Our second TFO Friday explored how more families could access joined-up professional support—and remain firmly in charge. By Steve Conley | Academy of Life Planning | 23 October 2026 A family can have a financial planner, an accountant and a solicitor—and still find that nobody is joining everything together. Each professional understands part of the … Continue reading A Family Office Without Handing Over the Controls
Month: October 2026
You Can Build Your Own Apps. So Can Your Clients.
What building Academy OS has taught us about AI, human agency and the future of professional support. There is a particular excitement in watching an idea become a working tool. A scorecard you once needed someone else to create. A cashflow model shaped around the questions you actually ask. An everyday task that used to … Continue reading You Can Build Your Own Apps. So Can Your Clients.
Speaking up is an act of agency. Whether someone can survive speaking up is a test of the system.
By Steve Conley | Academy of Life Planning | 21 October 2026 We tell people to speak up. Report wrongdoing. Challenge misconduct. Take responsibility. Do the right thing. But what happens after they do? Who carries the cost when their income disappears, their career stalls, their health deteriorates and their family begins to struggle? Who … Continue reading Speaking up is an act of agency. Whether someone can survive speaking up is a test of the system.
Launching Academy Onboarding and Planner Succession
As people become more capable with AI the way we support them must change By Steve Conley | Academy of Life Planning | 21 October 2026 A financial planner retires. What happens to the people who have trusted them for years? An individual starts using AI to understand their life and money. What happens when … Continue reading Launching Academy Onboarding and Planner Succession
Bring Me Your Problem, Not Your Portfolio
Why you might need to talk to a different kind of financial professional A woman approaching retirement asks for “professional financial advice”. She is 63, earns around £50,000 a year and hopes to retire at 67. She has several pensions from different jobs, including an NHS pension, but no cash savings or investments outside them. … Continue reading Bring Me Your Problem, Not Your Portfolio
You can have more money and still feel that something is missing
Introducing the Total Wealth Wheel — free to use You can have a healthy bank balance and no time to enjoy it. A successful career and relationships that rarely get your attention. A carefully planned retirement and little idea what you want to retire into. We recognise these situations. Yet when we talk about wealth, … Continue reading You can have more money and still feel that something is missing
Who Equips the Citizen?
Why the Mills Review mattered beyond financial intermediation By Steve Conley, Founder, Academy of Life Planning | 19 October 2026 A person opens a letter from their pension provider. They understand the words, but cannot see what the assumptions mean for them. Another receives an adviser’s proposal. They want to examine the charges, alternatives and … Continue reading Who Equips the Citizen?
Equip the Davids. Stop waiting for the Goliaths to behave.
Join us in restoring human agency—helping citizens use AI to prevent financial exploitation, challenge institutional power and pursue recovery. For years, consumer campaigners have asked financial institutions to behave better. Be more transparent. Treat people fairly. Investigate properly. Put things right when harm occurs. We take evidence to regulators. We speak to parliamentarians. We attend … Continue reading Equip the Davids. Stop waiting for the Goliaths to behave.
When your clients already have the answers, what are your fees for?
New research puts AI almost level with human advisers as a comfortable place to ask financial questions. The bigger challenge is what happens to the business model when clients need fewer answers from you. For thirty years, I have watched a pattern repeat across financial services. As consumers gain visibility, understanding and the means to … Continue reading When your clients already have the answers, what are your fees for?
There is a place for you in the future we are building.
There is a place for you in the future we are building. Helping financial advisers find a worthwhile role in a world where people become more capable. What happens to your work when the people you help can do more for themselves? For a financial adviser, that question can feel threatening. You have spent years … Continue reading There is a place for you in the future we are building.
