Monday
My day starts off with a 6am visit to the gym. It is too early but I get it over with to help free up the rest of the day.
I am on the laptop by 8am to check emails from the weekend.
I head to the Harrow office and prepare for my 10am meeting with some excited first-time buyers who have just seen a property they love over the weekend. They wish to get moving with the mortgage application as soon as possible so we continue until 2pm.
I get a chance to grab a quick bite before heading out to meet a local solicitor who I am looking to work with. A productive meeting for both of us (I think).
The rest of the day is filled with more emails, returning phone calls and chasing up progress updates on submitted applications. I manage to log off at 7.30pm.
Tuesday
Today I kick off with another early gym session. I need the adrenaline rush as the day ahead is filled with protection provider seminars.
I head to the Victoria office and I get in for 10.30am ready for the first presentation. Other than 10 minutes for lunch, today has been a great day for the London Money team as it is filled with continued learning around all things protection-related.
It is not easy taking a full day out from the usual work but it is certainly worth it.
I leave Victoria at 4pm to beat the rush hour with some protection reading material for the train journey home.
Wednesday
I skip the gym today as I have a fun day ahead at the Eastman Dental Hospital.
I arrive at 10am and leave at midday. Following much poking and probing I am advised I need to come back for further root canal treatment and a wisdom tooth removal. Exciting times indeed.
It is back home (or rather my sister’s home where we are staying while our renovations are completed) for a catch-up with emails, client phone calls and mortgage and protection research for a number of client meetings next week.
Thursday
Another early start at the gym and then it is over to the Victoria office for another day of meetings.
Today it is with a software provider, two protection providers and a mortgage lender. Another day of learning followed by a meeting with a local accountant based two minutes from the office who is keen to work with a mortgage and protection planner for client referrals.
It is another successful meeting with an agreement to proceed and review on an ongoing basis.
At 5:30pm it is back home to catch up with my wife and look through tile and bathroom brochures. Living the dream.
Friday
I have hit the gym again and I am in front of the laptop by 9am at the Harrow office.
More emails to delete, I mean read, then it is on the phone to various preunderwriting departments to research potential underwriting terms for a client with pre-existing medical conditions. I have found some providers who can offer terms for life, income protection and critical illness. Some two-and-a-half hours well spent.
I head off to my house (aka the building site) for a meeting with my builder to discuss the layouts of the indoor lighting. Together with discussions around various other planning aspects there goes two hours of my day.
I head back to the office for a client meeting with a couple in their early forties who think they have sufficient protection cover.
This is despite their last protection review being 12 years ago. The meeting ends well, with them understanding the difference between mortgage protection and lifestyle protection planning.
We agree to meet again in a couple of weeks.
The highlight of my day? Completing commentary for FTAdviser regarding an upcoming article on the rise of protection sales within the industry.
I sign off at 5.30pm ready for a weekend of kitchen and bathroom furniture shopping.
Jiten Varsani is a mortgage and protection adviser at London Money Financial Services
If you would like to write a week in your life as a financial adviser, please contact: melanie.tringham@ft.com
