“I now know where I’m going”: early feedback on Get ICE There is a moment in planning when the question changes. You begin with “What am I going to do?” and find yourself asking “What shall I do first?” One of the first people to try Get ICE described that shift in a comment this … Continue reading “I now know where I’m going”: early feedback on Get ICE
Tag: writing
From advice to agency: are investors signalling a bigger shift?
Direct investment platforms are growing faster than the advised market. Is this simply a story about apps and advertising—or an early signal that people are changing the kind of help they want? By Steve Conley, Founder, Academy of Life Planning30 September 2026 For years, the familiar message has been: financial decisions are complicated, so find … Continue reading From advice to agency: are investors signalling a bigger shift?
Your Plan. Your OS. Your Support.
Introducing the new Total Wealth Planner website—and a practical model of planning we can build together A great deal of financial planning still begins with a professional asking for your information. You complete a fact-find. They build a plan in their system. You receive a report. Then life changes, and you may need the professional … Continue reading Your Plan. Your OS. Your Support.
The missing measure is consumer agency
The FCA wants people to navigate their financial lives. What would it take to put the person, rather than the adviser, at the wheel? Someone sits down with a folder of pension statements, an insurance renewal and a list of questions about work. They have been told to seek financial advice. Yet their first question … Continue reading The missing measure is consumer agency
30 Academy OS Fun Facts
30 Academy OS Fun Facts You already have a life operating system.If it is scattered across emails, apps, folders and other people’s systems, you may simply not control it yet. If your plan only works when your adviser is present, your adviser has become the operating system.Academy OS puts the individual back at the centre. … Continue reading 30 Academy OS Fun Facts
Institutions May Divide the Case Between Themselves. Academy OS Gives the Individual a Complete View of the System.
A scam rarely happens in one place. A fraudulent advert may appear on Facebook. The conversation moves to WhatsApp. A convincing phone call follows. Money leaves a bank account, passes through another institution and eventually reaches a cryptocurrency platform. The criminal sees the entire journey. Each institution sees only its own part. And the victim … Continue reading Institutions May Divide the Case Between Themselves. Academy OS Gives the Individual a Complete View of the System.
Before asking whether AI gives the wrong financial advice, we should ask whether the industry has been measuring the right kind of wealth
A striking headline appeared in Financial Reporter: “AI models give wrong financial advice 57% of the time.” The claim came from research commissioned by financial technology company Saturn. It reportedly tested 18 AI models using 121 financial questions, repeated five times, producing more than 10,000 responses. Across those responses, 57% were classified as wrong. On … Continue reading Before asking whether AI gives the wrong financial advice, we should ask whether the industry has been measuring the right kind of wealth
The Man in the Suit Was Me. But He Is Not Me Now.
Why Total Wealth Planner now reflects the person—and the proposition—you can experience today For years, the Total Wealth Planner website featured a photograph of me in a suit. I looked younger. Successful. Confident. Prosperous. It was a professional photograph of the sort commonly used throughout financial services. It conveyed experience, authority and achievement. The photograph … Continue reading The Man in the Suit Was Me. But He Is Not Me Now.
When a Professional Body No Longer Recognises the Profession
The Personal Finance Society is losing members. Is retirement really the whole explanation—or is it suffering from a growing relevance deficit? The Personal Finance Society has lost almost 2,000 members in a year. According to its 2025 Annual Report, membership fell from 38,703 to 36,807—a decline of 4.9%. Membership revenue fell from £7.66 million to … Continue reading When a Professional Body No Longer Recognises the Profession
The Future Isn’t Trusted AI. It’s Capable Humans Using AI.
People are already asking AI what to buy, what to invest in, what something means and what they should do next. There is just one problem. They do not necessarily trust the answers. Recent McKinsey research found significant scepticism towards algorithm-driven sources of information, with trust in generative AI below 40 per cent. Yet consumers … Continue reading The Future Isn’t Trusted AI. It’s Capable Humans Using AI.
