What that means for client agency — and the future of “advice” in 2026
A quiet line has just been crossed.
For decades, a lifetime cashflow forecast has been positioned as something you need software for… and often need a professional to operate.
In 2026, that’s no longer true.
With a general-purpose AI tool like Claude, you can draft a usable first-pass lifetime cashflow forecast at zero cost on a free plan, in minutes.
That changes the game.
Not because AI is perfect.
But because it’s good enough for most people, most of the time — if you use it properly.
A practical warning before you start
App developers and professionals will usually raise two objections:
1) “Documents aren’t secure — don’t upload them.”
That’s fair.
So don’t.
You don’t need to upload bank statements, pension reports, or anything sensitive to get value from cashflow modelling.
Use round figures and simplified assumptions.
You can get clarity without exposing personal documents.
2) “AI makes mistakes.”
Also fair.
So treat AI like you should treat any tool:
- Check the outputs
- sanity-test the numbers
- challenge assumptions
- ask it to correct errors you spot
Here’s the part people miss:
Humans aren’t secure either.
Humans make mistakes too.
The difference is: humans often make mistakes quietly — and you may never notice.
With AI, you can interrogate the output relentlessly.
How to do it safely with round figures
First. Open a free Claude.ai account here.
Type this prompt: “Create me a lifetime cashflow forecast.”
That’s it!
If you want a simple, low-risk way to start, when prompted give Claude a set of rounded inputs like:
- Your age now + intended retirement age
- Current annual income (after tax)
- Monthly spending (core + lifestyle, rounded)
- Emergency cash on hand
- Mortgage balance + interest rate + term remaining
- Pension pots (rounded) + assumed growth rate
- State pension assumption (rough)
- Any other major commitments (kids, care, school fees, etc.)
Then ask it to:
- Build a basic year-by-year table (income, spending, savings, assets)
- Highlight shortfalls, pinch points, and risk years
- Suggest options (not actions) to improve resilience
This gets you 80% of the clarity without any sensitive uploading.
The real question: control or agency?
So here’s the uncomfortable question.
If you can draft a lifetime cashflow forecast for free, and iterate it instantly…
Are you really best handing over control of your finances to someone else?
Or are you best having agency?
My view is simple:
90% of people, 90% of the time, can manage their own finances with AI.
It’s only in times of complexity, stress, or change that you need a human being to review the outputs with you.
Not instead of you.
With you.
That’s the shift.
Done-by-you. Done-with-you. Never done-for-you.
This is where the old model collapses.
Because “done-for-you” is exactly where exploitation risk lives:
- Delegation replaces understanding
- Complexity becomes dependency
- Ongoing fees become normalised
- Control drifts away from the person living the consequences
My philosophy is:
Done by you. Done with you. Never done for you.
Because the best place to find a pair of helping hands you can trust
is at the end of your own arms.
What this means for the financial advice industry
If you’re a financial adviser reading this, I’d invite you to sit with the implications.
If AI can produce:
- a cashflow model
- scenario testing
- spending plans
- risk-year flags
- options analysis
- plain-English explanations
…then what exactly is the client paying ongoing AUM fees for?
You may still have a very profitable model today.
But technology doesn’t ask permission.
It compresses value where value is tool-based and repeatable.
So the question becomes:
- Will you be a professional who defends the old perimeter?
- Or a professional who redesigns their role around agency, human capital, and whole-person wellbeing?
Think while you can afford to think.
Don’t leave it until you can’t.
“But I’m not comfortable with tech…”
That’s real.
And it’s okay.
But your kids may not feel the same — especially when they inherit.
A new generation will expect:
- transparency
- self-direction
- low-cost tooling
- human support only when needed
- no forced dependency
The market is moving whether we like it or not.
A simple next step
If you want to test this safely:
- Use round figures only
- Ask Claude to create a first-pass lifetime cashflow forecast
- Challenge it, correct it, refine it
- If you hit complexity, stress, or major life change — that’s when a human guide becomes valuable with you, not instead of you
Final thought
Let someone else tap into your portfolio to do this…
or do it yourself for free?
That’s not a rhetorical question anymore.
It’s the new decision facing households — and the profession — in 2026.
If you’re exploring what an agency-led approach looks like, I’d be interested in your perspective.
Academy of Life Planning 