A striking headline appeared in Financial Reporter: “AI models give wrong financial advice 57% of the time.” The claim came from research commissioned by financial technology company Saturn. It reportedly tested 18 AI models using 121 financial questions, repeated five times, producing more than 10,000 responses. Across those responses, 57% were classified as wrong. On … Continue reading Before asking whether AI gives the wrong financial advice, we should ask whether the industry has been measuring the right kind of wealth
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.
How to Stop Making Scams So Easy
In response to the collapse of Woodville Consultants and a challenge from The Times, we have updated Investigator™—because government should close the loophole, but people need protection while it remains open A form is placed in front of an investor. It asks them to confirm that they are “high net worth” or a “sophisticated investor”. … Continue reading How to Stop Making Scams So Easy
When Fake Pharmacies Look Real, “Does This Look Professional?” Is the Wrong Question
Check before the sales journey becomes a medical decision Today, The Times reports that British regulators are playing “whack-a-mole” against organised criminals selling counterfeit weight-loss medicines through fake online pharmacies. According to the investigation, UK consumers accessed around 5,000 suspected fake-pharmacy websites during 2025. Regulators have disrupted more than 1,500 illegal sites, but new ones … Continue reading When Fake Pharmacies Look Real, “Does This Look Professional?” Is the Wrong Question
The Man in the Suit Was Me. But He Is Not Me Now.
Why Total Wealth Planner now reflects the person—and the proposition—you can experience today For years, the Total Wealth Planner website featured a photograph of me in a suit. I looked younger. Successful. Confident. Prosperous. It was a professional photograph of the sort commonly used throughout financial services. It conveyed experience, authority and achievement. The photograph … Continue reading The Man in the Suit Was Me. But He Is Not Me Now.
BIG Checker™ Has Grown Beyond Money
BIG Checker™ Has Grown Beyond Money The agency-preserving claim checker for wealth, health and everything in between Most misleading communications do not begin with a lie. They begin with something true. A scientific finding. A regulatory approval. A manufacturing certificate. A respected institution. A real risk. A genuine human fear. Then, somewhere between the evidence … Continue reading BIG Checker™ Has Grown Beyond Money
The Establishment Is Defended. The Market Keeps Moving. The Profession Is Left Looking Backwards.
A professional body may believe it is protecting financial planning by excluding challenges to the established model. It may actually be protecting its members from the very ideas they most need to hear. I was scrolling through the programme for this year’s Festival of Financial Planning when the pattern became difficult to ignore. There were … Continue reading The Establishment Is Defended. The Market Keeps Moving. The Profession Is Left Looking Backwards.
When Human Agency Looks Like Sales Resistance
Why the “DIY client” may be the future of financial planning, not a prospect to defeat I recently read a sales article about how advisers should handle people who prefer to manage their own finances. It described the “DIY prospect” as a battle. Advisers were told to weed such people out before they wasted time, … Continue reading When Human Agency Looks Like Sales Resistance
When a Professional Body No Longer Recognises the Profession
The Personal Finance Society is losing members. Is retirement really the whole explanation—or is it suffering from a growing relevance deficit? The Personal Finance Society has lost almost 2,000 members in a year. According to its 2025 Annual Report, membership fell from 38,703 to 36,807—a decline of 4.9%. Membership revenue fell from £7.66 million to … Continue reading When a Professional Body No Longer Recognises the Profession
When fraud takes your money it also tries to take your agency
£70M FRAUD. 15 YEARS IN JAIL. BUT WHO HELPS THE VICTIMS? The latest release of The Recoverer ™ is now available free at http://www.the-recoverer.app A £70 million pension fraud has ended with three men in prison. But the story exposes a harder truth: justice may arrive years later, while victims need a practical way to … Continue reading When fraud takes your money it also tries to take your agency
A Faster Answer to the Wrong Question Is Still Wrong
PARLIAMENT • REDRESS • HUMAN AGENCY A Faster Answer to the Wrong Question Is Still Wrong Parliament is redesigning financial regulation in the name of growth. But efficiency without effective challenge may simply make consumer harm easier to finalise—and harder to correct. Academy of Life Planning 8 September 2026 There is a familiar promise at … Continue reading A Faster Answer to the Wrong Question Is Still Wrong
