When a profession celebrates widening access, it must also ask a harder question: access to what? This week, the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and Personal Finance Society (PFS) announced that over 6,600 young people have taken part in their virtual work experience programmes since 2023. The story is being framed as a success: Diverse participation … Continue reading Are We Educating the Next Generation — or Recruiting Them Into a Broken System?
Author: Steve Conley
Steve Conley brings over four decades of innovation and expertise to the forefront of financial planning. As the founder and driving force behind the Academy of Life Planning and HapNav Ltd, Steve has been a pivotal figure in transforming financial services to be more democratic and decentralised. His role as a Game Plan Practitioner, Coach, Mentor, Speaker, and Author of "Your Money or Your Life: Unmask the Highway Robbers - Enjoy Wealth in Every Area of Your Life" underlines his comprehensive approach to financial education.
The Academy of Life Planning, hailed as the "Most Pioneering Financial Planner Network," reflects Steve's commitment to fostering transparency, integrity, and accessibility. This institution serves as a testament to his dedication to enhancing the financial planning landscape.
Under Steve's innovative leadership, HapNav Ltd has launched groundbreaking advancements, including the first end-user financial planning app integrated with open banking. This app guides users towards achieving 'Kokoro'—a life rich in financial, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual abundance.
Recently, Steve introduced "Planning My Life" and "Financial Life Coach"—services that extend his ethos into practical, impactful tools for financial autonomy. "Planning My Life" offers an affordable subscription model, giving members access to an AI Life Planner, comprehensive resources, and expert insights. These initiatives epitomise Steve’s commitment to empowering individuals, nurturing community growth, and contributing significantly to global efforts to eradicate poverty.
Steve's journey is more than a career; it's a steadfast crusade to revolutionise financial education and planning, creating a world where financial wellbeing is not just attainable, but enriches every aspect of our lives. Contact steve.conley@aolp.co.uk.
Take Your Sign Down: Why Financial Planning Must Stop Living Within a Lie
By Steve Conley, Academy of Life Planning Overnight in Davos, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered what I believe will be remembered as an era-defining speech. Not because it was dramatic.Not because it was ideological.But because it named reality. Carney spoke about geopolitics.But what he really described was every untrustworthy system that survives by ritual, … Continue reading Take Your Sign Down: Why Financial Planning Must Stop Living Within a Lie
From Meaningful Advice to Total Wealth Planning
From Meaningful Advice to Total Wealth Planning Why the profession is right about meaning — and why the journey can’t stop there An Academy of Life Planning bridge‑mode explainer for advisers sensing there’s more to come A shared moment of recognition Recent commentary from respected thought leaders within the adviser profession captures something many practitioners … Continue reading From Meaningful Advice to Total Wealth Planning
Why Total Wealth Planning Isn’t a Lifestyle Add-On — It’s a Correction of a Category Error
What a landmark human capital study reveals about the future of financial planning Introduction: A Quiet Problem No One in Advice Talks About Most financial planners were trained inside a narrow frame: Learn the technical rules Model the money Optimise the investments Manage the risks Assume the client behaves “rationally” It’s a neat system.It’s also … Continue reading Why Total Wealth Planning Isn’t a Lifestyle Add-On — It’s a Correction of a Category Error
Crossing the Bridge: From Advice‑Only to Total Wealth Planning
A gentle map of where the profession is heading — and why it matters There is a quiet shift happening in financial planning. It is not loud. It is not revolutionary (yet). And it is not being announced as a paradigm change. But if you look closely at how progressive advisers are evolving their fee … Continue reading Crossing the Bridge: From Advice‑Only to Total Wealth Planning
The Hidden Career Risk Nobody Mentions in Financial Adviser Recruitment
Why “loving your job” marketing needs a reality check Blue Monday: a perfect moment to sell a dream Every January, we’re told it’s Blue Monday — the most depressing day of the year.Whether or not the science stacks up, the emotional truth often does. People are tired.Burned out.Disillusioned with work that feels meaningless, insecure, or … Continue reading The Hidden Career Risk Nobody Mentions in Financial Adviser Recruitment
Why Money Precision Is Not the Point in Later-Life Planning
And Why Total Wealth Planners Must Think Bigger Than Cashflow Models For decades, the financial planning profession has trained itself to believe one thing above all else: “Accuracy is everything.” The closer a spreadsheet can predict a person’s financial future, the more “professional” the plan is assumed to be. But here is the uncomfortable truth: … Continue reading Why Money Precision Is Not the Point in Later-Life Planning
AI, Ethics, and the Advice Line: How Total Wealth Planners Stay on the Right Side of Regulation
AI, Ethics, and the Advice Line How Total Wealth Planners Stay on the Right Side of Both FCA and CMA Regulation Using AI as a client-empowerment tool — without drifting into regulated advice or consumer law risk Artificial intelligence is fast becoming one of the most powerful tools in the Total Wealth Planner’s toolkit. Used … Continue reading AI, Ethics, and the Advice Line: How Total Wealth Planners Stay on the Right Side of Regulation
The Significant S.T.O.R.I.E.S. System™
Hi Steve, I asked your GPT tool this: Can you give me some text that introduces the 8 steps to your Plan B, also known as the Significant S.T.O.R.I.E.S. system, explain the outcome for the user, and the power of it in someone’s life? But the answer it gave me wasn’t quite right. It leaned … Continue reading The Significant S.T.O.R.I.E.S. System™
Life on the Other Side of Financial Planning
Why Human Capital Strategies Mastery Is Becoming the Bridge to the Profession’s Future There’s a quiet moment many financial planners reach. Nothing has gone wrong.Clients are still engaging.The rules are still being followed.The numbers still add up. And yet something feels incomplete. Not because financial planning has failed —but because the world it serves has … Continue reading Life on the Other Side of Financial Planning
Academy of Life Planning 