Your LifeTalk Insider #73

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Welcome back…

From LifeTalk and Adviser Growth Community this week:

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

How often do you see LinkedIn posts from financial planners about the lack of financial education in schools?  

Frustrating, isn’t it?

The frustration is valid and the problem is real - but talking about it on LinkedIn won’t bring about change any time soon. Within a few days those posts are consigned to the news feed bottomless pit.

Financial advisers see the gaps in financial knowledge every day - clients confused, overwhelmed or facing costly mistakes they didn’t know how to avoid. And if not your clients, you know that millions of people are in this situation.

Why wait for someone else to act when you could make a difference?

True, one adviser alone won’t fix the system. But what if you could make a dent? What if your work inspired even a few hundred people to take control of their finances, avoid debt traps and create a better future?

Here are practical ways you can help:

✅ Write a Book – Share your expertise, create a lasting resource and position yourself as a thought leader.
✅ Create a Course – Teach practical financial skills to those who need them most, online or in person.
✅ Start an Online Community – Build a space for people to ask questions, share experiences and learn from each other.
✅ Speak in Schools – Reach young people before they face the challenges your clients encounter today.
✅ Host Local Events – Partner with others to run seminars or workshops that educate your community.

These steps don’t just help others; they also help you. By creating intellectual property like a book or course, you’re building something that grows your business.

Did you know?

* 86% of entrepreneur-authors reported business growth after publishing a book.
* 34% of surveyed entrepreneurs reported doubling their earnings after publishing a book.
* 72% received speaking engagements due to their book and 33% were paid to speak at these events.

Taking action now can elevate your authority, attract high-value clients and open doors to opportunities you never imagined.

Make 2025 the year we all stop talking about the problem and start being part of the solution. Let’s transform frustration into action.

Join the 2025 Book Writing Programme and take the first step towards making an extraordinary impact. Here’s where advisers have been reserving their places.

Jamie and 7 others

Have a client who was sadly impacted by the infected blood scandal. She has now received compensation payments totalling £360,000 to date, and possibly more to come. She is married.

Legislation is that these sums are inheritance tax exempt but I'm struggling to understand how this works in practice. Would it simply be that the total amount of compensation received would be exempt at the point of valuing the estate, and ignore any growth of that capital?

If this is the case, presumably it would still be calculated as part of the gross estate and therefore potentially reduce residence nil rate band allowance if it takes the total gross estate over £2m? Click…

LifeTalk member and 24 others: Having a ding dong with outsourced paraplanners on this one…

Mum and Dad have five adult children. In March 2020 they outright gift a combined £4M (£1M to each of four of the children). In June 2023 they give an outright gift to the fifth child of £40k. If they now create a discretionary trust for the grandchildren and transfer £220k is there a CLT of 20% or not? Click…

Helen and 2 others: I’m currently exploring some of the AI add-ons available in IO marketplace, such as Aveni assist and re:loa.

I wondered how many of the group are actively using these things, whether anyone would be willing to let me know if you think they are any good, and also how you did your due diligence on the client data protection side of things/ how they store (or don’t store) client information? Click…

Eugenie and 27 others: A bit of a wishy washy question, but I'm really feeling the bite of the consumer duty/retirement income review additional steps needed in the advice process. I used to feel 100 - 130 clients was comfortable for me, with good support.

What I am finding difficult, is that much of the additional stuff is not delegate able, it's all down to me to do or document. Do you think the new world post-Consumer Duty and Retirement Income Review mean we can serve even fewer clients? I am struggling to keep things super efficient, even with great admin.

Any tips/insights really appreciated. Click…

Anthony and 10 others: Any Fundment users here? Willing to share opinions, views, tips etc? Doing my own research of course, but the help of the hive mind is always useful... Click…

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

Matthew and 45 others: Which AI tools are everyone using to record meetings and create file notes and action plans etc? Click…

Tom and 7 others: Please can people let me know where they go for comparison quotes on key person cover? Or how they go about obtaining their quotes please. Click…

As a special New Year treat we will be reuniting the 'two Phils' for a special live recording of the Adviser Lives podcast. Register now for Phil Bray of the acclaimed Yardstick Agency and Philip Calvert of LifeTalk as they reveal the Financial Adviser New Year Marketing Resolutions.

Some of you will remember their amazing full day live workshop three years ago, so this is a fantastic opportunity to see them present together once again.

The recording of this free event takes place on 23rd January 2025 at midday and you can register here: Click to register…

Eugenie and 14 others: Probably a silly question - are we actually allowed to put in writing that we recommend a client pays our fee via their pension?

i.e advice fee (solely relating to pension and retirement planning) of £5,000. They make a contribution of £4,000 net. Reclaim HRT and effectively pay my £5k fee at a net cost to them of £3k.

I appreciate 'we' do this all the time, but my question is about specifically putting it in writing. (I know it can't cover wider financial planning and needs to solely relate to the pension itself). 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…

Paul and 13 others: Before I get too wound up by this can anyone explain why Transact may want to see probate for a GIA with £58 in? They have already paid out the pension and this is just so frustrating as the executors do not need it for anything else. They have offered to write it off and keep the portfolio at a closed status but I need to check what they mean by this and if they keep the funds. Click…

Don and 36 others: After much consideration over the past year or so I’ve decided a career in financial advice is where I want to be for the next 30+ years of professional life! I’m a chartered accountant that has worked in internal audit for many years and I really feel it’s time to make the move.

Funnily enough I was asked in 2007/8 to consider becoming an adviser whilst I took my first job in internal audit at a FS/Wealth Management company - I think my previous role to that (first out of school) was is HNW sales (marina property sales / lettings) and I ticked a lot of boxes for some of the people in charge there! However, this was pre-RDR and the sales culture felt quite ‘sharky’ (and not necessarily with clients’ true interests driving some of the practices shall we say!). In the end I decided to continue with my accounting exams! Question…

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…

👉 Speaking in schools

This time of year many financial advisers are thinking about marketing plans for the new year. Speaking in schools is a great strategy and has numerous benefits for IFAs and financial planners. Here are a 34 reasons… Click…

👉 101 Ways for Financial Advisers to Benefit from LinkedIn

Ready? Here we go… 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

😮 Does what we call ourselves matter?

Hint: Yes it does. Interesting discussion over on LinkedIn started by Jon Dunckley about what titles financial advisers give themselves - everything from financial adviser, IFA, wealth manager, financial planner, lifestyle financial planner, life planner, later life adviser etc, and how we define them. Read more…

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