Tag: investing

One Mission. Four Doors.

Restoring human agency in financial and life decisions — through human support, AI-assisted systems, practitioner training, and safe recovery after financial harm. There is a simple idea sitting at the heart of the Academy of Life Planning. People do not need more systems that make them dependent. They need systems that help them recover their … Continue reading One Mission. Four Doors. →

The Advice Gap Isn’t the Real Problem. The Agency Gap Is.

For years, policymakers, regulators, pension providers, and financial institutions have worried about the "advice gap." How do we get more people saving? How do we encourage better pension outcomes? How do we help people invest for the future? These are important questions. But they overlook a more fundamental reality. You cannot save money you do … Continue reading The Advice Gap Isn’t the Real Problem. The Agency Gap Is. →

Introducing Get Secure: The Bridge to Freedom

For more than a decade, I have been asking a simple question. Why is it that the people who most need high-quality planning are often the people least able to access it? Traditional financial planning has largely been built around people who already have assets, investments, pensions, and wealth to manage. Yet millions of people … Continue reading Introducing Get Secure: The Bridge to Freedom →

Former SJP partners hire lawyers to bring claim against advice giant

Group says advice company did not pay fair compensation for clients passed on to other appointed representatives, in case SJP describes as speculative. See Citywire article, 29 May 2026. The story centres on a growing dispute between former advisers of St. James's Place (SJP) and the firm's adviser network model. A group of former SJP … Continue reading Former SJP partners hire lawyers to bring claim against advice giant →

Financial Planning or Financial Conditioning? Why Human Capital May Matter More Than Financial Products

The Octopus Money research is interesting — and in many ways encouraging. People who received guidance, structure, and support reported feeling more resilient, more hopeful, and more engaged with saving and investing. That matters. In summary, the survey suggests that people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds can experience significantly improved financial confidence and resilience when they … Continue reading Financial Planning or Financial Conditioning? Why Human Capital May Matter More Than Financial Products →

The Trust Dividend: Why Structurally Trustworthy Financial Systems Would Create More Wealth, Not Less

For years, public debate around financial services has been framed as a battle between markets and consumers. One side argues that finance drives prosperity.The other argues that finance extracts wealth from society. But both sides may be missing something important. The real issue is not whether financial services should exist.The real issue is whether the … Continue reading The Trust Dividend: Why Structurally Trustworthy Financial Systems Would Create More Wealth, Not Less →

The Missing Asset in Britain’s Retirement Debate

Why Financial Planners Must Start Planning Human Capital — Not Just Pension Pots The Pensions Commission has warned, in the Pensions 2050: evidence and future priorities – interim report, that 15 million people are on course for inadequate retirement incomes. The proposed solutions will sound familiar: higher pension contributions, wider automatic enrolment, stronger retirement safeguards, … Continue reading The Missing Asset in Britain’s Retirement Debate →

The Hidden Money in the Small Print

Why The Leveller™ exists — and what investment platform cash interest tells us about modern finance There is a quiet shift happening inside modern financial services. Not a dramatic scandal.Not fraud.Not necessarily even misconduct. Something subtler. A growing gap between what institutions technically disclose… and what ordinary people genuinely understand. A recent Citywire report highlighted … Continue reading The Hidden Money in the Small Print →

12.2 Million People Are Being Told They Face Pension Poverty.

But What If the Missing Asset… Is You? A new retirement report from Scottish Widows says 12.2 million people across the UK are at risk of “pension poverty.” The proposed solutions are familiar: Save more into pensions Increase auto-enrolment contributions Invest more for longer Build larger retirement pots Those things matter. But there is another … Continue reading 12.2 Million People Are Being Told They Face Pension Poverty. →