Financial knowledge. Real family experience.
I have spent nearly forty years helping people make sense of difficult financial decisions.
The Last Ten Years brings that experience together with something much more personal: what I learned when illness, care, loss of capacity and bereavement arrived in my own family.
Nearly forty years in financial services
I started in financial services in 1988. Since then I have worked as a mortgage adviser, financial adviser, corporate adviser, independent financial adviser, compliance auditor, business owner, lecturer, writer and financial educator.
That may sound like a conventional financial services career. It has not been.
I have always been more interested in helping people understand what is happening than hiding behind jargon or selling them another product. I have advised individuals, families and businesses, supported teams of financial advisers, and helped develop financial advice arrangements for organisations including the National Union of Journalists, the Chartered Management Institute and the Federation of Small Businesses.
I am a former independent financial adviser. I hold the Financial Planning Certificate, a mortgage planning qualification and an advanced qualification in personal investment planning. I have taught finance and business students, spoken at business events, written about pensions and financial services failings, and contributed to the public debate about pension scams and consumer protection.
My work has been featured by FT Adviser. I am the author of The Great British Pension Swindle and Independent Financial Adviser Marketing. My submissions on pension transfer safeguards addressed the same consumer protection problem covered by Section 125 of the Pension Schemes Act 2021: stopping suspicious pension transfers before somebody loses a lifetime of savings.
Professional knowledge collided with family life
The Last Ten Years did not begin with legislation, qualifications or a textbook. It began with my own family.
Several family members and in-laws became seriously ill or reached the stage where they could no longer manage safely without help. Strokes and long-term illness changed what they could do. One family member who had spent years caring for somebody else gradually became less able to look after either of them.
Like thousands of other families, we found ourselves making important decisions while still working, looking after our own children and dealing with a care system that seemed to address one part of the problem at a time.
We had not agreed a plan in advance. Powers of attorney were not always in place when they were needed. The family did not always agree about what should happen. Our relatives did not welcome the idea of strangers coming into their home. Social services, health services, care agencies, money, property, family relationships and day-to-day emergencies all became part of the same conversation.
That experience taught me something I should already have known after decades in financial planning: most families plan for retirement, but very few plan for what may come after it.
That is why I created The Last Ten Years.
Start the conversation before you need the answer
The Last Ten Years started life as Dying to Know. It is a practical, face-to-face programme for employers, professional organisations, membership bodies, community groups and individuals. It brings together the financial, legal, practical and family issues that are normally discussed separately.
Lunchtime session
A clear introduction to the questions families should consider before illness, frailty or a crisis forces decisions to be made in a hurry.
Extended session
More time to connect the issues, answer questions and help people identify the gaps in their own family planning.
Full-day corporate session
A structured working day for corporate clients, with realistic situations and time to start building a proper plan.
Online resources
An information and support portal is being developed to extend the practical resources available to participants.
Clear explanations when life gets complicated
Alongside The Last Ten Years, I continue to work through The Finance Zone and Money Trainers. My recent work includes financial education, later-life planning, care fee guidance and practical help with probate and estate administration.
Clients describe me as knowledgeable, diligent and responsive. Reviews repeatedly mention clear explanations, regular communication, attention to paperwork and the reassurance of knowing that somebody experienced is keeping a difficult process moving.
People who attended Dying to Know, the original version of this programme, have also commented on the usefulness of the training and the difficult conversations it helped them begin.
Start with a conversation
If you are thinking about your own later life, supporting family members, or responsible for people who may be doing either, get in touch.