And why the future of planning is human-led, AI-powered, and life-first Artificial intelligence is changing everything. It can draft emails.Build financial models.Summarise documents.Generate plans in seconds. And yet… It still can’t decide what kind of life is worth building.It can’t sit with someone in grief.It can’t hold moral complexity.It can’t help a human being choose … Continue reading Why the Hybrid Total Wealth Planner Will Win in the Age of AI
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.
Cross the Bridge: Join the Total Wealth Plan Beta and Shape the Future of Planning
The future of financial planning isn’t product-led.It isn’t adviser-centric.And it definitely isn’t built around hourly dependency. It’s client-empowered, AI-supported, and life-centred. And it’s already happening. If you’re a financial adviser standing at the bridge between the old model and what comes next, this is your invitation to help shape it — and to stay meaningfully … Continue reading Cross the Bridge: Join the Total Wealth Plan Beta and Shape the Future of Planning
“I Didn’t Have a Mental Health Problem. I Had a Lloyds Problem.”
There is a crucial truth that almost no safeguarding framework, regulator, or victim support service is willing to name. Most victims of financial wrongdoing do not develop suicidal thoughts because they are mentally ill. They develop them because they are being actively crushed by an unresolved injustice that will not stop. As one survivor put … Continue reading “I Didn’t Have a Mental Health Problem. I Had a Lloyds Problem.”
From Products to People: Human Capital Lessons for the Next Generation of Financial Advisers
Why the Future of Financial Advice Is Human, Not Just Financial For decades, mainstream financial advice has revolved around financial capital — portfolios, products, tax wrappers, asset allocation, and return optimisation. That model is now reaching its natural limits. A growing body of research — including OECD work on human capital and academic critiques of … Continue reading From Products to People: Human Capital Lessons for the Next Generation of Financial Advisers
Why the System Tries to Erase Victims — and Why Get SAFE Exists to Keep Them Alive Long Enough to Turn the Tables
There is a pattern that almost no one names, but every long-term victim of financial wrongdoing eventually feels in their bones. When an institution knows it has caused serious harm — and knows that fully acknowledging it would expose regulatory failure, legal liability, or reputational collapse — it does not rush to correct the wrong. … Continue reading Why the System Tries to Erase Victims — and Why Get SAFE Exists to Keep Them Alive Long Enough to Turn the Tables
From Products to People: What Human Capital Economics Teaches Financial Advisers at the Bridge
Why the future of financial planning is not about better portfolios — but better humans. For decades, financial advice has been built on a narrow idea of “wealth”:money first, life second, people last. But a growing body of serious economic research is now saying what many progressive advisers already feel in practice: Money doesn’t create … Continue reading From Products to People: What Human Capital Economics Teaches Financial Advisers at the Bridge
Why This Study Quietly Changes Everything for Financial Planners
What Human Capital Inequality Teaches Us About the Future of Advice For decades, financial planning has rested on a comfortable assumption: If people have access to money and good products, they’ll make good long-term decisions. The study “Human Capital Inequality, Life Expectancy and Economic Growth” by Castelló-Climent and Doménech gently — but decisively — dismantles … Continue reading Why This Study Quietly Changes Everything for Financial Planners
PMC Member Showcase
Geoff Dyckes RLP®, GAME Plan AccreditedLife-Centred Financial Planner Peer Practice Sharing — Learn What’s Really Working Most advisers don’t need more theory.They need to see how real people are actually building real practices — in the messy middle. That’s exactly what the Practice Management Circle (PMC) is for. PMC is the Academy’s peer learning space … Continue reading PMC Member Showcase
Vanguard Cuts LifeStrategy Fees — And Why “Boring” Is Exactly What Most People Need
Vanguard has just announced another round of fee cuts and a new global LifeStrategy range. On the surface, it looks like routine industry news: Fees down from 0.22% to 0.20% Model portfolio costs moving toward ~0.17% Reduced UK home bias A new fully global LifeStrategy range £10m “returned” to UK investors Continued focus on low-cost, … Continue reading Vanguard Cuts LifeStrategy Fees — And Why “Boring” Is Exactly What Most People Need
Are We Educating the Next Generation — or Recruiting Them Into a Broken System?
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?
Academy of Life Planning 