It Is When the Light Comes Back On There is an idea that has run through the Academy of Life Planning for years. The purpose of life planning is to light the lamp within. That is why I call Total Wealth Planners Lamplighters. I have always understood the metaphor intellectually. This week, I think I … Continue reading The Most Important Outcome of Financial Planning Is Not the Money
Tag: life
Before You Plan Your Money, Find the Direction of Your Life
I’ve built a new app. But this one begins with no money at all. No pensions.No investments.No budgets.No retirement calculators. Just four questions: What are you good at?What do you love?What does the world need?What could you be paid for? Those four questions sit at the heart of the Japanese idea of Ikigai — often … Continue reading Before You Plan Your Money, Find the Direction of Your Life
I Was Wrong About the Financial Concierge
The professional’s job is not to occupy the pathway between the client and their money, but to keep that pathway clear. Why a Total Wealth Planner should be at reception, not permanently in your room For several years, I have described the emerging role of the holistic financial planner as a financial concierge. I still … Continue reading I Was Wrong About the Financial Concierge
Kakeibo Ledger™: A Free Budgeting Tool Built for Human Agency
Kakeibo Ledger™: Sometimes the Best Technology Gets Out of Your Way I have been fascinated by Japanese approaches to money, life and human flourishing for a long time. I use Ikigai in life planning. I use Kokoro as a way of thinking about alignment between mind, body, heart and spirit. Even the Academy’s GAME Plan … Continue reading Kakeibo Ledger™: A Free Budgeting Tool Built for Human Agency
Do You Need a Financial Adviser — Or Just Your Agency Back?
Why a temporary period of complexity should not automatically become a lifetime of advised dependency Most people do not wake up one morning and decide: “I would like to outsource my financial judgement for the rest of my life.” Something usually happens first. A bereavement. A divorce. Retirement. Redundancy. An inheritance. A pension decision. A … Continue reading Do You Need a Financial Adviser — Or Just Your Agency Back?
Why Build a Total Wealth Planning Practice Alone?
Most financial planning businesses begin with one person. One planner. One diary. One network. One set of skills. One person carrying the whole thing. That can work. But it also creates an obvious weakness. If everything depends on you, you may have created a practice — but you have not yet created much organisational resilience. … Continue reading Why Build a Total Wealth Planning Practice Alone?
Know What You’re Receiving Before You Act on It
We regulate the difference between information, education, guidance, promotion and financial advice. Perhaps it is time we taught the public the difference too. BIG Checker doesn’t just ask “Is this true?”It asks “What is this, who benefits, and why should you believe it?” More than half of people who acted on financial advice they encountered … Continue reading Know What You’re Receiving Before You Act on It
Longer Lives Need Better Navigation — Not Longer Dependency
Where do you think helpful financial support crosses the line into dependency? We extended life. But we did not redesign financial planning around it. That is the central argument in Simon Chan’s recent article on how longer lives are changing what people need from financial advisers. It is an important argument, and much of it … Continue reading Longer Lives Need Better Navigation — Not Longer Dependency
The Hot Shower: Jimmy Carr’s Outlook on Gratitude, Perspective and Modern Luxury
The Hot Shower Thought Most of us step into a hot shower without giving it a second thought. Jimmy Carr suggests we should. He points out that no king, emperor or celebrated figure from a century ago could reliably enjoy what millions of ordinary people now experience every morning: clean, instantly available hot water, delivered … Continue reading The Hot Shower: Jimmy Carr’s Outlook on Gratitude, Perspective and Modern Luxury
Agency Story No. 1: The Widow Who Didn’t Need Another Financial Adviser
Success should not always mean client retention Our inner circle discussed yesterday the example of a recently widowed client who initially lacked the confidence to manage her finances. After 18 months of patient explanation and practical support, she became capable of managing them independently. The planner became progressively less necessary. That is not a failed … Continue reading Agency Story No. 1: The Widow Who Didn’t Need Another Financial Adviser
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