If you've scrolled through TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, chances are you've come across "finfluencers" — financial influencers dishing out tips on where to invest, what stocks to buy, or how to make quick cash. For the alphabet generations (Gen Z, Millennials), this has become a popular source of financial guidance. But there's a serious issue … Continue reading Finfluencers vs. Qualified Financial Advice: Where Are You Getting Your Advice?
Author: Steve Conley
Steve Conley is the founder of the Academy of Life Planning, a movement dedicated to restoring human agency in financial planning and helping people navigate life's decisions with greater confidence, capability and independence.
With over 40 years' experience in financial services, Steve has held senior leadership roles with HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Royal London. A Chartered Financial Planner and Chartered Insurer, he combines deep industry expertise with a passion for challenging systems that leave people unnecessarily dependent on experts.
Steve believes the future of financial planning is not about replacing advisers with artificial intelligence, but using AI to strengthen people's ability to understand, question and make informed decisions for themselves. This philosophy underpins Academy OS, a growing ecosystem of AI-powered tools designed to help individuals, families and planners build capability rather than dependency.
Through the Academy of Life Planning, Steve works with financial planners, organisations and individuals who share a vision of a more transparent, ethical and human-centred approach to planning. His work spans education, research, technology, speaking and professional development, with a focus on creating practical solutions that improve financial capability and restore confidence in decision-making.
Steve is also the creator of the Total Wealth Planner approach, which recognises that a fulfilling life depends on far more than money alone. By integrating financial, personal, social and purpose-driven wellbeing, he helps people pursue what he calls "enough"—a life of balance, resilience and meaning.
As a speaker, mentor and author of *Your Money or Your Life: Unmask the Highway Robbers*, Steve continues to challenge conventional thinking about financial planning, arguing that the profession's greatest opportunity is to move beyond advice alone and become a catalyst for greater human agency.
To learn more or connect with Steve, visit the Academy of Life Planning or email steve@academyoflifeplanning.com.
Can AI Really Help Advisers Handle 500 Clients?
There's been a lot of buzz about artificial intelligence (AI) revolutionising the financial advice industry. The claim? AI could empower advisers to handle 500 clients – a number that seems unimaginable for many who are already struggling to give proper attention to just 100. Alan Gurung, co-founder of Advisory AI, believes AI can help advisers … Continue reading Can AI Really Help Advisers Handle 500 Clients?
Lessons from the US: What UK Financial Planners Must Learn to Protect Holistic Planning
The landscape of financial planning is evolving globally, and the UK’s financial intermediaries licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) should take note of a critical precedent set in the US. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' (AICPA’s) victory in the United States against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has broad implications for … Continue reading Lessons from the US: What UK Financial Planners Must Learn to Protect Holistic Planning
Understanding the Difference: Generic vs. Specific Financial Advice for Finfluencers
Brits! As a finfluencer, your platform holds great influence, especially over young and often vulnerable audiences. But with this power comes the responsibility to understand where you stand in terms of financial regulation. Knowing when you are providing generic financial information and when you are crossing into the territory of specific, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) … Continue reading Understanding the Difference: Generic vs. Specific Financial Advice for Finfluencers
The Difference Between a Conduct Regulator and a Professional Body in Financial Services
When you step into the world of financial services, it's easy to see how confusion can arise between the roles of a Conduct Regulator and a Professional Body. Let’s clear that up. If you’re a financial services professional, you are (hopefully!) qualified and an active member of a professional body. These professional bodies bind their … Continue reading The Difference Between a Conduct Regulator and a Professional Body in Financial Services
Financial Planner Engagement: A Pathway to Professional Success Without Product Selling
In today’s rapidly evolving financial services landscape, many aspiring financial planners find themselves disillusioned with traditional career pathways that focus on sales targets and commission-based incentives. At the Academy of Life Planning, we offer a different approach—one that champions the role of the financial planner as an independent professional, not a product salesperson. Here, you … Continue reading Financial Planner Engagement: A Pathway to Professional Success Without Product Selling
The Comfortable Lie of Bundling Advice and Product
There’s a silent deception happening in the financial advice industry—one that blends the lines between advice and product sales. This is where advisers, who double as product distributors, create what they call "adviser alpha." The supposed value they claim to add often revolves around investment management. Yet, retail investment management has long been commoditised, with … Continue reading The Comfortable Lie of Bundling Advice and Product
Is there a universal law guiding our life’s pathway, and does following it bring ease and grace?
Is there a universal law guiding our life’s pathway, and does following it bring ease and grace? Many spiritual, religious, and philosophical traditions suggest that each of us is on a life path, one that is either chosen by our spirit before birth or guided by a higher power. This path is meant for our … Continue reading Is there a universal law guiding our life’s pathway, and does following it bring ease and grace?
Exploring the Threshold Hypothesis: Can More Money Really Buy Happiness?
For years, we’ve been told that money can’t buy happiness. But if that’s the case, why do so many of us strive to earn more, save more, and invest more? What if there’s a point where income does contribute to happiness, but only up to a certain level? This question has been explored in depth … Continue reading Exploring the Threshold Hypothesis: Can More Money Really Buy Happiness?
What the Financial Advice Industry Can Learn from MiFID II’s Unbundling of Research and Trading
In 2018, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) brought about significant reforms in the institutional investment world by mandating the unbundling of research and trading costs. Before this, asset managers often paid for both services through opaque, bundled fees, which obscured the true cost to clients. MiFID II forced these costs to … Continue reading What the Financial Advice Industry Can Learn from MiFID II’s Unbundling of Research and Trading
Academy of Life Planning 