This year, the term ‘20/20 vision’ is being used liberally

It fits in nicely with the year 2020 and how we all wish for visual acuity at all times in our lives.

Rumour has it, though, that only hindsight is 20/20.

In the decades leading up to 2020, people were of the view that, by this time, we would be living on Mars and flying around wearing jetpacks, nationalism would wane and nuclear energy would be commonplace. We all know how those predictions stack up presently. Although prognosticators were accurate in identifying that, by 2020, climate change would begin to take its toll on Mother Earth, that the population would be close to eight billion, that our every move would be tracked and that heart disease would top the list of human ailments.

While, in the lead-up to 2020, there was no lack of evidence that we were headed in this direction, hope or denial routinely coloured our views. However, our line of sight going forward could not be clearer. It is impossible to turn a blind eye to climate degradation, jingoism, wealth inequality and bigotry. Let us be under no illusion: we are all vulnerable on multiple fronts and the situation is getting more complex by the hour.

It is indeed welcome, therefore, that this issue of the STEP Journal features several articles on complex families and vulnerable clients. Such articles are a sight for sore eyes as these themes come into sharper focus than ever before, with life expectancy at birth at its longest in mankind’s history, and the definition of things like gender, marriage and family getting a complete makeover.

As James Quarmby writes in his informative article on the laws of love, ‘we need to be aware of [the] wider picture … what you see is not always what you get’.

Also hidden in plain sight are transformational changes such as the ability to acquire citizenship by investment, laws making it even easier to record testamentary intentions in wills, and the risk of slipping from ‘high-net-worth’ to merely ‘high-net-wealth’ status. These topics are all adequately covered by learned authors in this issue of the Journal.

The future is where we will be spending the rest of our lives, helping our clients navigate the ever-evolving landscape. May 2020 and beyond be the years of perfect eyesight, that we might see the bigger picture with clarity.

Here’s to the journey ahead.