“I took my two daughters to Baghdad” – How Billy Billingham inspired his daughters to set ambitious life goals   

Billy Billingham admits that throughout his army career he rarely made it out of his overdraft, so now more than ever he is focused on getting his financial ducks in a row and ensuring his daughters and grandchildren get it right first time. He reveals all to Kirsty Gallacher in the latest episode of the Bestinvest Give Us Your Goals podcast.

In his later stages of life, Billingham is reflecting on the legacy he wants to leave for his grandchildren. Less than a fifth of Britons are planning to save for their retirement, according to new research from Bestinvest, the online investment and coaching platform, with the nation keen on thinking big but less inclined to save and invest to realise their ambitions.

The study found that just 14% of those aged 55-64 were planning for their retirement in their 20s and 30s - which is why many in the later stages of life have to double down on their savings and investment efforts to make up for lost time.

While Billingham failed to safeguard his finances when he was young, he did however enable his daughters to gain memories and an education that other children could only dream of, taking his girls to Iraq and Haiti from a young age to teach them lessons they wouldn’t get elsewhere. Bestinvest’s latest Give Us Your Goals campaign reveals that nearly 30% of Britons want to travel the world, just like star of SAS: Who Dares Wins, Billingham.

Joining the SAS in 1991 was an education in its own right, and Billingham believes the experiences have helped to set his own daughters on the right path to understand the real value of money.

As revealed in the podcast, Billingham isn’t just striving towards his own goals, he’s also helping others achieve theirs. Through his Haitian charity, run in partnership with his wife, he provides the tools and materials to educate those who aspire not to have more but to be more; just like the child Billingham found living in the bonnet of a car who is now a manager in a local factory. Having a job which helps others was a lifelong ambition of Billy’s, just like the 12% of Brits who also want to achieve this goal.

If you want to achieve your own goals like Billingham, Bestinvest wants to help you get there.  The business wants to help someone achieve a lifelong ambition – regardless of what it is. Bestinvest knows the nation works hard for its money and they want to help people realise their full potential through the Give Us Your Goals fund.

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).

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