Innovation breeds opportunity. One idea emerging from the symbiosis of a disruptive distribution model and app is one-to-many, none-to-many, and many-to-many financial planning services.
The world’s first advice-only financial planning network, the Academy of Life Planning, hosts the world’s first customer-directed Open banking-powered financial planning application, HapNav, the happiness navigator (a fact acknowledged by Moneyhub).
Previously, financial planning has been dominated by the investment advice industry to facilitate investment sales. Investment sales can only be made on a one-to-one basis, taking into account the particular circumstances of the consumer to recommend a particular investment.
Advice-only financial planning is an emerging movement globally. It acknowledges the commoditisation of the investment sales industry with the emerging market leadership of Vanguard’s low-cost direct-to-consumer investment offerings. Equipped with a good book on investing and a public survey on the best buy investment platform, consumers can run their investments with the proper support. The investment seller disappears from the equation, saving the consumer thousands in unnecessary fees.
A good book is How to Fund the Life You Want: What everyone needs to know about savings, pensions and investments by Robin Powell and Jonathan Hollow.
The advice-only financial planner can fill the financial planning gap on a more modest fixed fee basis.
Due to the dominance of investment sellers in the financial planning market and their threshold-setting interest in owners of £100,000 plus investable assets, 95% of the population was underserved because of their limited assets (source ONS).
Due to innovative fintech and this new advice-only distribution model, that advice gap can be filled.
For the first time in history, equipped with a book, survey, and HapNav, an advice-only financial planner, can serve communities.
The advice of the advice-only financial planner is generic. The end-user fintech lifetime cashflow app is user-specific. The AO planner can facilitate sessions where the end-user becomes their own financial planner.
This invention is excellent news for the end-user. No more investment sellers. Thousands are saved in unnecessary fees. And the best place to find a helping hand you can trust is at the end of your arm.
The AO planner can run groups (one to many). A masterclass or webinar where end-users log on to HapNav and follow the trainer’s financial planning programme. Ten attendees can be a tenth of the price of a traditional one-to-one planner.
The AO planner can record the sessions and make them available on demand as a downloadable course, paid by subscription (None-to-many). Hundreds or thousands of students access the service for a hundredth or thousandth of the price.
The AO planner can set up chat groups for peer group support. The community model (many-to-many). The opportunity becomes limitless, and the price drops to nothing.
Employers, NGOs, and any community support network can sponsor and distribute financial planning to the masses.
Much needed support in a global economic and social crisis where 8 in 10 people have little or no savings.
If values-wise you are on the same page as us and want to help loads of people, plus you are entrepreneurial and like to think big, we could use some help with some of the more significant projects.
You see. Well-being is a big thing post-pandemic. Communities such as employers, NGOs, charities and churches implement mental and physical well-being programmes. You can’t have well-being in the modern world without financial well-being. Providing cash flow planning to ensure you don’t outlive your money is a big stress reliever.
David Harper, the clinical psychologist at the University of East London, said: “Evidence shows that a major contribution to serious emotional distress is income inequality – the growing gap between the richest and poorest people in society. To increase happiness, we need firm action on inequality.”
AO planners produce financial plans that create income and wealth, whereas investment sellers are of little use to low net worth as they merely offer to save money already made.
The AO planner movement is firm action on inequality.
An example of this opportunity to do something significant is the Academy supporting Sir Muir Gray with his Live Longer Better movement.
Another is in the United States. We are talking to churches looking to sponsor well-being programs to support millions of marginalised communities, where 7 in 10 Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. They need to make money, not save money they’ve already made.
So, come on. Grasp the mantle, all of you community champions. Step up to the plate. Be the change you want to see in the world.
Details of AoLP and HapNav are available from the Academy of Life Planning.
Academy of Life Planning 