“Don’t be defeated” - Terry Waite shares advice for all ahead of “difficult winter”

Hostage negotiator Terry Waite shares some timely advice as many Britons prepare for a “difficult winter, a difficult year ahead”, on this week’s episode of Bestinvest’s Give Us Your Goals podcast.

Offering a unique perspective gained during his five years of captivity, Waite said “there’s always something to take from adversity... all I can say is, don’t be defeated by it, because often within it is the seed of new opportunity and you may discover within yourself resources you didn’t know you had. That’s what happened to me in captivity.”

As many people grapple with financial challenges this autumn and winter, 63% of the 2,000 Britons surveyed for the Bestinvest study have set financial goals, such as clearing all their debts (29%) and investing for a rainy day (23%). When it comes to safeguarding their financial futures, many are less inclined to match retirement ambitions with a sound savings strategy. Worryingly, just 19.8% intend to invest for their retirement and only 14% consider having a pension a key financial goal.

Waite saw the impact of financial difficulties in his own grandfather, who became bankrupt during the Great Depression, and his father who became homeless after leaving home to find work. He believes that it was this that inspired his care and concern for others as well as a desire to ‘keep going’ to ensure he could support his children financially.

As an independent worker supporting a family, he recalls the anxiety he often felt around money with the pressure to ensure he could give his children a solid education to set them up for life becoming a driving force in his early life. He relates his anxieties around money with the struggles many families face today during the cost-of-living crisis with the risk some fall into depression or alcoholism to cope – something he often observes through his charitable work with the homeless.

Waite also revealed to TV presenter, Kirsty Gallacher, that the positive mentality through adversity stuck with him in his five-year captivity. He spent nearly 24 hours a day in solitary confinement chained to the wall with one toilet break a day, and no natural light – and still managed to mentally write the book he would publish two years after his rescue.

One year into his captivity, Waite was told he had five hours to live, and he simply requested a glass of water, asked to write a letter to his family, and to say one prayer. 83-year-old Waite admits to Kirsty Gallacher, "Looking back now, I wonder how I managed to live like that"

Waite’s family was at the forefront of his mind throughout. He once asked his captors why, when their ideology teaches them not to steal, “how is it that you steal my life, you steal me from my family?”

Findings from Bestinvest research show that Waite’s experiences of putting family first and helping others, will resonate with many other Britons as 74% have a life goal based upon putting family and friends first. This comes as the top three life goals for Britons are ‘be happy’ (60.4%), ‘enjoy quality time with family’ (49%), and ‘look after loved ones’ (41.2%).

Waite signed off his appearance on the Bestinvest podcast with his three rules for life; Don’t give up, stay positive, and surround yourself with good people.

Bestinvest’s Give Us Your Goals podcast is a six-part series hosted by Kirsty and produced in collaboration with former BBC Radio 5 Live producer Guy Kilty. The series features six celebrity guests, including Paula Radcliffe, Billy Billingham, Mark Foster, Terry Waite, Michaela Strachan and Babatunde Aleshe, and discusses the importance of goals in everyday life - each episode will be made available across all major podcast channels during October and November 2022.

Bestinvest’s Give Us Your Goals Fund will consist of £20,000, giving four people the chance of winning £5,000 each and a consultation with a Bestinvest Financial Coach who can help the winner not only identify their goals but also how they might save and invest for them. To apply candidates simply need to tell Bestinvest about their goals and what it would mean to achieve them. (T&Cs apply).

Terry Waite’s Give Us Your Goals episode is available to listen to here: https://www.bestinvest.co.uk/give-us-your-goals

Bestinvest’s Give Us Your Goals study surveyed 2,000 people across the UK between the ages of 18 to 65+. The survey was carried out by global market research firm 3Gem between May 13 to May 18, 2022.

If you would like help achieving your financial goals, Bestinvest offers a wide range of investments, free financial coaching, low-cost bite-sized advice packages, smart digital risk assessment and planning tools and competitive pricing. Visit Bestinvest.co.uk to learn more.