Tag: personal-finance

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 →

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 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. →

Op-ed: The Great Independent Advice Illusion

[A reflection on Citywire's article, How SJP advisers are using Policy Services to pitch independent advice 14 May 2026] By Steve Conley The financial advice profession has spent decades arguing over a question that, from a genuine life planning perspective, may matter far less than the industry would like to believe. Restricted or independent? Whole … Continue reading Op-ed: The Great Independent Advice Illusion →

The FCA’s Tone Has Changed. And So Has the Risk.

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. →