Tag: finance

From Evidence to Empowerment: Why Financial Literacy Tests Are Necessary — and Why They Are Not Enough

An Academy of Life Planning perspective on Britain’s overdue reckoning Last week, Michael Mainelli, Chairman of Z/Yen Group and former Lord Mayor of the City of London, published a sharp and timely intervention calling on the UK to stop avoiding international scrutiny and finally participate in the OECD PISA Financial Literacy Assessment. His argument is … Continue reading From Evidence to Empowerment: Why Financial Literacy Tests Are Necessary — and Why They Are Not Enough →

Human Capital Isn’t a “Soft” Concept — It’s the Hardest Driver of Fair Wealth Outcomes

Lessons for Total Wealth Planners from Global Evidence on Income Equality For decades, financial planning has been dominated by one narrow question:How do we grow financial capital? But global evidence increasingly points to a deeper, more foundational truth: Societies that invest in human capital don’t just grow wealth — they distribute it more fairly. A … Continue reading Human Capital Isn’t a “Soft” Concept — It’s the Hardest Driver of Fair Wealth Outcomes →

Human Capital Lessons Every Total Wealth Planner Should Understand

What a global development study reveals about planning, productivity, and prosperity For Total Wealth Planners, human capital is not a soft concept. It is the primary engine of long-term wealth, resilience, and freedom. A major academic study on the development and effective use of human capital in developing countries offers powerful lessons that are just … Continue reading Human Capital Lessons Every Total Wealth Planner Should Understand →

Human Capital Is Not a Footnote to Financial Planning

What Three Landmark Studies Teach Total Wealth Planners For decades, financial planning has treated human capital as a background assumption—future earnings, career trajectory, or “capacity for work.”The evidence tells a very different story. Across three major studies—spanning poverty, inequality, life expectancy, and economic growth—a consistent message emerges: Human capital is not merely an input to … Continue reading Human Capital Is Not a Footnote to Financial Planning →

Why a Total Wealth Plan Feels So Different from a Financial Plan

Why a Total Wealth Plan Feels So Different from a Financial Plan And why it isn’t a bolt-on People approaching a Total Wealth Plan—whether as individuals or professional advisers—often do so with a familiar mental model. They expect a better financial plan.More depth. More insight. Better projections. That expectation is understandable.It’s also where confusion usually … Continue reading Why a Total Wealth Plan Feels So Different from a Financial Plan →

Lessons on Human Capital for Total Wealth Planners

Lessons on Human Capital for Total Wealth PlannersWhat long-term economic growth teaches us about life-first planning Most financial planning still treats people as inputs into a system: earn, save, invest, retire.The attached study on human capital as a determinant of long-term economic growth quietly dismantles that assumption. Its core finding is simple but profound: Sustainable … Continue reading Lessons on Human Capital for Total Wealth Planners →

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 →

From the 1% to the 100%: An Invitation to Financial Advisers Ready to Practise Total Wealth Planning

Most financial advisers didn’t enter the profession to sell products. They entered it to help people make better decisions about their lives. And yet, many now find themselves constrained — not by their ethics or competence, but by the narrow scope of the system they work within. This article isn’t a critique of advisers.It’s an … Continue reading From the 1% to the 100%: An Invitation to Financial Advisers Ready to Practise Total Wealth Planning →

2026 is where professionals step out of the risk-chain.

Regulators showed their teeth in 2025. So why does the harm keep repeating — and how can 2026 be different? At first glance, 2025 looked like a turning point. Headlines spoke of regulators “showing their teeth”.Large institutions were fined.Language hardened.Enforcement totals rose. And yet, when we step back and look at the violations data, a … Continue reading 2026 is where professionals step out of the risk-chain. →