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

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

Case Study: When “Building Your Own Book” Isn’t What It Seems

This case study is drawn from multiple adviser experiences. Details have been anonymised, but the structure and outcomes are real. The starting point: an attractive opportunity An adviser joins a well-known advice practice operating within a large network. They are offered a Business Support Package (BSP), described verbally as: help getting started, an investment in … Continue reading Case Study: When “Building Your Own Book” Isn’t What It Seems

AI Cash-Flow Planning vs Traditional Lifetime Cash-Flow Tools

A reflection for planners navigating what comes next For decades, lifetime cash-flow planning tools have played a central role in professional financial planning. They brought structure, consistency, and a sense of rigour to conversations about the future. Many advisers built their confidence — and their practices — around them. So it’s understandable that the emergence … Continue reading AI Cash-Flow Planning vs Traditional Lifetime Cash-Flow Tools

Confidential Settlements, Tomlin Orders, and What They Mean for Victims

For many people harmed by financial misconduct, a settlement can feel like the end of a long and exhausting journey. The letters stop. The court process pauses. There is, at last, some financial relief. But for many victims, settlement is not the end of the story.It is simply a quieter chapter—often one marked by confusion, … Continue reading Confidential Settlements, Tomlin Orders, and What They Mean for Victims

AI Isn’t Eating Your Lunch — It’s Changing Who Brings It to the Table

Introducing the Total Wealth Plan™ licensing options A quiet shift in how clients prepare for advice More and more clients are arriving having already used AI to: explore scenarios compare options question fees and sense-check decisions Not because they want to bypass their adviser —but because AI now gives them agency before the meeting. For … Continue reading AI Isn’t Eating Your Lunch — It’s Changing Who Brings It to the Table

Adviser Bridge: Why the Academy of Life Planning Supports Advisers Before Lawyers Get Involved

Transitions are part of modern financial advice. Yet for many regulated advisers, leaving a firm or changing structure has become one of the most stressful and disempowering moments of their professional lives. Exit conditions, repayment demands, Business Start-Up or support arrangements, restrictive correspondence, and unclear obligations often surface all at once — frequently accompanied by … Continue reading Adviser Bridge: Why the Academy of Life Planning Supports Advisers Before Lawyers Get Involved

What Best-Practice Client Onboarding Looks Like for a Total Wealth Planner — and Why It Matters

In financial services, most problems don’t start with bad advice. They start with bad beginnings. Confused expectations.Blurred roles.Too much given away too early — or too little structure when it mattered most. Total Wealth Planning exists precisely to correct that. Not by adding complexity, but by restoring clarity, boundaries, and client ownership from the very … Continue reading What Best-Practice Client Onboarding Looks Like for a Total Wealth Planner — and Why It Matters

AI Is at the Door — and It’s Knocking in 2026

AI Is at the Door — and It’s Knocking What Matthew Griffin’s warning really means for the future of financial planning Dear reader, the quote below isn’t just an observation. It’s a signal flare. When Matthew Griffin — widely described as “the adviser behind the advisers” — says “AI is coming for your lunch”, he’s … Continue reading AI Is at the Door — and It’s Knocking in 2026

Why £497 Is the Right Price for Real Planning — And Why It’s Finally Possible

For more than a decade, policymakers have asked the same question: Why don’t more people access financial advice? The answer has never been a lack of interest.It has been a mismatch between what people value, what the system delivers, and what it costs to provide. At the Academy of Life Planning, we are now offering … Continue reading Why £497 Is the Right Price for Real Planning — And Why It’s Finally Possible