Total Wealth Planner
™
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When a financial decision becomes complex, stressful or uncertain, sometimes you just need another experienced brain on the problem.
It might take an hour.
It might take three.
It might take a little longer.
Why should a temporary financial problem require you to hand over your investments and enter into a relationship that could last for decades?
Total Wealth Planning™ works differently.
Bring me the problem, not the portfolio.
Start with a 90-minute Second Brain Session.
Then, if you want ongoing access to tools, reassurance and professional support, choose the level you need for the year ahead.
Financial planning when you need it. Not fees on your life savings forever.
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Steve Conley BSc FCII APFS
Chartered Financial Planner
Former Head of Investments at HSBC
More when you need it. Less when you don't.
Continuous agency, with episodic expertise — rather than continuous expertise with episodic agency.
Start with the problem in front of you
Second Brain Session — £297
90 minutes of professional support, delivered as three 30-minute Zoom conversations with AI-supported tools from Academy OS.
Perhaps you are wondering:
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Can I retire?
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What should I do with an inheritance?
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Can I afford to work less?
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What do these pension choices mean?
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Does this investment make sense?
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What happens if my circumstances change?
Or perhaps something simply doesn't feel right and you want an independent second opinion.
We begin with the question you are trying to answer.
Between conversations, Academy OS tools help you organise information, explore scenarios, test assumptions and understand your options.
Then we talk again.
You remain the decision-maker throughout.
That may be all you need.
You might need another hour or two.
You might need support for a little longer while something complicated unfolds.
But the professional engagement should last as long as the need does.
You should not have to give up a percentage of your life savings for the rest of your life simply because you needed help for a few hours.
When the problem is solved, choose what happens next
You may need nothing more.
You can continue using Academy OS tools independently and come back whenever another important financial question arises.
Or you may prefer the reassurance of knowing that support is always nearby.
That is where the Total Wealth Planner subscriptions begin.
They are not a lifetime commitment.
Choose the level of support that suits the year ahead.
Change it next year if your life changes.
Independent Financial Lifeguard — £24/month
For people who manage their own finances but want the reassurance that they are never completely alone when life becomes more complicated.
You remain in control of your money.
Your Financial Lifeguard keeps tools, education, community and an independent second brain within reach.
Includes:
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independent second opinions when something doesn't feel right
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quick reassurance before important financial decisions
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early warning if you may be heading into difficult waters
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Academy OS and My Life Record
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priority email support
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short WhatsApp check-ins when something unexpected happens
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community and ongoing financial education
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access to in-depth planning support when needed
Continuity of access does not require continuity of adviser charging.
CHOOSE THE SUPPORT YOU NEED
Your need for support will not remain constant throughout your life.
There may be long periods when free tools are enough. At other times, you may want reassurance in the background, scheduled planning meetings or intensive one-to-one support.
That is why Total Wealth Planning™ operates as a flexible value ladder.
You can move up when life becomes complex, stressful or uncertain.
You can move down again when clarity and confidence return.
Free
For people who are comfortable planning independently.
Use Navigator™ and other Academy OS tools to organise your finances, explore scenarios and create your own plan.
Best for: ordinary planning, initial exploration and self-directed decision-making.
Cost: Free.
Lifeguard
A low-cost professional safety net for people who normally manage independently but want somewhere trusted to turn when something does not feel right.
Lifeguard support can provide reassurance, short-question support, an independent second opinion and early warning before a small concern becomes a larger problem.
Best for: capable self-planners who want professional backup without continuous financial management.
Cost: £245 per year.
Annual
A structured annual planning relationship with a Chartered Financial Planner.
Review your Total Wealth Plan, revisit key assumptions, update your financial modelling and identify decisions that may require attention during the coming year.
Best for: people whose affairs are broadly stable but who value a formal annual planning checkpoint.
Quarterly
Four structured planning meetings each year, supported by updated modelling and access to professional thinking between meetings.
Best for: retirement preparation, business or career transitions, estate planning and periods involving several connected decisions.
Monthly
Regular one-to-one planning support for periods of sustained change, uncertainty or implementation.
Best for: major transitions, complex family finances, bereavement, divorce, redundancy, retirement implementation or business exit.
Unlimited
Intensive access to a Chartered Financial Planner throughout a year in which several important decisions need to be coordinated.
Best for: unusually complex or demanding periods when close professional involvement creates significant value.
Cost: £4,995 per year.
This is a support dial,
not a dependency ladder
The aim is not to move every client towards the most expensive tier.
The aim is to match the support to the need.
You might use free tools for nine years, choose Unlimited support during a major retirement or life transition, and then return to Lifeguard support once the work is complete.
That is not a reduced service.
It is successful planning.
Professional support should become more intensive when circumstances require it and less intensive when your own capability is sufficient.
More support when it matters. Less cost when it does not.
Compare the lifetime cost
Two Chartered Financial Planners may have equivalent professional qualifications but operate under very different commercial models.
The continuous adviser model
A Chartered Financial Planner who is also an ongoing financial adviser may:
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manage investments on your behalf
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charge an annual percentage of assets under management
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provide a continuous service
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focus commercially on wealthy clients willing to delegate
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continue charging throughout periods when relatively little planning intervention is required
The episodic planning model
A Total Wealth Planner™ may:
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provide free agency-building tools
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offer a low-cost Lifeguard service
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charge fixed fees for defined levels of support
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provide intensive one-to-one planning when needed
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allow you to reduce support when the period of complexity has passed
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leave you in control of your assets and decisions
Both professionals may be equally qualified.
The difference lies in what they charge for, how often they charge and whether their model is designed around continuous delegation or variable human need.
Over a lifetime, that difference can be substantial.
See the effect across your lifetime
The Lifetime Cost Comparison Calculator allows you to compare the two models over a period you choose.
Enter:
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your current age
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the number of years to project
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your starting investment value
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an assumed gross growth rate
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the ongoing percentage charge under the adviser model
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the Total Wealth Planning™ support pattern you expect to use
The calculator uses a single deterministic projection rather than a Monte Carlo simulation. It is an illustration, not a prediction, and the assumptions remain visible and adjustable.
You can create your own support cycle. For example:
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Lifeguard support during ordinary years
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Annual or Quarterly support when more structure is useful
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Unlimited support during a major transition
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a cycle length that reflects your circumstances
You can also add an optional retirement drawdown phase, including:
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the age withdrawals begin
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the annual withdrawal required
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an assumed rate of indexation
Both models fund the same spending requirement. The comparison does not manufacture savings by assuming a lower standard of living under one approach.
The results show:
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projected fund value by age
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the effect of retirement withdrawals
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whether either model runs out of capital
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terminal fund value
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total fees paid
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approximately five-year checkpoints
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a plain-English reflection on the outcome
The calculator is honest in both directions. A fixed-fee episodic model will not automatically be cheaper for every person, fund size or time period.
The purpose is not to tell you what to choose.
It is to make the long-term economic consequences visible before you choose.
When the tools are not enough
Sometimes a question becomes too important, complicated or emotionally demanding to work through alone.
That is when you can bring in a Total Wealth Planner™.
Not as somebody who takes over your financial life.
Not as a salesperson with a product to place.
Not as an authority you must retain indefinitely.
As a qualified and experienced thinking partner who can help you:
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understand what is really happening
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identify assumptions and blind spots
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connect your money with your wider life
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evaluate realistic alternatives
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model the consequences of different choices
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build a plan you understand
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reach a decision you can act upon confidently
You remain the decision-maker throughout.
One question or one decision?
Not every situation requires a continuing support tier.
Sometimes you simply need focused time with a Chartered Financial Planner who has no product to sell, no asset to manage and no incentive to create an ongoing dependency.
Bring:
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one important decision
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one financial question
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a situation you have been turning over in your mind
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your Navigator plan
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your own research or AI-generated analysis
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documents or calculations you would like to sense-check
We will work through it together, calmly and clearly.
Second Brain Session — £297
A focused 90-minute session for one significant question or decision.
No obligation beyond the session.
What is Total Wealth Planning™?
Total Wealth Planning™ brings your life, money, resources and future choices into one connected picture. It considers more than your investment portfolio.
Traditional wealth management often concentrates on managing financial capital.
Total Wealth Planning™ also helps you strengthen the human and decision-making capacity needed to direct that capital well.
Because your life is bigger than your finances.
Traditional Wealth Management
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begins with assets to manage
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commonly charges a percentage of those assets
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is designed around an ongoing client relationship
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tends to favour clients with larger portfolios
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manages investments and decisions on the client’s behalf
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may continue charging during periods of limited planning need
Total Wealth Planning™
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begins with the person and the decision
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starts with free agency-building tools
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uses transparent fixed fees
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allows support to rise and fall with need
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considers financial, human and decision capital
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supports your thinking rather than replacing it
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regards greater independence as a successful outcome
Financial Planning and Regulated Financial Advice Are Not the Same Thing
The important distinction is not simply percentage fees versus fixed fees.
It is the difference between:
a model that monetises assets under management
and
a model that develops agency under your control.
What you will not receive
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pressure to transfer investments
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percentage charges based on your wealth
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product sales
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commissions
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unnecessary permanent dependency
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decisions made for you
What you will receive
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independent financial planning
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access to a Chartered Financial Planner
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AI-supported planning tools
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transparent fixed-cost support
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financial and lifetime cash-flow modelling
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professional challenge
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independent second opinions
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support during complexity, stress and change
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a plan you understand and control
Is Total Wealth Planning right for you?
It may suit you if you:
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normally manage your own finances
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want to understand before you act
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value professional expertise without needing it continuously
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prefer collaboration to delegation
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do not want to hand over your investments simply to obtain planning
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are approaching retirement or another major life transition
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want a second opinion before an important decision
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believe good financial planning should leave you more capable
It may not suit you if you want somebody else to take permanent responsibility for managing your investments and financial decisions.
Led by a Chartered Financial Planner
I am a Chartered Financial Planner with more than 40 years of experience in financial services and financial planning.
My role is not to tell you how to live or to make you dependent upon my expertise.
It is to help you see your situation clearly, understand the available choices and create a plan that remains yours.
I’m a professionally registered financial planner — without being an FCA-regulated financial adviser.
I’m not FCA-regulated because I provide financial planning, not regulated product advice. Put simply: I help you decide what you want your money to do — I don’t tell you which particular investment to buy.
I am Stephen James Conley, a registered financial services professional subject to a professional code of conduct, awarded the title of Chartered Financial Planner by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) on 15 December 2017.
This is one of the highest professional designations available in UK financial planning, awarded under the seal of the CII — Patron Her Majesty The Queen. My active status can be verified instantly via my PFS/CII digital register entry. On the regulatory position: "Financial Planning" is not a FCA regulated activity under UK law.
This is explicitly confirmed in FCA Rulebook PERG 8.26.2, which specifically excludes Financial Planning from regulated activities. I am fully and lawfully entitled to describe myself as a Financial Planner and to operate under that title without FCA authorisation.
List Title
Start with one problem
You do not need to predict how much professional support you will require for the rest of your life.
You only need to decide whether the problem in front of you would benefit from another experienced brain.
Second Brain Session — £297
Three 30-minute Zoom conversations, supported by Academy OS AI tools.
Bring me the problem, not the portfolio.
Not sure whether it is right for you?
Contact
Address
Steve Conley
Total Wealth Planner™
9 Franklin Way
Spilsby
Lincolnshire
PE23 5GG
Phone No.
07850 102070