The human purpose of financial planning is compelling. But does that mean the traditional financial advice business model is the only way to pursue it? By Steve Conley, Founder, Academy of Life Planning | 9 November 2026 A remarkable statistic According to research published by the Women's Wealth Alliance in 2025, 93% of women who … Continue reading 93% of Women Recommend Financial Advice as a Career. But Which Career Are They Recommending?
Tag: Financial Planning
You Asked for Financial Advice. Did You Get the Planning Help You Needed?
After 15 years of listening to people let down by financial advice, I've finally understood who my business is for. And why AI could change everything. By Steve Conley | Founder, Academy of Life Planning | 26 October 2026 Over the past few weeks, I've been taking a hard look at my business. Not at … Continue reading You Asked for Financial Advice. Did You Get the Planning Help You Needed?
Customers Have AI Too!
The profession is asking how AI can make advisers more productive. What happens when it makes customers more capable? This week, financial planners gather in Windsor to “turn the page on established thinking”. Here is the page I would turn. Imagine your next prospective client arriving on a video call. They have organised their financial … Continue reading Customers Have AI Too!
Who validated the warning about AI and your money?
An evidence audit of a financial AI headline, its commercial context and the poll that followedSteve Conley | Academy of Life Planning | 23 September 2026 I watched a poll ask people how much of their money they would let AI decide with. Before they answered, it told them that chatbots had got 57% of … Continue reading Who validated the warning about AI and your money?
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.
Who Said Financial Planning Needed a Product Licence?
Why the trailblazers of financial planning are moving from the regulated 1% to the human 100% Most financial planners did not enter the profession because they wanted a licence to sell products. They entered because they wanted to help people. They wanted to help people make better decisions, avoid costly mistakes, prepare for uncertainty and … Continue reading Who Said Financial Planning Needed a Product Licence?
The Salary Trap: What Is a Graduate Really Signing Up For in an AUM Advice Firm?
The Graduate Advice Trap: Your Salary, Their Assets, Someone Else’s Business A graduate enters financial services wanting to become a financial planner. They want to help people understand money, make better decisions and build a life around what matters. The industry offers them something apparently reassuring: A salary. Training. Professional qualifications. A career path. Perhaps, … Continue reading The Salary Trap: What Is a Graduate Really Signing Up For in an AUM Advice Firm?
Same Expertise. Different Price.
Same Expertise. Different Price. The Academy of Life Planning has launched a new Cost Comparison Calculator to show what happens when the same level of professional expertise is priced in two very different ways. A Chartered Financial Planner can work in two fundamentally different models. As a conventional financial adviser, they may charge an ongoing … Continue reading Same Expertise. Different Price.
Financial Iceberg: ChatGPT Exposes Hidden Truths
Today I came across this post on LinkedIn: I ACCIDENTALLY UNLOCKED "GOD MODE" IN CHATGPT,AND IT STARTED TEACHING ME THINGS I DIDN'T KNEW EXISTED.HERE ARE THOSE 7 CHATGPT PROMPTS THAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING FOR YOU:Forbidden Wisdom DecoderPrompt:What are the lesser-known, under-the-surface truths about [insert topic/field] that are rarely shared publicly because they challenge mainstream thinking? … Continue reading Financial Iceberg: ChatGPT Exposes Hidden Truths
You Don’t Have to Abandon Advice to Start Restoring Agency
Many regulated financial advisers can see that the relationship between clients, technology and professional expertise is changing. They understand the argument for greater client capability. They recognise that AI is reducing information asymmetry. They may even agree that financial planning should leave people more able to understand, choose and act for themselves. But agreement does … Continue reading You Don’t Have to Abandon Advice to Start Restoring Agency
