The Geoff Dyckes Story: A Total Wealth Planner in Action
There is a moment in many advisers’ careers when something quietly shifts.
It isn’t dramatic.
It isn’t loud.
It’s simply the realisation that the system you work within may not fully align with the reason you entered the profession.
For Geoff Dyckes, that moment came early.
The £3 Commission
In his banking days, Geoff met a 20-year-old client who wanted to save £100 per month toward her first home.
He completed the paperwork carefully. Thoughtfully. Correctly.
His commission?
£3 per month.
When he mentioned this to a colleague, the response was blunt:
“You won’t be here in five years. Sell her the ten-year endowment.”
That was the first crack in the façade.
The message wasn’t malicious. It was systemic.
The system rewarded volume, product selection, and future pipeline value. It did not reward restraint. It did not reward long-term alignment. It did not reward integrity when it reduced short-term revenue.
And that insight stayed with him.
Building a Traditional Advice Firm — The “Right” Way
Geoff later co-founded an IFA firm.
At a time when upfront commissions were the norm, he chose a different path — lower initial payments with ongoing servicing fees. It was a progressive model for its time.
Assets grew.
Recurring income stabilised.
An exit valuation began to form.
On paper, it was working.
But the deeper question never went away:
What exactly are we being paid for?
Is it oversight of funds?
Or stewardship of lives?
Integrity Over Corporate Instruction
In 2011, Geoff uncovered an issue affecting 24 clients who were due compensation.
The supervisory firm he worked with did not support the path he believed was right.
He was faced with a choice:
- Close the business and allow the issue to fade
- Or contact every client and arrange repayment
He chose the latter.
He contacted all 24 clients.
Agreed repayment structures.
Ensured every client was repaid.
Paid commercial interest to those who helped him stabilise cashflow.
Years later, corporate owners of the network took a different view of how the matter had been handled.
In 2023, Geoff chose to leave regulated advice entirely.
Not because he failed.
Because he refused to compromise.
The Bigger Realisation: The Portfolio Is Not the Person
In traditional advice models, clients often pay around 1–2% annually — typically around 1.85% when adviser, platform and fund charges are combined.
But that percentage applies to what is often the smallest portion of their wealth.
For a 40-year-old client, 80% of total wealth is typically human capital — the present value of future earnings.
Yet the majority of the advisory industry focuses on financial capital alone.
Geoff began asking uncomfortable questions:
- Why do we spend most of our time reviewing model portfolios?
- Why are we paid primarily for overseeing funds?
- Why do we spend so little structured time on life direction, purpose, identity and decision architecture?
He realised something simple:
The most important decisions in a client’s life are rarely about fund selection.
They are about meaning.
The Shift: From Portfolio-First to Life-First
Geoff became an accredited GAME Plan practitioner and rebuilt his practice around what we call Life-First Financial Planning.
Not:
“How much have you got to invest?”
But:
- Where are you heading?
- What does retirement actually look like?
- What matters this decade?
- What would make this year meaningful?
- What risk can you tolerate emotionally — not just mathematically?
He stopped leading with what he couldn’t do as an unregulated planner.
Instead, he led with what he could do:
- Clarify direction
- Challenge assumptions
- Model life scenarios
- Educate clients to make empowered decisions
- Prepare them to work intelligently with regulated advisers where necessary
That shift changed everything.
A Different Commercial Model
Geoff’s pricing reflects alignment, not asset gathering.
A typical engagement:
- £4,950 for a full life-centred plan
- Reduced to £3,750 when accompanied by a testimonial and quality referrals
- Ongoing review typically around £2,000 where appropriate
Notice what is absent:
- No percentage of assets
- No incentive to grow portfolios for valuation purposes
- No future business-sale dependency on client retention multiples
He earns when he serves.
Not when he accumulates.
Empowerment in Action
One client approached him after receiving a £6,500 quote to invest £100,000.
After education and structured discussion around risk, she chose a low-cost direct platform and paid Geoff £600 for guidance instead.
She saved thousands in unnecessary fees.
More importantly, she understood what she was doing.
That is Total Wealth Planning.
Not control.
Not dependency.
Clarity.
The Human Layer
Geoff’s work often has little to do with spreadsheets.
He once encouraged a family to introduce weekly journaling to reconnect parents and children during busy working weeks. He bought the first books as a gesture.
He challenges unrealistic business sale assumptions in retirement cashflows.
He asks clients where they’re travelling — not just how much they’re spending.
He works with doctors who simply want reassurance their planning logic holds.
He helps business owners re-imagine what the next phase of life looks like — not just financially, but personally.
One client told him:
“No one has ever asked me that.”
And that sentence says everything.
The Reality: It Isn’t Easy
His first full year produced around £35,000 in revenue — below the £120,000 he initially hoped for.
That reality is important.
This model requires:
- Re-education of the market
- Patience
- Clear messaging
- Courage to stand apart
- Emotional resilience
But the trajectory is improving.
More business owners.
Better aligned clients.
Less stress.
Full autonomy.
No compliance overhead.
His current goal?
A sustainable £50,000–£60,000 income aligned with lifestyle freedom.
Not maximum extraction.
Meaningful practice.
Why This Matters Now
Across the UK, many advisers are quietly asking:
- Is AUM the only model?
- Do I want my retirement to depend on selling my clients?
- Is compliance dictating the shape of my conversations?
- Am I building valuation — or value?
Geoff’s story is not about abandoning financial planning.
It is about evolving it.
From asset-centric
To human-centric.
From valuation-driven
To vocation-driven.
From structural dependency
To professional sovereignty.
The Quiet Question
Many advisers sense the industry is shifting.
AI is commoditising portfolio construction.
Clients are increasingly capable of implementation.
Trust in institutions remains fragile.
The premium is no longer fund selection.
It is judgement.
Clarity.
Perspective.
Whole-person thinking.
Geoff did not quit planning.
He deepened it.
And perhaps the real question for many reading this is not:
“Should I leave regulated advice?”
But:
“Am I ready to plan life before I plan money?”
If you are an adviser who recognises yourself in this story, there is a structured path.
The Academy of Life Planning trains Total Wealth Planners who:
- Work life-first
- Use AI as an amplifier, not a replacement
- Empower clients rather than accumulate them
- Build practices aligned with conscience and commercial viability
Because the future of financial planning will not belong to those who manage assets.
It will belong to those who develop people.
Curious how others see this.
Find out more about becoming a Total Wealth Planner, with our 90-Day Gluide Path.
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