I’ve spent a great deal of time in recent weeks in NHS hospitals. People grumble about the National Health Service all the time, and it’s no secret that it faces serious problems. But my experience of it since my father suffered a severe stroke two months ago has been overwhelmingly positive.
What has been a very testing experience, both for him and for us his family, would have been infinitely more so had it not been for the dedication and professionalism of the medical and nursing staff responsible for his care and treatment.
It strikes me that there is much that the investing industry can learn from doctors and nurses. There’s the need for openness and honesty, and for clear communication; the importance of encouragement and, when necessary, assertive cajoling; most important of all is the requirement to put the best interests of the consumer, or patient, above everything else.
For me, the creation of the National Health Service in 1948 is one of Britain’s greatest achievements. It set a standard that other nations followed. Today, hundreds of millions of people around the world have access to free healthcare who probably wouldn’t if it hadn’t been for the visionary men and women who conceived of, and built, the NHS.
Call me naïve, but why can’t our generation build a National Retirement Service? Of course, I’m not literally suggesting nationalising the investing industry. But can all of us involved in investing — financial professionals, journalists, regulators and politicians — stop pretending that this is a system which is working well for end investors when all the evidence shows that it isn’t?
Can we take a break from constantly dreaming up ever more ingenious ways to extract a slice of other people’s investment returns, while hoping they don’t notice? Can we get together and have an honest conversation about building a retirement system that’s founded purely on delivering better outcomes for the person who really matters, namely the end investor?
Of course, those who genuinely add value to the system need to be fairly compensated. But, in a truly modern, transparent and consumer-focused NRS, no one who doesn’t add value would be allowed to earn a penny.
Who knows? One day, British citizens might be able to rest assured that, as long as they invest enough throughout their working lives, they will have enough money to see them safely though their later years, and that they will never become a burden on their loved ones or the state.
It might seem a pipe dream, but then so did the concept of free healthcare for all, at the end of the Second World War. And what a gift to to the world the National Retirement Service would be; what a legacy to leave for future generations.
ROBIN POWELL is a freelance journalist and the founding editor of The Evidence-Based Investor. Based in Birmingham, England, he founded Ember Television and Regis Media, and he specialties in helping disruptive financial firms to grow. He also campaigns for a fair, transparent and sustainable investing industry. You can follow him on Twitter at @RobinJPowell.
Robin is a journalist and campaigner for positive change in global investing. He runs Regis Media, a niche provider of content marketing for financial advice firms with an evidence-based investment philosophy. He also works as a consultant to other disruptive firms in the investing sector.
