Four pathways. One purpose: helping people take ownership of their lives and financial decisions. By Steve Conley | Academy of Life Planning People can access more financial information than ever. They can ask AI to explain a pension, organise their records or explore a planning question. What they still need is the capability to connect … Continue reading How to become an accredited Total Wealth Planner
Tag: total-wealth-planning
Top Ten AI Prompts to Use on Your Financial Adviser
Understand what you pay. Test what you receive. Decide what you need. By Steve Conley | Academy of Life PlanningUK consumer guide | 24 October 2026 You do not need to become a financial expert to ask better questions of one. Your adviser may provide valuable expertise, reassurance and practical support. You are entitled to … Continue reading Top Ten AI Prompts to Use on Your Financial Adviser
Your clients are becoming more capable. Is your business model keeping up?
Why the Academy believes the next 6–12 months should be a period of serious business-model review for financial advisers. By Steve Conley | Academy of Life Planning | 24 October 2026 There is a reassuring response to research showing younger investors using AI. “Our clients are older.” It sounds like a reason to carry on. … Continue reading Your clients are becoming more capable. Is your business model keeping up?
A Family Office Without Handing Over the Controls
Our second TFO Friday explored how more families could access joined-up professional support—and remain firmly in charge. By Steve Conley | Academy of Life Planning | 23 October 2026 A family can have a financial planner, an accountant and a solicitor—and still find that nobody is joining everything together. Each professional understands part of the … Continue reading A Family Office Without Handing Over the Controls
You Can Build Your Own Apps. So Can Your Clients.
What building Academy OS has taught us about AI, human agency and the future of professional support. There is a particular excitement in watching an idea become a working tool. A scorecard you once needed someone else to create. A cashflow model shaped around the questions you actually ask. An everyday task that used to … Continue reading You Can Build Your Own Apps. So Can Your Clients.
Bring Me Your Problem, Not Your Portfolio
Why you might need to talk to a different kind of financial professional A woman approaching retirement asks for “professional financial advice”. She is 63, earns around £50,000 a year and hopes to retire at 67. She has several pensions from different jobs, including an NHS pension, but no cash savings or investments outside them. … Continue reading Bring Me Your Problem, Not Your Portfolio
You can have more money and still feel that something is missing
Introducing the Total Wealth Wheel — free to use You can have a healthy bank balance and no time to enjoy it. A successful career and relationships that rarely get your attention. A carefully planned retirement and little idea what you want to retire into. We recognise these situations. Yet when we talk about wealth, … Continue reading You can have more money and still feel that something is missing
Who Equips the Citizen?
Why the Mills Review mattered beyond financial intermediation By Steve Conley, Founder, Academy of Life Planning | 19 October 2026 A person opens a letter from their pension provider. They understand the words, but cannot see what the assumptions mean for them. Another receives an adviser’s proposal. They want to examine the charges, alternatives and … Continue reading Who Equips the Citizen?
Equip the Davids. Stop waiting for the Goliaths to behave.
Join us in restoring human agency—helping citizens use AI to prevent financial exploitation, challenge institutional power and pursue recovery. For years, consumer campaigners have asked financial institutions to behave better. Be more transparent. Treat people fairly. Investigate properly. Put things right when harm occurs. We take evidence to regulators. We speak to parliamentarians. We attend … Continue reading Equip the Davids. Stop waiting for the Goliaths to behave.
When your clients already have the answers, what are your fees for?
New research puts AI almost level with human advisers as a comfortable place to ask financial questions. The bigger challenge is what happens to the business model when clients need fewer answers from you. For thirty years, I have watched a pattern repeat across financial services. As consumers gain visibility, understanding and the means to … Continue reading When your clients already have the answers, what are your fees for?
