Independent Financial Lifeguard

Agency before advice. Support when it matters.

Academy OS helps you manage most of your financial life independently. Your Independent Financial Lifeguard is there for the moments when circumstances become complicated, uncertain or emotionally difficult.For £245 a year, receive Academy OS, My Life Record and priority access to Steve Conley for independent second opinions, reassurance and proportional financial planning support.

£245 per year Equivalent to approximately £20.42 per month

Financial independence should not mean financial isolation

You may already manage your own pensions, investments, savings and household finances. You may not need someone managing your money, arranging products or charging an ongoing percentage of your wealth. But life is not always predictable. A pension decision arises. Markets fall sharply. A family member needs help. You receive an inheritance. A financial firm recommends something unexpected. A relationship ends. Retirement suddenly feels much closer. Something simply does not feel right. At moments like these, it can help to have an experienced, independent person alongside you. Not someone who takes control. Someone who helps you think clearly, understand your options and decide what to do next.

Why Total Wealth Planners See the Future Differently

Your financial lifeguard

A lifeguard does not swim every length for you. They remain watchful, help you recognise danger and are ready to respond when the water becomes difficult. That is the role of your Independent Financial Lifeguard. You remain in control of your finances. You continue making your own decisions. But you gain the reassurance that you can reach out before uncertainty becomes anxiety, or a small concern becomes an expensive problem. This is agency before advice.

What is included?

Independent second opinions
Ask for an independent perspective when a recommendation, charge, investment, pension option or financial decision does not feel quite right.

Reassurance before important decisions
Talk through the issues before committing to a significant financial choice.

Early warning
Identify possible risks, unanswered questions or areas requiring professional attention before you move too far into difficult waters.

Priority email support
Send questions directly to Steve Conley and receive thoughtful, personal support throughout the year. There is no fixed allowance of routine questions. The service is designed to give you continuing access when genuine financial questions arise, subject to reasonable use.

Short telephone check-ins
When something unexpected happens, a brief telephone conversation can help you establish what matters, what can wait and what your next step should be.

Academy OS
Use the Academy’s growing collection of AI-enabled financial planning tools to explore your finances, organise information and strengthen your decision-making capability.

My Life Record
Build and maintain a private record of your financial life, important decisions, documents, goals and changing circumstances.

Discounted planning sessions
When a matter requires deeper analysis, you can book a more substantial Total Wealth Planning session at a reduced member rate.You only pay for additional professional support when it is genuinely needed.

Built around Proportional Planning

Most people can manage around 90% of their finances, 90% of the time.

You may be able to:

monitor spending and savings;
manage straightforward investments;
compare charges;
review pensions;
use financial planning tools;
research your options;
make everyday financial decisions.

Academy OS supports this ordinary, ongoing work.

The Independent Financial Lifeguard is there for the remaining moments: when life becomes unusual, emotionally difficult or technically complex.

This approach is called Proportional Planning.

Professional help should be available in proportion to the problem—not imposed continuously because you happen to have savings, investments or a pension.

When might you use the service?

You might contact your Lifeguard when:

you are considering retirement or reducing your working hours;
you receive an unexpected pension or investment recommendation;
markets fall and you are unsure whether to act;
you are deciding what to do with an inheritance;
you are helping an elderly parent or adult child;
you are reviewing financial charges;
you are considering transferring, consolidating or drawing from a pension;
you experience bereavement, divorce or redundancy;
you are concerned about a possible scam or financial exploitation;
your income, business or family circumstances change;
you have researched a question with AI but want an experienced human perspective;
you simply need to know whether you are thinking about something in the right way.

You do not need to wait until you are in trouble.

Often, the best time to ask for support is before a decision has been made.

AI makes financial planners of us all

AI is changing the relationship between citizens and professionals.

People can now explore financial terminology, interrogate charges, model alternatives and ask informed questions before approaching an expert.

This does not make professional experience obsolete.

It changes where that experience creates value.

The future is not about keeping a financial planner permanently at the centre of your life. It is about giving you the tools and confidence to manage more independently, while ensuring skilled human support remains available when it adds genuine value.

From dependency to capability.

From ongoing advice to proportional support.

From information provider to thinking partner.

From financial adviser to Independent Financial Lifeguard.

Who is Steve Conley?

Steve Conley is the founder of the Academy of Life Planning and creator of Total Wealth Planning.

He is a Chartered Financial Planner and Chartered Insurer, with senior experience across financial planning, pensions, investments and financial services.

Steve founded the Academy to develop a different relationship between people and financial professionals: one that restores human agency rather than creating long-term dependency.

As your Lifeguard, Steve does not take control of your money or position himself at the centre of every decision.

His role is to help you:

slow difficult decisions down;
separate facts from fear;
identify the questions that matter;
understand when you can proceed independently;
recognise when specialist advice may be needed;
maintain confidence in your own ability to navigate your financial life.

What this service is not

Independent Financial Lifeguard is not:

investment management;
a discretionary portfolio service;
continuous monitoring of your accounts;
regulated advice on specific financial products;
a promise to approve every decision;
an emergency response service;
a substitute for legal, tax, accounting or regulated financial advice where these are required.

The service provides education, financial planning support, structured thinking and independent guidance.

Where a matter requires specialist or regulated advice, Steve will help you recognise that boundary and consider the appropriate next step.

Why an annual subscription?

Financial questions rarely arrive according to a review timetable.

They emerge when circumstances change.

An annual subscription means you do not have to decide whether a concern is “important enough” to justify booking and paying for a full planning meeting.

You can ask the early question.

You can check your thinking.

You can seek reassurance before acting.

And when deeper work is genuinely required, you can choose it consciously rather than drifting into an expensive ongoing relationship.

What does it cost?

£245 per year

That includes:

access to Academy OS;
access to My Life Record;
priority email support;
independent second opinions;
brief telephone check-ins when appropriate;
early guidance when circumstances change;
discounted in-depth Total Wealth Planning sessions.

There are no assets-under-management charges.

There are no commissions.

There is no requirement to transfer investments or financial products.

There is no percentage fee taken from your wealth.

Join Independent Financial Lifeguard

Frequently asked questions

Can I email whenever I have a financial question? Yes. The service is intended to give you continuing access to Steve for genuine financial planning questions throughout the year. Support is subject to reasonable use. Complex matters requiring extensive research, calculations, document analysis or a formal planning exercise may require a separate discounted session.

How quickly will I receive a response? Priority emails will normally receive an initial response within a reasonable working timeframe. Some questions may require further information or a scheduled conversation. The service is not designed for emergencies or immediate market-trading decisions.

Can Steve tell me which investment or pension product to choose? The Lifeguard service supports your understanding, planning and decision-making. It does not provide regulated recommendations concerning specific investments or financial products. Steve can help you understand the issues, assess the questions you should ask and identify when regulated advice may be appropriate.

Will Steve monitor my investments? No. You remain responsible for monitoring and managing your own financial arrangements. The purpose of the service is to strengthen your capability while giving you access to independent support when needed.

What happens when I need more substantial help? You can book an in-depth Total Wealth Planning session at a discounted member rate. The scope and cost will be agreed before any additional work begins.

Is this suitable if I already have a financial adviser? Yes. You may use the service as an independent educational and planning resource, although Steve will not interfere with or duplicate the regulated responsibilities of your existing adviser. It may be particularly useful when you want to understand a recommendation more clearly or prepare better questions before speaking to your adviser.

Is Academy OS included? Yes. You will have access to the Academy’s growing ecosystem of financial planning tools, together with My Life Record. These tools are designed to help you organise information, explore decisions and gradually become more capable of managing your own financial life.

You do not need someone to swim for you

You may simply need reassurance that someone experienced is watching the water.

Independent Financial Lifeguard gives you the tools to manage your own financial life, the confidence to make more decisions independently and access to human support when circumstances become difficult.

You remain the decision-maker.

You retain control.

And you are never entirely alone.