Your LifeTalk Insider #72

Facebook Group | Adviser Growth Community | Instagram |
 Melo | AI Prompt Vault

Welcome back…

From LifeTalk and Adviser Growth Community this week:

Thanks to everyone who has subscribed to LifeTalk Insider - Let’s get stuck in…

Is AI Living Up to Its Promise for Financial Advisers?

POLL: AI is making waves in financial advice, but is it truly delivering value in your practice? Share your perspective - your insights will help us navigate the real-world challenges of AI in financial advice! Add your vote

[Sponsored post by Re:LoA]

Why Financial Advisers Should Write a Book: A Real Success Story

When I talk about the power of writing a book, it’s not just theory - it’s backed by real results from advisers who’ve transformed their businesses with a book.

Take Jason Butler, founder of the highly regarded financial planning firm Bloomsbury in London. Jason attended one of my previous book-writing courses, and the impact of his books was extraordinary. Here’s what Jason shared:

“My first FT Wealth book helped my advice business and attracted several very large clients. It also helped me develop some good professional connections.

My second FT Wealth book came out just before I sold up and left Bloomsbury, but I know they attracted lots of quality clients as a result of it.

A book helps an adviser to demonstrate their credibility, so existing clients are proud to recommend you to others and potential clients have the confidence to hire you.”

Jason’s story highlights exactly why writing a book is a strategic business move. It’s not just about the act of writing - it’s about the doors it opens:

* Attract high-quality clients who resonate with your message and values
* Strengthen professional connections that lead to new opportunities
* Boost your credibility to inspire confidence in prospects and make referrals effortless

Writing a book is more than just a project - it’s a legacy. It’s a tool that keeps working for you long after you’ve written it, opening doors to opportunities you never imagined.

If Jason’s story has sparked your interest, maybe it’s time to ask yourself:

What could a book do for you and your business in 2025?

Our next book-writing course for financial advisers begins in January and is designed to help advisers like you turn your expertise into a powerful business asset. Let’s make 2025 the year you unlock your full potential.

Ready to take the first step? Let’s talk.

Advisers have been registering their place here:
https://www.philipcalvert.com/book-writing-course/

Philip and 19 others: So, a client made a gift to his girlfriend, and subsequently they got married. If he dies within seven years of making the gift, will that gift be subject to IHT? I tried reading the HMRC manual and I am too thick to understand what it says. Click…

Paul and 16 others: FCA Retirement Income Review:

I am really interested in what changes firms have made to their processes or approaches as a consequence of the above. Via my network we have been or will be doing the following:

*Almost without exception all retirement clients at or in retirement will have a detailed cashflow which will be presented (we're already 95% of the way there)

*We will make better notes on stress testing the cashflow (I cannot believe Voyant does not allow you to print out the Monte Carlo tests as a report - bonkers!)

*We will capture expenditure in much greater detail (personally this is one of my greatest worries - I don't even know what I spend!). Currently we only use about half a dozen categories.

*Using our investment committee we will have a more robust and repeatable process around the investment and annuity decisions.

I'd love to hear what other firms are doing. And what about firms that don't have cashflow embedded - that's a massive leap? Click…

Eugenie and 7 others: Outsourced paraplanners for 2025 please. My team is bowing under pressure and we're at capacity. We'll need more resources next year as the business grows but want to outsource more. Any recommendations out there? Must be outsourced, ideally a company as opposed to single person. Click…

LifeTalk member and 37 others: I am relatively new to the industry and have been recently 'stung' by service reviews and how they should be conducted. I inherited a lot of clients but their original compliance was done once - at point of sale - (client agreement etc.) and not again since. My compliance team are now saying that anything over 3 years needs to be re-done and it's created an avalanche of admin.

I am wondering how you guys do it presuming your processes are seamless...?

We don't offer Docusign options yet (if clients don't want a meeting and would prefer to sign remotely/have a phonecall then we email the documents, they print, sign and scan back to me which feels convoluted) but I am thinking this must be an easy way forward?

Thank you in advance for any advice/guidance! Click…

LifeTalk and 22 others: Do you send a Christmas card to clients? Add your answer…

Michael and 11 others: Has anyone seen any group claims / class actions / legal challenges etc. pertaining to the latest change in pension rules? We've had a client ask so said I'd ask the question on here. Click…

Garry and 5 others: Does everyone have Cyber Insurance in place? Any advice or experiences to share? Click…

Angela and 47 others: Today’s the day - I am officially retired. Roll on the next adventure… Click…

Gary and 51 others: Consumer Duty and Ongoing Adviser Charges.

My firm runs a model of 1% ongoing but some larger FUM clients have negotiated lower ongoing adviser fees. Is there anyway this can be warrantable with Consumer Duty? If the clients are told they should increased to 1% then there is a risk they could leave. Click…

👉 Need marketing and lead generation ideas for your business?

Marketing Edge is the ultimate weekly lead generation newsletter for financial advisers, packed with proven, actionable strategies to grow your business. Each edition delivers fresh ideas for attracting and retaining ideal clients, improving communication and generating referrals. You'll also find marketing tools, templates, and AI guidance to give you the edge in building stronger client relationships. Subscribe here…

LifeTalk member and 5 others: What’s the group’s thoughts on offering current clients vouchers / donation to charity of their choice if they refer someone who ultimately becomes a client? Click…

Matthew and 35 others: I have a bit of a conundrum. I went to see a long standing client of mine today at her request. She's in her mid 70s and widowed. She has no children and no immediate family.

She's really struggling with everything at the moment. She feels isolated and is losing confidence in driving. She says she has no structure to her day and everything seems to be getting on top of her.

I've offered to contact her 2 brother-in-laws son's who she gets on with but they're not particularly local to her. I've also offered to go through all her paperwork and shred what she no longer needs but she was visibly upset by this point.

There is one thing identifying a vulnerable client but what can you do to actually help and guide them? And I don't mean from a FCA and compliance point of view either.

Any thoughts and suggestions welcome. Click…

Brad and 36 others: Has anyone done a business investment? I have a client with a substantial amount of cash in his business and he doesn't want to make pension contributions yet as he is too young.

I have been lead to believe that a bond is the best way to do this but, as I haven't done anything like this before, I'd appreciate any pointers / help!

He is the sole director and would just like to invest into traditional multi asset funds, just in his business rather than contribute into a pension to keep access to it should he need it in the future. Click…

Posts from Adviser Growth Community this week:

👨‍💼 🙋‍♀️ Here’s why financial advisers like you are joining Adviser Growth Community

The Adviser Growth Community - brings together financial advisers experiencing change or transition in their business so that they can gain clarity whilst also attracting more of their ideal clients.

👉 Now with a 7 day free trial.

If that’s you, you should come and join us…

👉 Tired of Wasting Hours on reading through Financial Documents?

Are you spending countless hours sifting through complex paperwork, chasing down details, and double-checking your findings? Imagine a smarter way:

• Extract the information you need in minutes—not hours.

• Eliminate repetitive, time-consuming tasks.

• Focus on delivering value to your clients, not battling admin bottlenecks.

With Re:LoA’s AI-powered solution, there’s no need to change how you work—just how efficiently you do it. Ready to experience the difference?

Sign up now for a free trial at www.reloa.ai.

#Ad

👉 "What do you do?"

I met an adviser at a conference yesterday who shared how he describes what he does for a living when people ask that question "What do you do?".

He answers: Click…

🚀 Latest networking events

Here is the latest list of online and in person networking events around the UK. Click here…

😮 An experiment with AI that advisers can copy

So, an experiment.

Here's a brand new conversational podcast created using solely AI. NotebookLM to be precise. All the content is based on real content, real adviser stories and case studies etc, but turned into a conversation using AI.

Subscribe and enjoy - live now on Spotify and will soon be on all the other platforms. Happy to share how to do it if any advisers would like to copy the idea.

https://open.spotify.com/show/1VOHbzPyg2ZssE2rWyGStN

😮 What makes a great conference for financial advisers?

What for you makes a truly GREAT gathering/conference? Click…

Share LifeTalk Insider

Please don’t keep us a secret - pass this on to your colleagues - thanks in advance…

That’s it for this week…

If you have enjoyed LifeTalk Insider, please forward this to your colleagues and suggest they subscribe here

As always, thanks for reading and see you next time.

If you have adviser friends or colleagues, or office team members who you think would benefit from joining LifeTalk, please copy and send them this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AdviserLifeTalk

And visit and join our brand new group Adviser Growth here:

For Financial Advice Professionals

• Marketing consultancy, adviser lead generation training and conference speaking

• Presentation and public speaking skills coaching

• LinkedIn coaching for financial advisers - one to one and groups

• Book writing mentoring to financial advisers

• AI Clones for financial advisers