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A client recently asked me: "How can I trust a process when I won't know if it worked for another 20 years?" It's a brilliant question. In most areas of life, we build trust through experience. Make bread enough times, and you trust your method. But with retirement planning, we're asked to trust a process we'll only test once, with results that won't arrive for decades. This is the fundamental challenge we've been exploring: you can't practice retirement, and mistakes are in

Trusts have a reputation for being complicated, expensive, and only for the wealthy. But here's something that might surprise you: you could be dealing with a trust right now without even realising it - and it might be much simpler than anyone's told you. Here's What Often Happens When someone passes away and leaves money to their children or other beneficiaries, that money often sits in what's technically a trust. The will creates this arrangement automatically. The survivin

When setting up a trust for someone who needs extra support—whether due to disability or because they're a child who has lost a parent—there's an important tax election that could save thousands of pounds. It's called a vulnerable person election, and whilst it sounds complex, understanding it could make a significant difference to how much tax a trust pays. Who Counts as a Vulnerable Person? A vulnerable person falls into one of two categories: either someone under 18 whose

In 2014, my phone rang. My dad wanted me to join a meeting - something about an investment opportunity someone had brought to them. I was working in London, buried in the day's tasks. "Too busy," I thought. It sounded like just another family update call, the kind where Dad wanted to share what was happening in their world. That decision haunts me. That "opportunity" was a Nigerian black money scam. By the time I learned about it, my parents had lost £150,000. The Moment Ever

My local bookshop has an entire shelf dedicated to sourdough baking. Instagram is full of proud home bakers showing off their perfectly risen loaves with those signature air pockets. Everyone, it seems, has become a sourdough expert during the past few years, including my wife. Here's what's remarkable about learning to make sourdough: you know immediately if you've succeeded or failed. Too dense? You'll know within hours. Didn't rise properly? The feedback is instant and und

When someone becomes a trustee - particularly unexpectedly, through bereavement or family circumstances - they're suddenly responsible for significant legal, tax, and financial decisions. Often whilst grieving. Often with no prior experience. Often feeling overwhelmed by the weight of their responsibilities. They need help. But more specifically, they need coordinated help across three very different professional areas: legal, tax, and financial. The challenge is that these t

A couple came to see me recently, both in their early sixties, reviewing their retirement plans. As we mapped out their financial journey, they wondered aloud about different paths they might have taken - what if they'd stayed in that workplace pension? What if they'd invested differently? The truth I shared with them? They'll never know if those would have been better choices. And more importantly, it doesn't matter. What matters is what we do next. The Myth of the Perfect D

I've been coaching since I was 16. Started with squash - teaching people how to hit a small rubber ball in a white box. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Just six shots to master. But what I discovered in those early years wasn't really about the shots at all. It was about trust. My students trusted me to make them better. They'd follow my suggestions, put in the work, and then something magical would happen - their shots would become effortless. They'd beat opponents they'd

As of today, with 19 five-star Google reviews and countless written testimonials, I’ve learned something important: clients don’t...

Last week, I sat across from a 62-year-old client who had just inherited a large sum from his mother’s estate. During our conversation,...

Following my recent blog about the BBC story where a mother went to prison for stealing her daughters' inheritance, I’ve received dozens...

A recent BBC News story stopped me in my tracks. Two sisters, Gemma and Jessica Thomas, watched their mother Katherine Hill receive a...

Last month, I had two very different conversations about market volatility that perfectly illustrate why time horizon changes everything...

When quantifying financial provision in claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, practitioners face...

Picture this scenario: you're a grandparent with £50,000 to invest for your granddaughter's university education. You could put it in a...

After forty years of diligent saving and careful planning, you've finally reached retirement. The gold watch has been presented (or more...