Selling my free shares to go on a USA roa
road trip
Hi, I’m Aaron and I work at Admiral Money as a Senior Credit Risk Implementation Manager. Want to hear how I got to travel America without saving my own money?
Well let’s start with my Admiral journey so far…
March 2015: I joined Admiral as a fresh-faced Pricing Analyst, straight out of university.
September 2016: I moved over to Admiral Money, or AFSL as it was known back then, as a Credit Risk Analyst. There were only about 20 of us at Admiral Money back then, how times have changed!
March 2019: We created the Decision Engine team which helps determine correct risk and pricing outcomes on all finance requests. This is the team I currently manage.
I was aware of the Share Incentive Plan at Admiral from the very first week I joined, hearing lots of amazing stories from colleagues about how they’d paid for weddings, new cars, and so on from selling their free shares. It wasn’t until a few years into my Admiral career when I started thinking about what I could do with my own.
If you don’t know much about our share scheme, it’s something that every person at Admiral can benefit from after being in the company for one year. It doesn’t matter what role you’re in, or which department you work, you’re given shares worth up to £3,600 every single year. It’s pretty special!
The shares we receive become tax-free after five years, so I saw the scheme as an easy savings plan that I didn’t need to think about. Luckily, I never needed the money for any emergencies, so I let the share pot steadily grow as I progressed in my career here.
Once that five-year mark had hit, I got to planning.
I’ve always been interested in travelling, and I started researching a big trip I could do to celebrate my 30th birthday. I decided on a three-week ‘deep south’ road trip where I hired a mustang and explored!
Nashville – Being a country music fan this had to be on the list. I even got myself a pair of cowboy boots! We saw a show at the Grand Ole Opry, visited museums including the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Johnny Cash Museum, attended a Nashville Predators ice hockey game, as well as spending a few nights on the Broadway in the many honky-tonk bars there.
Memphis – I’m named after Elvis (his middle name is Aaron) and I wanted to visit Graceland as part of the trip, and it was amazing to do so on my birthday. Beale Street and Sun Studios were other great places to visit here.
New Orleans – Mardi Gras was on at the time, and it was epic! Parades started in the morning and the days ended well into the night on Bourbon Street. A swamp tour was a must here too. We saw alligators, snakes, raccoons and others a bit too close for comfort!
Atlanta – The home of Coca-Cola where we got to taste endless amounts of products from around the world. I also saw an Atlanta Hawks basketball match whilst here.
The Great Smoky Mountains - A perfect end to the trip. Away from the busy cities where I hiked parts of the Appalachian trail, rode a mountain coaster, walked across the Gatlinburg SkyBridge and tried a few different local delicacies…including moonshine!
It goes without saying that I’m incredibly grateful for the share scheme at Admiral. It allowed me to fulfil my dreams and tick off countless bucket-list items in just one trip, and those memories I made are priceless. The best part is, I’ve continued accumulating free shares so I’ll be able to think about my next big trip, or whatever I fancy doing, in a few years’ time!
Our people are part of our journey. That’s why every single colleague becomes a shareholder after one year’s service, receiving free shares worth up to £3,600 every year. After all, our success is their success.
Learn more about #AdmiralLife.
