By Steve Conley, Academy of Life Planning Overnight in Davos, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered what I believe will be remembered as an era-defining speech. Not because it was dramatic.Not because it was ideological.But because it named reality. Carney spoke about geopolitics.But what he really described was every untrustworthy system that survives by ritual, … Continue reading Take Your Sign Down: Why Financial Planning Must Stop Living Within a Lie
Tag: politics
Most of a Person’s Wealth Is Not on a Balance Sheet — It Walks Into Work Every Day
A practitioner insight for Total Wealth Planners Traditional financial planning has taught generations of advisers to look down—at balance sheets, portfolios, wrappers, and projections.Total Wealth Planning asks us to look up—at the living, breathing human being who generates, sustains, and renews all of that capital. A growing body of academic research confirms what many of … Continue reading Most of a Person’s Wealth Is Not on a Balance Sheet — It Walks Into Work Every Day
Planning for Total Wealth: Why Human Capital Must Be at the Heart of Lifetime Planning
Most new financial advisers are taught to plan only half a life. The familiar model—accumulation, transition, retirement, legacy—has become so normalised that few stop to ask a more fundamental question: What exactly are we planning? The answer, in practice, is almost always the same:financial capital. Savings. Investments. Pensions. Decumulation strategies. Estate planning. All important.All necessary.But … Continue reading Planning for Total Wealth: Why Human Capital Must Be at the Heart of Lifetime Planning
Confidential Settlements, Tomlin Orders, and What They Mean for Victims
For many people harmed by financial misconduct, a settlement can feel like the end of a long and exhausting journey. The letters stop. The court process pauses. There is, at last, some financial relief. But for many victims, settlement is not the end of the story.It is simply a quieter chapter—often one marked by confusion, … Continue reading Confidential Settlements, Tomlin Orders, and What They Mean for Victims
Audit Reform “Before the Next Scandal”: What Citizen Investigators Must Learn from the FRC’s Warning
In January 2026, the UK’s audit regulator issued an unusually candid warning. The Chief Executive of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Richard Moriarty, urged government to pass audit reform legislation before the next corporate collapse—rather than waiting for a scandal to force action. For those involved in Get SAFE cases, this will sound uncomfortably familiar. … Continue reading Audit Reform “Before the Next Scandal”: What Citizen Investigators Must Learn from the FRC’s Warning
Human Capital Is Not a Soft Idea
Why Total Wealth Planners Are Closer to Economic Reality Than the Mainstream For over two centuries, economists have been telling us something the financial services industry still struggles to hear: Wealth is created by people, not products. A recent academic review of human capital theory traces this insight from Adam Smith through to modern growth … Continue reading Human Capital Is Not a Soft Idea
Fairness Is Not Found in Rulebooks
Context: Why Fairness Is Becoming More Complicated (Synopsis of John Howard’s argument) In a recent reflection, John Howard explores why fairness—once the beating heart of the Financial Ombudsman Service—is becoming increasingly difficult to uphold. Using a simple but powerful thought experiment involving an elderly woman asked to leave a first-class train carriage, John shows how … Continue reading Fairness Is Not Found in Rulebooks
When the Debt Letters Arrive: Why Advisers Need a Bridge Before Legal Action
[Clarification added 12 October 2026: This article previously referred to Morrinson Wealth being “closed” and “shut down by the network.” Those expressions referred to SJP’s removal of the regulatory permissions through which the firm conducted regulated business, which caused that activity to cease. They did not mean that Morrinson Wealth entered administration, was wound up … Continue reading When the Debt Letters Arrive: Why Advisers Need a Bridge Before Legal Action
When Human Capital Increases Inequality
Critical lessons for Total Wealth Planners from the latest economic evidence For decades, financial planning has rested on a comforting assumption: If we educate people more, inequality will fall. It feels intuitively right. Education raises earnings. Skills create opportunity. Human capital lifts all boats. But the evidence no longer supports that simple story. A major … Continue reading When Human Capital Increases Inequality
Why “Being Right” Can Destroy Your Case: The hidden trap victims must avoid in court
When you’ve been wronged, your instinct is natural. You want to tell the truth.You want to name the wrongdoing.You want the court to see the injustice for what it is. But here is the hard truth most victims are never told: Courts are not designed to reward moral clarity.They are designed to enforce procedure. And … Continue reading Why “Being Right” Can Destroy Your Case: The hidden trap victims must avoid in court
