True Self Wealth Ltd

28/10/2026

🤖 "AI will replace financial planners." I keep seeing advisers debate it, and there are so many posts about AI. I'll admit I'm a little bored of it. But still, this is important.

The truth? AI is a fantastic tool, but it's exactly that... a tool.

In my role, AI helps me:

🔍 Extract information from lengthy provider documents, saving hours of searching through pages and pages of technical information.

📝 Create accurate meeting notes, helping maintain a clear record of what we've discussed and agreed.

📄 Support report writing and administration. Like many professions, financial planners use templates to ensure consistency, but reports still require significant personalisation and attention to detail.

💡 Arrange my thoughts in a way that's easier to read. I've even used it to structure this post.

🔐 And for anyone wondering about security, professional AI tools are used within regulated environments with strict data protection controls and confidentiality requirements.

But here's the part AI can't do...

❤️ Understand what's truly important to you.

AI can process information, but it doesn't know the reason you're saving beyond what you tell it. You might say 'to retire at age 60', but unless you're very clear about multiple life stages, such as being able to save more when the kids leave home. And it won't necessarily tell you about the things you can't rely on correctly. Our new PM wants to reform how people pay for care in the UK, but right now many people expecting inheritances don't know that their loved ones might spend their money on care, reducing the inheritance. There's a huge list of examples like this, but I'll resist.

💬 AI only works with the information it's given. A good financial planner knows how to ask the questions you haven't thought about.

🤔 What would happen if your circumstances changed? If it's recommending you take actions that are less reversible, you might not know until it's too late.

🎯 Which goals matter most when there isn't enough money to achieve everything at once?

⚖️ How comfortable are you with risk when markets fall and emotions take over? Or how to discuss it with you so you're less worried if it does happen. Or be on hand for reassurance. Well, ok, it is on hand for reassurance. But if you don't trust that reassurance, it's not going to work.

📈 Is the best financial decision also the right personal decision? Sometimes people ask me to start investing after big shocks, like a bereavement. I ask them to take some time, and we'll come back to the conversation so they're thinking clearly.

These conversations rarely produce black-and-white answers. They require judgement, empathy, experience and an understanding of human behaviour.

AI can analyse data.

AI can summarise documents.

AI can draft content.

👤 But it can't build trust, challenge assumptions, understand family dynamics, recognise emotional concerns, or help someone confidently make life-changing decisions.

The value of financial planning has never been about filling in forms or writing reports. It's about helping people make better decisions about their lives and their futures.

AI is helping us do that more efficiently.

It's not replacing the human being at the centre of the process.

21/10/2026

As we approach the holiday season, I have an important question for you... Can one more present really add one more helping of joy? 🎁

With the festive season approaching, plenty of us are already buying gifts. And sometimes, knowing when to stop is the hardest part.

For some neurodivergent people, gift buying can come with extra layers. The excitement of finding something that perfectly matches someone’s interests. Or worrying that you’ve misunderstood expectations and buying a little more, just to be sure.

Everyone is different, but if that sounds familiar, it might help to think about an “enjoyment curve”.

The first thoughtful present might bring a lot of joy. Another might add a little more. But that curve can flatten. The tenth present doesn’t necessarily bring the same excitement as the first, even though it still costs money.

So how could you keep the joy without exhausting your budget?

🎟️ Agree to do something with friends instead of exchanging gifts. You can each buy your own ticket and choose something everyone can comfortably afford.

☕ Agree not to buy presents at all. A walk, a cuppa and time together might be exactly what you both want.

♻️ Consider regifting. I’m a huge fan of passing something lovely on to someone who will actually enjoy it.

🛍️ Swap presents a few days or weeks later, so you can take advantage of the sales. Keep an agreed spending limit, so a discount doesn’t become a reason to buy twice as much.

Have the conversation early, before anyone starts shopping. You might find the other person is relieved you brought it up.

You can be thoughtful and generous within a budget. Your spending doesn’t have to prove how much you care.

14/10/2026

Who protects the person who keeps the household running?

When we talk about income protection, the conversation often starts with the main breadwinner. If they couldn’t work because of illness or injury, how would the bills get paid?

But what about the person doing more of the childcare and working at home?

The school runs. Cooking. Cleaning. Laundry. Shopping. Keeping track of appointments and making sure everyone has what they need.

Taking care of a home and family is work. A payslip doesn’t determine its value.

Whether your partner earns less, works part-time, or isn’t in paid employment, what would happen if illness or injury meant they couldn’t do those tasks?

Could you afford extra childcare, a cleaner or help with meals? Would you need to reduce your own working hours, meaning less income just as your costs increased?

Those contributions deserve a place in your financial plan too.

Protection options can be available for people who aren’t in paid employment, although eligibility and the conditions for a claim vary between policies.

Protection answers our fundamental desire to keep safe things that we hold dear.Choosing which specific types of insurance should be a priority for you can be a tricky task. We can’t predict what t...

06/10/2026

Have you ever thought… “I’m sure I had a pension with an old job, but I’ve got no idea where it is now?” 🤔

You’re definitely not alone. An estimated 3.3 million pension pots, worth £31.1 billion, are considered lost in the UK. That’s an average of around £9,470 per pot. (Aviva)

This is one of the problems the new MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard is designed to help solve.

The idea is pretty simple: you’ll be able to see your pensions, including your State Pension, together in one secure place. That should make it much easier to understand what you’ve actually got and start planning what retirement might look like.

It’s not fully launched yet, with public access currently expected in 2027/28. But you can sign up now to be one of the people testing it. 👀

You’ll be able to search for your pensions, see what they’re worth now and what they could be worth at retirement. Just bear in mind that, while it’s being tested, not every pension will necessarily show up yet.

Fancy having a look?

Sign up to test the MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard: https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pensions-dashboard/research-panel

Read the Aviva Article: https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/news-and-research-overview/news-releases/2025/10/avivas-find-and-combine-service-reconnects-customers-with-nearly-five-hundred-sixty-five-million-pounds-in-lost-pensions/

01/10/2026

Is there such a thing as five-star budgeting?

I have mixed feelings about it.

A lot of us pick up ideas about what a “good” budget looks like from questionable places. An influencer shows you how much wealth you could build with a buy-to-let portfolio, then sells you a course on how to do it. You might never buy a property, but the idea that you’re wasting money if you don’t invest every spare pound sticks.

Or perhaps you grew up hearing, “Don’t get into debt,” from someone who bought their house when it cost a fiver.

So what do I tell clients? It depends on their circumstances, obviously, but that would be a terrible place to end this post.

I start with the things that need paying for: bills, food, transport and the other regular costs of living. I also look at costs that don’t arrive every month but still need a place in the plan.

Food is a good example. Choosing what goes in your trolley can make the whole shop feel optional, as though a higher bill means you made bad choices. You can make choices, of course, but you still need to eat. I’m feeling the pressure of rising costs too, and you can’t budget your way out of every price increase.

Then we can ask: what’s available for the things you enjoy?

Could you afford a meal out twice a week? Maybe. The answer depends on your income, your existing debts, what you’re spending now and what you want your money to do later. Someone hoping to retire early may make different choices from someone focused on clearing debt.

A useful budget should help you make those choices with your eyes open. It doesn’t need to earn five stars from anybody else.

22/09/2026

I’ve had quite a few conversations recently about money and shame.

There’s far too much to unpack in one post, so I’m going to focus on one word:

Should.

“Should” can be useful. It can keep us accountable and reflect what matters to us.

But it can also keep us tied to expectations that aren’t actually helping us.

I recently spoke to someone who felt they should have more savings and should be making “better” financial decisions.

Some of that went all the way back to being a student. They’d imagined that once they earned more, they’d be really well off. And somewhere along the way, they’d formed an idea of what “well off” was supposed to look like.

We’ve been doing cash flow modelling together, looking at what they want to spend, what they’re building for the future, and whether their current plans are enough to support the retirement they want.

And they are.

Without really giving themselves much credit, they’re already:

💪 Paying into a pension through work
💪 Paying off their mortgage
💪 Paying for protection insurance so there’s a contingency plan if something goes wrong

Which raises a much more interesting question:

If the important stuff is taken care of, what is all the guilt for?

The M&S convenience food on the way home.
Spending more than they think they “should” on their pets.
All those little day-to-day decisions that apparently prove they’re “bad with money”.

Could they be more tax efficient? Yes.

Could they save more? Yes.

Could they put more into their pension or overpay the mortgage? Of course.

But more isn’t automatically better.

We’ve worked out that one of their priorities is having a nice life now, while still making sure future them is looked after.

So, in this particular case, the word “should” can f*** off.

And on that note, here’s me with a completely frivolous purchase that filled me with joy.

I had one as a kid, and the sound takes me straight back to happy childhood memories for a few seconds.

Did I need it? Absolutely not.

Could I afford it? Yes.

Sometimes that’s enough.

16/09/2026

Two clients gave me 4/5 for value recently.

And I’m genuinely chuffed about it.

They’re a couple, and they scored me and my service 5/5 for everything else. Here’s why I’m taking that 4 as a compliment.

A big part of my job is breaking down complex information and making it easy to understand.

Moving pensions and transitioning into retirement is complicated. Even for me. Behind the scenes, it’s filled with compliance, stress testing, technical work and, for these clients, various cash flow models.

Alongside that, we’ve talked about how they handle money as a couple, what they actually want to spend their money on, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, tax rules and plenty more.

But my job is to protect clients from most of that complexity.

In their eyes, they’ve probably seen relatively little of the work that’s gone into it.

I’ve liaised with providers on multiple occasions, worked with my admin assistant, paraplanner and technical teams, and spent hours building and testing cash flow models.

They’ve been sheltered from all of that 💅

Normally, blowing my own trumpet doesn’t come naturally. But in this case, I’ve coached two people who started with very little knowledge of pensions and investments to the point where they understand how their retirement income works, feel confident taking it, and understand how sustainable it is.

And they haven’t felt like they’ve been sitting through financial planning lessons to get there.

It’s just happened through a series of natural conversations.

So yes, I’ll happily take the 4/5.

A job well done, I’d say.

09/09/2026

Remember my last post about an emergency fund? Well, it’s time to go into it a little bit deeper… How much do you need?

Let’s look at someone who is self-employed, their needs are going to be totally different from someone who is employed… They’ll need to cover the cost of a laptop, mobile phone and other office equipment that someone who has been employed, and returning to that might not. And… covering delays in being paid by clients or quiet periods.

Whether you’re self-employed or employed, your income is important. Have you got sick pay or insurance to cover it? If not, do you have enough savings to cover your expenses until you can change your circumstances?

What about something closer to home, appliances, anyone? If you’re in a rental accommodation where they’re provided, then you’re not likely to need to cover the cost of them breaking down. But if you’re a home owner, you are! Three months might look really different depending on your lifestyle.

The point of this is that this is a much more nuanced conversation than it might appear, and one that might surprise you if you delve into what your emergency bucket needs to contain!

I’d start with categorising:
🧑‍💼👩‍💼👨‍💼 You
🧑‍💻 Work costs
🏠🚙 Things

(and a good dessert!)

02/09/2026

Can we talk about emergency funds? I have seen a LOT of advice out there about how your emergency fund should be approximately enough to last you 3 or 6 months, which is apparently good advice - or is it?

Well… Here is where it can get a bit tricky.

Is 3 months enough, or is 6?

What does that include? Is it actually an achievable goal?

You can see where I am going, right?

This is OK as a really generic piece of advice, but it doesn’t take into consideration how an individual might live, or what they might need.

So, it’s a great starting point, and something is better than nothing, but I think we can do better… Which is what I’ll be talking about in my next post!

21/07/2026

When I work with clients as their financial adviser, it’s more than just talking about money. It’s about getting to know you as a human being, and understanding what’s important to you.

It’s why you feeling comfortable to discuss what is on your mind in our meetings is just as important as regular financial ‘updates’...

Thank you to Richard for the wonderful answers to the questions on Vouchedfor