When Flexibility Becomes Forgetting: Removing Annual Suitability

Why Removing Annual Suitability Risks Burying the UK’s Fee-for-No-Service Reckoning By Steve ConleyAcademy of Life Planning A trustworthy regulator does not erase the audit trail when the bill is about to fall due. A quiet proposal with loud consequences The Financial Conduct Authority is consulting on removing the requirement for annual suitability reviews for advisers, … Continue reading When Flexibility Becomes Forgetting: Removing Annual Suitability →

Human Capital Is the Hidden Engine of Holistic Wealth

Lessons for Holistic Wealth Planners from the Human Capital–Gallup Correlation MapBy Steve Conley | Academy of Life Planning Holistic Wealth Planners already know that numbers alone don’t create wealth — people do. Johan’s insightful mapping between Dr Mahesh Daru’s Human Capital Framework and Gallup’s Microeconomic Pathway makes this truth undeniable. It shows, with data and … Continue reading Human Capital Is the Hidden Engine of Holistic Wealth →

🧭 Products and Services Must Be Structurally Trustworthy

Empowerment starts with trust — not just training. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is right to highlight the “understanding gap” under the Consumer Duty. Speaking at the Fair4All Finance Delivering Financial Inclusion Together Conference, chief executive Nikhil Rathi said widening access to financial services without improving understanding risks “points of vulnerability where small decisions carry … Continue reading 🧭 Products and Services Must Be Structurally Trustworthy →

🌍 The Academy of Life Planning — A Brand Story for the Age of Empowerment

1. The Call to Adventure For generations, people have been taught to trust intermediaries —financial advisers to tell them what to do with their money,religious institutions to tell them what to believe,corporations and governments to tell them what to value. But something inside them whispers: There must be another way.A way to reclaim agency, rediscover … Continue reading 🌍 The Academy of Life Planning — A Brand Story for the Age of Empowerment →

Targeted Support or Targeted Sales? Who Really Benefits from the FCA’s ‘Radical’ Reform?

By Steve Conley, Founder, Academy of Life Planning When Sarah Pritchard, Deputy CEO at the Financial Conduct Authority, called targeted support “revolutionary and quite radical,” she wasn’t wrong — but the revolution may not be the one consumers need. The FCA’s new targeted support framework promises to close the advice gap by allowing firms to … Continue reading Targeted Support or Targeted Sales? Who Really Benefits from the FCA’s ‘Radical’ Reform? →

FCA Opens Door to Adviser Charging for Targeted Support – But Who Will Pay?

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has on Friday published its latest consultation paper (CP25/26), opening the door for adviser firms to charge consumers for “targeted support”. This new category of regulated activity is pitched as a middle ground between full financial advice and generic guidance, aimed at helping millions of people who may not be … Continue reading FCA Opens Door to Adviser Charging for Targeted Support – But Who Will Pay? →

From Tragedy to Justice: Why I Built Goliathon for the Financially Exploited

[Me & Jessica on our wedding day, 20 June 2024] After watching the Footballers V11 documentary, and listening to others who’ve been financially scammed or suffered financial injustice, one thing becomes painfully clear: People have no one.They trust no one.And rightly so. So… why trust me? What can I possibly offer? Well, I’ve been there. … Continue reading From Tragedy to Justice: Why I Built Goliathon for the Financially Exploited →

Choosing the Harder Road: A Planner’s Pledge to Serve

I became a financial planner because I wanted to help people. Not to sell them things. Not to push them down a funnel. But to see them walk away lighter, more confident, and more in control of their lives. The truth is, that’s harder than it sounds. Our industry is built on the gravitational pull … Continue reading Choosing the Harder Road: A Planner’s Pledge to Serve →

Your Path to Profit as an Academy Member

From your first affiliate link to running your own full-service practice — here’s how you can earn income while serving clients with integrity. You’ve joined the Academy of Life Planning because you believe in ethical, human-first financial planning. But how do you turn that passion into income? This guide shows you three simple, progressive ways … Continue reading Your Path to Profit as an Academy Member →