Acting on a whistleblower’s information and protecting the person who provides it are different outcomes. Someone facing retaliation needs a plan for both. By Steve Conley, Founder, Academy of Life Planning3 October 2026 At the end of a Transparency Task Force event in July, Simon Andriesz explained what he wanted. An independent investigation. Parliamentary scrutiny. … Continue reading When Speaking Up Costs You Your Life Back: Lessons from Simon Andriesz’s Case
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An FCA Check Is Only the Start: Investigate Before You Invest
A firm appears on the FCA Firm Checker. You breathe a little easier. But what, exactly, have you checked? You have checked something important: whether the firm is authorised and has permission to provide the service you want. You have not established that the person contacting you works for that firm, that this particular investment … Continue reading An FCA Check Is Only the Start: Investigate Before You Invest
Human Capital Is Not a Salary: Lessons for Total Wealth Planners
Abstract Conventional financial planning commonly treats labour income as an input into a financial model while concentrating the substantive analysis on accumulated financial capital. Human capital theory suggests that this reverses the economic relationship for many households. Knowledge, skills, experience, health, adaptability and productive capacity constitute forms of capital that may generate income, enhance resilience … Continue reading Human Capital Is Not a Salary: Lessons for Total Wealth Planners
You Cannot Plan With a Portfolio Alone
A client says she wants to retrain. The conventional planning question is: Can she afford the course? That matters. But it is only one part of the decision. Can she afford the time away from paid work? Is her health holding up? Who depends on her income? Is the training accessible from where she lives? … Continue reading You Cannot Plan With a Portfolio Alone
The Most Important Expertise Is Knowing Where Your Expertise Ends
Why every professional needs boundary literacy—and why regulated status is not the same as whole-person competence An FCA-regulated retail investment adviser is often assumed to sit above a financial planner in some informal hierarchy of professional importance. The adviser is regulated. The planner may not be. Therefore, the thinking goes, the adviser must be the … Continue reading The Most Important Expertise Is Knowing Where Your Expertise Ends
When Justice Expires Before the Harm Does
The banks did not prove the customers were wrong. They proved the complaints came too late. Four people complained that their banks had trapped them in unfair and unaffordable credit relationships. The banks fought back. Not merely against the complaints, but against the Financial Ombudsman Service's power to hear them. They won. Now the Ombudsman … Continue reading When Justice Expires Before the Harm Does
The Missing Citizen Layer in Financial Crime Prevention
The UK is preparing to prove that its institutions can fight financial crime. But who is helping the citizen? The UK is preparing for its 2027 evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force—the global body that assesses how effectively countries combat money laundering and terrorist financing. A July 2026 report from the RUSI UK FATF … Continue reading The Missing Citizen Layer in Financial Crime Prevention
Institutions May Divide the Case Between Themselves. Academy OS Gives the Individual a Complete View of the System.
A scam rarely happens in one place. A fraudulent advert may appear on Facebook. The conversation moves to WhatsApp. A convincing phone call follows. Money leaves a bank account, passes through another institution and eventually reaches a cryptocurrency platform. The criminal sees the entire journey. Each institution sees only its own part. And the victim … Continue reading Institutions May Divide the Case Between Themselves. Academy OS Gives the Individual a Complete View of the System.
How to Stop Making Scams So Easy
In response to the collapse of Woodville Consultants and a challenge from The Times, we have updated Investigator™—because government should close the loophole, but people need protection while it remains open A form is placed in front of an investor. It asks them to confirm that they are “high net worth” or a “sophisticated investor”. … Continue reading How to Stop Making Scams So Easy
When a Professional Body No Longer Recognises the Profession
The Personal Finance Society is losing members. Is retirement really the whole explanation—or is it suffering from a growing relevance deficit? The Personal Finance Society has lost almost 2,000 members in a year. According to its 2025 Annual Report, membership fell from 38,703 to 36,807—a decline of 4.9%. Membership revenue fell from £7.66 million to … Continue reading When a Professional Body No Longer Recognises the Profession
