Every year, Goodmans brings together clients and team members for a hiking experience in a breathtaking European landscape. Here’s why we keep putting our walking boots on.
At Goodmans, financial planning has never been just about spreadsheets or figures on a page. It’s about relationships, possibilities and unlocking the kind of life our clients want to live for as long as they can enjoy it. That’s why, once a year, we swap meeting rooms for mountain trails and invite our clients to hike across a stunning landscape in Europe with us.
Since our first trip to Iceland in 2022, the Goodmans adventures have taken us across the majestic Dolomites in Italy, the coastal trails of Madeira, the forests and mountains of Transylvania and, this year, the striking Picos mountains of Northern Spain.
Once we’ve chosen a good walking location, we put together an itinerary and travel arrangements* and send out an invitation to our client community with the details and costs. Over the last five years, we’ve had between 6 and 16 clients take up the challenge, including repeat attendees alongside new faces each time. Around five different team members come each year with our Managing Director Andrew Moore at the helm. Generally, we cover around 60km over four full days of hiking, averaging around 15km and 4–6 hours on the trails each day.
Each destination has brought its own challenges, its own views and its own stories. But the reasons we do it have stayed the same.
At the core, the Goodmans adventures encourage clients to embrace an active and fulfilling retirement. For Goodmans’ leader, Andrew, these trips aren’t holidays, they’re shared experiences that illustrate what good financial planning enables you to do:
“The point we make to clients is: You have your health, you have your time and you have your money. You have to get out there and enjoy this period of your retirement. We’ve all got to really squeeze the juice out of the time we’ve got."
While many clients who come along are at a similar stage of life, not all are retired – the age range so far has been vast at 21 to 81! Most clients come along as a couple, some travel solo because their partner isn’t up for hiking long distances, others are single, and we’ve had a mother and daughter join us twice.
For some clients, the Goodmans adventures give them the confidence to take on a new challenge within a supportive environment with like-minded people. Others already do this kind of thing themselves, so come along for the love of walking and discovering somewhere new in good company.
The adventures are just as rewarding for the Goodmans team. They enable us to build stronger connections and gain a deeper understanding of our clients – not just as investors or pension holders, but as individuals with wildly varied goals, worries, curiosity and resilience.
This is especially beneficial for our young (mostly Millennial) Financial Planners, who are years away from the later-life mindset of our (mostly Gen-X) clients. Conversations that happen halfway up a mountain, over dinner after a long walk, or while taking in a view together often reveal more than any formal meeting could. You could call it an unusual but effective kind of training.
And let’s face it; it’s not a bad working week for those who get to go!
The Goodmans adventures also link financial planning back to its real purpose. Many of our clients have spent decades working hard and now want to enjoy their time while they have the appetite and energy to do so. The financial plans we build are designed to help people make the most of that time and live the lives they truly deserve.
Time spent walking side by side offers valuable insights into what an active, ‘unleashed’ retirement can really look like. Seeing clients embrace adventure, friendship and challenge is a powerful reminder of what all the planning is really for.
So yes, the Goodmans adventures are about hiking. But they're also about connection, confidence and showing what life can look like when people have the freedom and time to say ‘yes’ to life's opportunities.
That’s worth investing in.
Contact us to see if you can transform your life with thoughtful financial planning.
*Thanks to Karen Thornton from the Travel Counsellors who helps us craft the Goodmans adventures and provides logistical support each year.