Your Money or Your Life — Part II Last year, the Financial Conduct Authority effectively told the advice market not to panic. After two years of scrutiny into ongoing advice services, the regulator concluded that: 83% of reviews had taken place, 15% of clients had declined or ignored reviews, and fewer than 2% involved no … Continue reading The FCA’s Tone Has Changed. And So Has the Risk.
Tag: personal-finance
The Launch of Total Wealth Plan: AI-Powered Planning for Life, Not Just Money: FREE | PRIVATE!
Try the Total Wealth Plan, for free For decades, financial planning has largely begun with the same question: “How much money do you have?” But perhaps the more important question is: “What kind of life are you trying to build?” Today, the Academy of Life Planning is launching a free AI-powered Total Wealth Plan service … Continue reading The Launch of Total Wealth Plan: AI-Powered Planning for Life, Not Just Money: FREE | PRIVATE!
When Your Bank “Invites You to Invest,” Understand What’s Really Happening
Steve Conley There is a quiet shift underway in UK financial services. After years of constraint following the Global Financial Crisis, banks are moving back toward wealth management—re-entering a space they were once forced to retreat from. But they are not coming back as they were. They are returning: with more advanced technology with more … Continue reading When Your Bank “Invites You to Invest,” Understand What’s Really Happening
If You Don’t Know Your Goals, the System Will Choose Them for You—And Charge You for the Privilege
By Steve Conley There’s a quiet shift happening in UK financial services. It isn’t being announced as a philosophical change.It’s being packaged as innovation. “No initial fees.”“Integrated wealth hubs.”“Advice made accessible.” But beneath the surface, something far more consequential is taking place: The system is moving from guiding decisions… to capturing them. The Illusion of … Continue reading If You Don’t Know Your Goals, the System Will Choose Them for You—And Charge You for the Privilege
The Wrong Question: Why Financial Resilience Is Being Misdiagnosed — and What We Should Measure Instead
Only 20% of people feel on track financially. That is the headline finding from a recent industry survey on financial resilience. At first glance, it is concerning.Look closer, and it becomes something else entirely: A reflection not just of financial anxiety—but of a flawed way of measuring it. Because embedded within the survey is an … Continue reading The Wrong Question: Why Financial Resilience Is Being Misdiagnosed — and What We Should Measure Instead
From Product to Purpose: Reframing the SSAS Conversation Through the GAME Plan
The problem isn’t the tool. It’s where we start. There’s a familiar pattern in financial services. A product is introduced.Its benefits are explained.Case studies are shared.And somewhere along the way, it begins to feel like the answer. A recent SSAS property booklet is a good example. 7_REASONS_SSAS_BOOKLET__December_2025_.pdfDownload It speaks the language of control.It highlights flexibility.It … Continue reading From Product to Purpose: Reframing the SSAS Conversation Through the GAME Plan
Active Management Partnership (AMP): The Idea That Almost Fixed the System—But Didn’t Go Far Enough
By Steve Conley In 2009, a quietly radical idea was proposed in the pages of a private investor magazine. It did not call for revolution.It did not reject the financial system.It simply asked a very reasonable question: What if fund managers were only paid when they genuinely outperformed? The proposal—known as the Active Management Partnership … Continue reading Active Management Partnership (AMP): The Idea That Almost Fixed the System—But Didn’t Go Far Enough
2026: The Year Financial Planners Either Step Forward… or Step Aside
There are moments in an industry’s history where change is gradual.And then there are moments where it is sudden, structural, and irreversible. 2026 is the latter. If you are a financial planner who has not yet engaged with the Academy of Life Planning this year, this is not a criticism. It is a signal. Because … Continue reading 2026: The Year Financial Planners Either Step Forward… or Step Aside
Evidence vs Narrative Investing: What Vanguard’s latest move reveals about the future of financial advice
For decades, one firm stood apart. Not because it promised more. But because it promised less. Less cost.Less intervention.Less story. Vanguard was built on a simple, almost uncomfortable truth: The more you do, the more you tend to take.And the more you take, the less the investor keeps. At the heart of that philosophy was … Continue reading Evidence vs Narrative Investing: What Vanguard’s latest move reveals about the future of financial advice
The Future of Wealth Planning Isn’t Financial—It’s Human
Why Total Wealth Planners must integrate Human Capital Plans with Financial Capital Plans to create true Total Capital For decades, financial planning has been built on a narrow premise: 👉 Optimise the money. Assets. Portfolios. Tax wrappers. Withdrawal strategies. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: That’s only half the equation. Because the largest, most dynamic, and … Continue reading The Future of Wealth Planning Isn’t Financial—It’s Human
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