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?
Tag: technology
The Future of AI: Lessons for Financial Planners
Every few generations, technology rewrites the rules of society. The steam engine drove the Industrial Revolution. The internet transformed communication, commerce, and culture. Now, AI is reshaping entire industries, including financial services and insurance. For planners in the Academy, the message is clear: AI isn’t optional. It’s existential. The firms and advisers who embrace it … Continue reading The Future of AI: Lessons for Financial Planners
From Policy to Practice: Lessons on Empowerment for Planners
When governments test education reforms, we often find lessons that resonate far beyond schools and universities. One such lesson comes from the economics of human capital research [Essays on the economics of human capital accumulation By Lucio Rizzica]: raising aspirations alone is not enough. The UK’s Widening Participation initiative in the 1990s, for example, encouraged teenagers … Continue reading From Policy to Practice: Lessons on Empowerment for Planners
🤖💬 AI & Client Data: What You Need to Know (Q&A)
By Steve Conley | Financial Life Coach | Academy of Life Planning As more tools like ChatGPT, Fathom, and other AI assistants become integrated into financial and legacy planning, clients are asking an important question: “Where does my data go—and is it safe?” In this short Q&A, I’ll walk you through exactly how client data … Continue reading 🤖💬 AI & Client Data: What You Need to Know (Q&A)
Why Now? Why It Makes No Sense to Delay Learning New Skills
“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second-best time is today.” As life planners, we are in the business of preparing people for the future. But there’s a danger: while we focus on helping our clients prepare, we sometimes forget to apply the same wisdom to ourselves. The study on … Continue reading Why Now? Why It Makes No Sense to Delay Learning New Skills
When Goliathon Meets the System: Can AI Be Trusted in the Fight for Justice?
Every tool humanity has ever invented has been double-edged.The printing press empowered ordinary people to read scripture and radical pamphlets — but it was also used to spread propaganda.The internet gave rise to grassroots organising — but also mass surveillance. And now, in our generation, the tool in question is AI. The Concern: Whose AI … Continue reading When Goliathon Meets the System: Can AI Be Trusted in the Fight for Justice?
So You’ve Found Something Rotten at Work: A Whistleblower’s First Steps
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.” Discovering malpractice inside your workplace is a jolt. One moment you’re doing your job; the next, you realise harm is being caused — to customers, to colleagues, or to the public. Your conscience won’t let you ignore it, but … Continue reading So You’ve Found Something Rotten at Work: A Whistleblower’s First Steps
Footballers Deserve Better: Why They Should Not Be Classified as High Net Worth or Sophisticated Clients
Professional footballers are too often treated by the financial system as “high net worth” or “sophisticated” investors. This classification strips them of the vital protections afforded to retail clients by the FCA and the Financial Ombudsman Service. In reality, they are among the most vulnerable groups in society when it comes to financial exploitation. Their … Continue reading Footballers Deserve Better: Why They Should Not Be Classified as High Net Worth or Sophisticated Clients
Five Tips for a Graduate GAME Plan in a Cooling Job Market
The news is sobering. According to new data from Adzuna, entry-level vacancies in the UK have dropped to their lowest level in five years. Employers are cutting back on lower-paid roles for younger staff in the wake of higher National Insurance contributions, rising minimum wages, and broader cost pressures. At the same time, AI is … Continue reading Five Tips for a Graduate GAME Plan in a Cooling Job Market
🎓 Generation Jobless? Or Generation Genius in Waiting?
We’ve all seen the headlines. 📰 “GENERATION JOBLESS”📉 100,000 young adults aged 16–24 in the UK are not in education, employment or training.🧠 Many cite mental health as a barrier — caught in a cycle of rejection, disillusionment, and self-doubt. Meanwhile, AI takes the jobs they were promised.Retail shrinks.Hospitality automates.And entry-level roles vanish in a … Continue reading 🎓 Generation Jobless? Or Generation Genius in Waiting?
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