By Steve ConleyFounder, Academy of Life Planning It’s déjà vu for the British public. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is now weighing up whether to launch a redress scheme for consumers mis-sold motor finance products. The headlines echo familiar scandals: deception, lack of transparency, and vast financial harm to everyday citizens. Once again, the question … Continue reading Whose Side Is the Regulator On? The Public Deserves an Answer
Month: June 2025
💸 The Dividend Trap: How Capital Markets Quietly Funnel Wealth Upwards
When a company offers a dividend, it sounds like good news — a reward for being a shareholder. But dig beneath the surface, especially with optional dividends like scrip issues or DRIPs (Dividend Reinvestment Plans), and a different picture emerges. One where value is quietly extracted, and the usual suspects — investment banks and arbitrage … Continue reading 💸 The Dividend Trap: How Capital Markets Quietly Funnel Wealth Upwards
🎭 Financial Coaching or Funnel?
How Octopus Money's Business Model Fools Everyone—Even the King By Steve Conley, Academy of Life Planning Octopus Money has won accolades, headlines, and now even a royal honour. Its CEO, Ruth Handcock, has been awarded an OBE for “services to financial services and investments,” lauded for democratizing access to financial help. But behind the glossy … Continue reading 🎭 Financial Coaching or Funnel?
When AI Is Not the Enemy: A Human-Centred Response to Mental Health and ChatGPT
“Depression is the inability to construct a future.” – Rollo May A recent article in Futurism, now circulating widely, tells the tragic story of a young man in the grip of mental illness who was fatally shot by police after spiralling into delusional thinking involving ChatGPT. The piece is titled: "Man Killed by Police After … Continue reading When AI Is Not the Enemy: A Human-Centred Response to Mental Health and ChatGPT
Fractional Working and the GAME Plan: A New Human Capital Strategy for Holistic Wealth
In today’s fast-changing world, traditional career paths are being replaced by agile, purpose-driven models of work. One of the most exciting trends reshaping the professional landscape is fractional working—a human capital strategy that’s not only thriving in C-suites but also aligning perfectly with the values of a holistic GAME Plan. At the Academy of Life … Continue reading Fractional Working and the GAME Plan: A New Human Capital Strategy for Holistic Wealth
From Fear to Future: Why Mental Health Needs a GAME Plan
“Depression is the inability to conceive a future.” — Rollo May War. Crisis. Collapse.Every day, our screens beam scenes of conflict and catastrophe into our living rooms. World leaders stoke division and weaponise fear, leaving millions frozen by uncertainty. The result? Not just anxiety, not just disillusionment—but widespread depression. And, tragically, a future we stop … Continue reading From Fear to Future: Why Mental Health Needs a GAME Plan
As You Think, So Shall It Be: Awakening Through the Book of Earth
"You are the bridge between the stars and Earth’s next Golden Age." We are living in times of profound polarity — where tyranny wields fear as a weapon, and the illusion of separation grows thick like smoke. Yet just beyond the veil, something ancient stirs. It is not destruction that calls us now, but remembrance. … Continue reading As You Think, So Shall It Be: Awakening Through the Book of Earth
3,000 Years of Natural Wisdom: The Ancient Roots of Modern Life Planning
“There is nothing new under the sun.” — Ecclesiastes 1:9 What if the most effective life planning system of our time isn’t new at all? What if the roadmap to purpose, prosperity, and peace has been with us for over 3,000 years—embedded in the rhythms of the Earth, encoded in myth, and quietly passed down … Continue reading 3,000 Years of Natural Wisdom: The Ancient Roots of Modern Life Planning
When the Good Guys Get Attacked: Navigating Suspicion in Victim Support Groups
“In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” — George Orwell The Challenge of Helping When you’ve devoted your life to helping victims of financial crime, you expect resistance from institutions—the banks, the regulators, the legal walls that protect the powerful. You don’t expect resistance from the victims themselves. But that’s … Continue reading When the Good Guys Get Attacked: Navigating Suspicion in Victim Support Groups
“Putting Profits Before People”: Lords Demand FOS Rollback to Serve the Growth Agenda
“Justice should never be an obstacle to growth. But neither should growth be a justification for erasing justice.” Yesterday’s report from the House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee confirms what many of us have suspected: consumer advocacy is once again under threat—not by accident, but by design. In a sweeping call for reform, the … Continue reading “Putting Profits Before People”: Lords Demand FOS Rollback to Serve the Growth Agenda
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