The financial press is sounding the alarm — but is it ringing it for the right reasons?
A recent FT Advice article titled “Bridge the retirement divide: millions risk falling through the cracks” paints a familiar picture: widespread financial fragility, inadequate pension savings, and a generation unprepared for retirement. But beneath the surface, the real story isn’t being told — because the financial industry rarely tells on itself.
Let’s unpack the deeper issue: this article, like so many others in the financial trade press, offers a narrative engineered around one kind of solution — financial capital. It downplays or outright ignores the more empowering alternative — human capital.
💰 A Biased Diagnosis for a Structural Problem
The article quotes stark stats:
- 13 million people in a fragile financial state
- 15 million at risk of hardship in later life
- The typical pension pot far below the £738,000 “comfortable” target
These are real concerns. But instead of exploring why this is happening, the article rushes to familiar conclusions: ramp up pension contributions, embrace fintech tools, and pay for advice — all of which conveniently channel money back into the financial services industry.
What’s missing? A genuine look at how people can generate more income, improve their earning potential, or make lifestyle decisions that free them from the hamster wheel of undersaving and overpaying.
This isn’t about financial literacy. It’s about financial liberation.
⚠️ The Language of Fear
The article leans heavily on fear:
“Alarm bells should be ringing.”
“Time is running out.”
“Retirement risks are growing.”
This emotional framing isn’t accidental. It’s a sales tactic — create anxiety, then offer relief through a product: usually regulated advice, more contributions, or a new “digital solution.”
But what if the real solution lies outside the current system?
🤖 A Digital Future — But Whose?
It’s encouraging to see an acknowledgment that retirement is no longer a cliff-edge event. The piece rightly notes the rise of phased retirement, part-time work, and portfolio careers. This is a move toward recognising human capital — the ability of individuals to create value and earn across multiple dimensions of life.
But again, the proposed fixes are digital platforms designed by and for financial institutions, whose commercial models depend on retaining assets under management. That creates a structural bias.
For instance, “guided drawdown pathways” and pension dashboards may be helpful — but if they’re built by product providers, are they designed for the user or the shareholder? Slower drawdowns mean longer asset retention, which boosts provider fees — not necessarily the client’s best outcome.
🧍🏽♂️The Advice Gap — Or Access Gap?
The article laments the “advice gap,” where middle-income earners are “not wealthy enough for advisers, not poor enough for state help.”
But that’s only true if you believe advice must be expensive, product-based, and delivered to you (the “done-for-you” model).
In reality, a growing cohort of planners is already delivering “done-with-you” and “done-by-you” models — where clients are empowered, not infantilised. Tools like HapNav already exist, using Open Banking to give users real-time planning power without needing to hand over control or assets.
So why is this ignored in the article?
Because these planners don’t fund trade press. They don’t advertise products. They challenge the status quo. And most of all, they put power back in the hands of the people — not the platforms.
🛠️ What Needs to Change?
- Rebalance the narrative
Shift the focus from only increasing pension contributions to boosting income, control, and confidence through human capital strategies. - Question the advice model
Recognise that not everyone needs — or can afford — traditional regulated advice. Community-driven, tech-supported empowerment works. It’s already here. - Be honest about the commercial model
Dashboards, drawdown tools, and guidance services built by firms with a financial interest in slow withdrawals need to be scrutinised. - Invest in financial education, not fear
People don’t need more anxiety. They need knowledge, tools, and trust. Empowerment starts with education, not product promotion.
✊🏽 Retirement Is Not the Problem — Extraction Is
Millions are falling through the cracks because the system is designed that way. When financial planning is built to extract fees, not generate freedom, we shouldn’t be surprised when people arrive at retirement empty-pocketed.
But the solution already exists: ethical planners, empowering platforms, and purpose-led communities.
The question isn’t what will the industry do to save people.
It’s how will we help people save themselves — from the industry?
Steve Conley
Founder, Academy of Life Planning
Championing human capital, consumer empowerment, and ethical planning for a just retirement future.
Your Money or Your Life
Unmask the highway robbers – Enjoy wealth in every area of your life!
By Steve Conley. Available on Amazon. Visit www.steve.conley.co.uk to find out more.
Academy of Life Planning 