“Those three letters—FCA—make me feel physically sick.” This is the raw testimony of a retail investor, Mr N, who lost £120,000 to the failed mini-bond issuer Basset & Gold (B&G). His words lay bare a growing crisis in public trust—one not caused by market forces, but by systemic regulatory failure. This week as reported in … Continue reading “Zero Faith in the FCA”: The Human Cost of Regulatory Failure in the Basset & Gold Scandal →

Here’s your smoking gun. For those who’ve challenged me to produce evidence that the financial services industry is being propped up by falsified compliance records, hollow service claims, and regulator complicity—read on. A High Court dispute between St. James’s Place (SJP) advisers reveals far more than a contractual disagreement. It exposes the rot beneath the … Continue reading 💣 The £4m SJP Lawsuit That Blows a Hole in the FCA’s ‘Growth Agenda’ Cover Story →

Reclaiming Meaningful Economic Activity in an Age of AIWhy the GAME Plan Is Humanity's Remedy—And Why the Time to Act Is Now By Steve Conley 🔥 The Fork in the Road: Two Futures for Humanity It’s 2035. The machines didn’t just take the factory jobs—they wrote the code, made the diagnoses, handled the accounts, taught … Continue reading Reclaiming Purpose in the Age of AI: The GAME Plan at the Crossroads of Humanity →

By Steve Conley, Founder, Academy of Life Planning “The goal isn’t to retire from life. It’s to retire into it—fully, meaningfully, and on your terms.” When the financial services industry talks about retirement, it often frames the conversation within two narrow pillars: the State Pension and the Pension Fund. This framing, while familiar, is misleading—because … Continue reading 🔒 Unlocking Retirement: Why the “Rigged System” Sells You Short →

By Steve Conley | Academy of Life Planning | June 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it will accelerate consultation on its much-debated reforms to the advice-guidance boundary, citing “excellent engagement” from major financial institutions. But while banks, platforms, and product providers have had front-row seats to shape these changes, one glaring … Continue reading FCA Presses Ahead With Advice-Guidance Reforms: Who Speaks for the Consumer? →

By Steve Conley, Founder of the Academy of Life Planning📅 June 2025 “This Charter is more than a document—it’s a declaration of our shared commitment to build a profession grounded in trust, transparency, and empowerment.” After over a decade of pioneering ethical, holistic, and transparent life planning, the Academy of Life Planning (AoLP) is now … Continue reading 🏛️ Reimagining Financial Planning: Inside the AoLP Governance Charter →

“Trust is not what you say. It’s what you build — and what remains when you’re gone.” In the financial advice profession, we spend years building relationships based on trust. We listen deeply, guide carefully, and strive to be the dependable presence our clients rely on through life’s transitions. But what happens when we step … Continue reading 🔒 Structural Permanence: The Missing Piece in Trusted Financial Advice →

“Trust is not just about relationships. It’s about systems that don’t fail the people they’re meant to serve.” For too long, financial planning has been dominated by one narrow metric: financial capital. The industry teaches us to focus on assets under management, investment portfolios, retirement savings — and to measure success in terms of net … Continue reading 🧭 Rebuilding Trust: A Structurally Independent Framework for Financial Planning →