L.T. Noelle

I’m an Investor, Trader, Coach and general Markets and Economics enthusiast. I guess I get to list Author now too, given I’ve written and published a finance book!

Professionally my background is in Financial Services IT and I’ve spent my entire adult life in this industry, approaching 25 years. I started in investments, pensions and assurance, laterally moving into banking. I promise it doesn’t make me a bad person! I’ve never been directly involved in business operations, modern financial services are essentially large technology enterprises and technology has always been my primary skillset. It’s hard not to pick up some knowledge around the mechanics of money when working in the industry though, for example learning how money is actually created. But as I’ve always been interested in finance, economics, markets and data it’s a happy side effect.

My approach to money and finance has always been socially abnormal, but that’s served me well throughout my life. I certainly do miserly Scottish stereotypes considerable justice. Scrooge McDuck from Duck Tales, a Scottish stereotype himself, was a childhood favourite of mine! I didn’t want to emulate diving into his pool of gold coins or anything quite so decadent (and likely painful!) but from a young age I had his natural proclivity for long-term accumulation over short-term consumption. This wasn’t because my family had money or because I’m greedy where money’s concerned, rather because I don’t like to spend any I don’t need to or worse, don’t actually have. I avoided the symbiotic relationship with debt and consumption society often considers the route to wealth and happiness, an illusion I think is harmful. For me, money buys time, a more precious commodity than any other. Debt and consumption, in contrast, sell our time.

I’m an older Millennial who grew up with one younger sibling and two hard working parents, financially lower middle class from a rural coal mining community in Scotland. Some around us had it worse but many had it better too. Our parents supported everything we did while always pushing for more, from sport to education and anything in between. We lived in a local authority consistently ranked amongst the most deprived nationally with outcome statistics set heavily against us and I think that’s why our parents pushed so hard. We really couldn’t have asked for a better family unit though and I consider my childhood a really happy one. We’re still very close, though my mother passed a few years ago. I wish she’d been alive to see my book, I think it would’ve made her (as well as my father) happy. I don’t believe in luck generally, so when I confess myself fortunate in the parent (and sibling) department it signifies how seriously I take the statement.

My main aim in writing my (hopefully first) book was to record my financial practice and views on social financial norms for my daughter, so she might understand, even if I weren’t here, how the life she grew up in was achieved. So she’d know why we made the decisions we did and how they led to, for example, being able to live mortgage free from 36. I wanted her to know how we built and executed the financial plan over two decades that gave her the life she knows, so she may maintain it and ensure her children learn all the things we’re not taught about money and finance in school too.

Through talking to people about the book it transpired many were interested in what I had to say. Early feedback was also very positive. So, I decided to make it public, to try to help others deliver better financial outcomes for their families too. I’m immensely proud of doing so. I’ve certainly been bitten by the writing bug and with many more ideas for books that could help people understand finance a little better, help to improve the lives of their families and communities, I look forward to putting pen to paper on those ideas too.