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 they want an experienced human to help them think something through?
These questions meet in a new service we are launching at the Academy of Life Planning: Academy Onboarding and Planner Succession (AOPS).
We help people establish their own life record and personal operating system. Initially, I provide the total wealth planning support they choose, through Total Wealth Planner™.
Over time, other Total Wealth Planners can grow their practices by taking on willing, onboarded users.
Retiring planners can introduce clients and receive payment for the relationships they have built. People joining directly can develop their capability and choose support when they need it.
Throughout, the person keeps control of their system, their record and their choice of professional.
AI changes the person arriving for support
Much of the conversation about AI in financial services concerns what it can do for firms: write reports, summarise meetings and reduce administration.
There is another change taking place. People themselves have access to more intelligence.
They can learn unfamiliar concepts, organise information, explore possibilities and arrive with better questions. They can examine the assumptions behind a proposition and ask whether it serves the life they want to live.
That does not make every AI answer correct. It makes learning how to question and check those answers part of the service.
Research has found that AI assistance can improve performance on particular tasks, sometimes especially for less experienced people. It has also shown that performance can deteriorate when people rely on AI beyond its capabilities. The opportunity is greater practical intelligence supported by judgement. [1, 2]
Operating models must adjust to this shifting demand. A person who can do more for themselves needs a service that welcomes that capability and helps it grow.
A personal operating system with human support
Our approach brings together My Life Record, Academy OS and the human support of a Total Wealth Planner.
My Life Record is the person’s enduring record, held in their own Google Drive. It brings together relevant information about their life, intentions, finances and plans. My Life Record is free.
Academy OS provides the apps the person uses to understand their situation, explore choices and develop their plan. The Academy OS support subscription costs £4.99 per month from 1 November 2026.
The Total Wealth Planner provides human perspective: helping someone clarify priorities, question assumptions, understand trade offs and decide what to do next.
The planner of the future will not be the client’s operating system. They will help the client operate one.
The apps belong with the user
This distinction matters. Academy OS apps are operated by the user. A planner, family member or successor does not receive access to those apps.
The user can choose to grant access to relevant sections of My Life Record. That might include a planner, solicitor, accountant, executor or family member. There may be many authorised people, each with a different reason for access.
Permission to see a record is separate from permission to operate an app. Sharing information does not hand over control of the system.
For example, someone exploring retirement can operate Navigator themselves, then discuss the assumptions and resulting scenarios with a Total Wealth Planner. They can share relevant information from their record if they wish.
What onboarding means
Onboarding helps a person get started with something useful. We help them establish their record, bring together relevant information, learn to use appropriate tools and identify their next actions.
We work at a pace that suits their confidence and circumstances. They do not need to complete every section before benefiting, and they do not need to appoint a planner to retain their own record.
The purpose is capability: understanding what they have, what matters to them, what their choices mean and when to seek help.
Your Plan. Your OS. Your Support.
A practical route for retiring planners
Years of trust deserve an organised handover. A retiring planner may want to step back while knowing that clients have a route to continuing support.
Through Academy Onboarding and Planner Succession (AOPS), suitable clients can be introduced to our total wealth planning service. Each person chooses whether to join and what support they want.
Initially, I provide the Second Brain support personally. My hourly fee is £200. For each qualifying paid hour during the first three years of supporting an introduced client, I pay the introducer £50 and retain £150 before costs.
Payments follow support actually delivered and paid for. There is no promise of a fixed income or a requirement for clients to buy a particular number of hours. The handover and payment terms are agreed in writing.
This gives the retiring planner value for successful introductions, while allowing clients to decide whether the new relationship works for them.
A route to practice growth
As the service develops, suitable Total Wealth Planners in our network will be able to take on onboarded users who want their support.
They can begin a relationship with someone who already has a personal record, has started using their own OS and has identified a reason for human help. That gives the planner a useful foundation for the conversation.
When support is handed to a network planner under this model, they charge £200 per hour and pay the Academy £50 per qualifying paid hour for the first three years of that arrangement. They retain £150 before their delivery costs.
If that period overlaps with an original introducer’s three years, the Academy passes its £50 hourly receipt to the original introducer for the remaining eligible period. The delivering planner’s £150 is unchanged.
These payments concern the introduction and continuity of the planning relationship. They do not buy ownership of a person or their personal information. Any separate subscriptions or network charges are explained separately.
The record stays with the person
A subsequent change of planner does not require the user to move their underlying life record. They can authorise relevant access for the new professional and review the previous professional’s permissions through Access and Succession.
The commercial handover and the user’s permission are separate decisions. The person remains free to choose their support.
Continuity that strengthens agency
The Academy can now connect two needs: people who want a better foundation for managing life and money, and planners who want a supported route into or out of professional relationships.
For the individual, the benefit is a record and system that remain with them as life changes. Human support can increase, reduce or change around that foundation.
For the retiring planner, it is a route to stepping back with an organised introduction and a defined payment arrangement.
For the incoming Total Wealth Planner, it is an opportunity to build a practice by providing support that an informed person actively chooses.
We will begin with me delivering the service personally. The network can grow from that practical experience, with the same principle governing every handover: the person keeps their system and chooses who helps.
As AI expands what people can understand and do, professional value will increasingly depend on how well we work with that capability. Our operating model should make people stronger, welcome their questions and make it easier for them to act on their own priorities.
Explore the service
If you are a planner considering retirement, a Total Wealth Planner interested in growing your practice, or someone seeking help getting started with your own record and OS, contact me to explore the fit.
Book a 50 minute Strategy Zoom Meeting for £50 through the Academy of Life Planning. We can discuss your circumstances and whether this service offers a useful next step.
Total Wealth Planning support and prices.
Our service provides total wealth planning, education and decision support. It does not provide FCA regulated investment advice, arrange investments or recommend buying, selling, holding or transferring a particular regulated product. Specialist services, where needed, are engaged separately.
Further reading
[1] Brynjolfsson, Li and Raymond. Generative AI at Work. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjae044
[2] Harvard Business School AI Institute. Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier. https://aiinstitute.hbs.edu/navigating-the-jagged-technological-frontier/
