.

Financial planners help people, and make their lives better.

Did it take 12-year-old genius to grasp this and the concept of financial planning?  Or rather was it a young man, who in his brilliant and innocent mind thought, “I want to do something to help people” – that’s all.  I’m thinking that it was the latter.

I sincerely hope that Rahul finds the path that is right for him.  If that takes him into financial services then I don’t want him to see him grow up!

*Information & quotes taken from New Model Adviser article – http://bit.ly/2w8LwWT reporting on his appearance on ITV’s Lorraine programme