Advertise on podcast: The I just fell into Financial Planning Podcast

Jake Crossley was on this show two years ago, at 20, as one of the youngest financial planners on the FCA register. He has come back at 22 with a lot more to say. He left Sheffield University part-way through, got all his exams done inside a year and walked into a profession that mostly tells people like him to go away and come back later. He has changed firms since we last spoke, and frankly so has the money. We got into:  The career-ready internship he found by searching local firms and emailing them, and how making the tea turned into a job.  Why he walked away from Sheffield Uni and whether he would make the same call again.  The honest version of the early years, including why he says he was struggling and what changed it.  Being the youngest person in the room with clients twice his age, and why he has never had the problem everyone warns him about  The argument that reframes the whole age question: a planner with 30 years of retirement experience has still never retired themselves.  Why he will not make a recommendation when the existing plan is already suitable, even though it pays him nothing.  Jake isn't taking any liability whatsoever and what that actually means in practice.  Rejection: how many times he has been told he is too young and why he stopped caring.  The FCA register as a job list that nobody tells school leavers about.  Finally the controversial one: why he is doing his chartered exams mainly so he does not have to do them later, and why he does not think they are making him better at the job. One line that stuck with me; "I don't personally feel that doing those exams is making me a better financial planner" If you are young and wondering whether this profession will have you, or you run a firm and keep hiring the same finished article, there is a lot in here you can steal. Chapters 00:00 Jamie's introduction 00:40 Who Jake Crossley is 01:06 Take me back to the start; 01:40 The career-ready internship that started it 02:55 Deciding university wasn't for him 03:50 Phil Anderson, and the structure behind a young planner 05:48 What his friends at university were doing 06:58 Being brutally honest: the early struggle 09:23 Finding the people who actually want advice 11:04 Taking on fewer clients now than at the start 15:35 When you legally have to seek advice 18:58 Jake Crossley is not taking any liability 20:15 Reputation, and why you don't cut corners 22:22 Cold-calling firms, and never getting through 25:32 Why he thinks he's done well this young 29:26 Complex cases and the IHT problem in Cheshire 32:01 The youngest planner in the room 37:21 You've never retired yourself 41:39 What makes a young team work 45:23 Where he is with the exams 46:53 What his friends thought when he skipped university 49:29 Sheffield, and the people who stuck it out 51:57 Advice for someone young trying to get in 54:09 You're too young, you're this, you're that 55:24 Would he go to university if he did it again? 57:32 Go and call them; - the FCA register as a job list 58:49 The exams: how he found them 1:00:04 The controversial bit: are the exams making him better? 1:01:00 An enemy of every exam body out there ha - Not really 1:02:19 Filler in the trust planning exam

You have heard the stat about footballers going bankrupt. I open the episode by saying I don't believe it (did my best Victor Meldrew impression). The real problem is quieter, and it starts the day the football stops. So I sat down with Jamie Proctor from Skybound Wealth. He played professionally for sixteen years across sixteen clubs, from the Premier League down to the EFL, studying for three degrees on the team coach along the way. He is now a Private Wealth Adviser and the first adviser in Skybounds Athletes and Creators division, which means he is the adviser he wishes someone had put in front of him at nineteen. We got into: • What actually lands in a Premier League players' account, and what happens to it: around 150 grand a month net, roughly 50 of it going out on lifestyle. • Why that is not an eighteen year old and his girlfriend, but parents, brothers and sisters flying in first class twenty five times a year. • The PFA pension nobody explains: just over £7,000 a year paid in for every single player, whether they earn £500 a week or £250,000. • Why the old age-35 pension pot quietly stopped a generation of players from planning at all. • How switching one default fund can be worth £100,000 to a lower league players pot. • Career-ending insurance, what it covers, and the pre-existing condition that voids it. • Why cold-calling a thousand footballers never works, and why friends and family will never be your clients. • The concentration problem: property, property and more property, with no exit strategy. • What a journeyman in League One and League Two really earns, and why fifteen years of it beats most careers. • The honest version of retirement advice: nobody wants to sit at home and not work. One line that stuck with me: I know what to do because I didn't do it. If you are in sport, you work with people who are, or you just want to know where footballers money really goes, there is a lot in here you can steal. Chapters 00:00 Who Jamie Proctor is 00:27 "How does a journeyman end up here?" 01:47 Knowing the job was right — and why exams don't tell you 03:05 "You can't replicate scoring a goal; 04:06 Three degrees, studied on team coaches 06:23 What footballers; training weeks actually look like 08:15 Joining Skybound, and why global matters 10:22 When a client moves to Saudi: cross-border planning 13:51 Football only, or every sport? 15:21 High earnings, short careers, backwards lifestyle 17:05 Why ringing a thousand footballers never works 19:28 Friends, family and ex-teammates as clients 25:20 The entourage problem 27:17 £5–7m a year, and why life still changes at 30 29:19 "This job isn't about making people millionaires" 30:54 £70,000 a week: what actually comes in 31:32 Where it goes — 50 grand a month on lifestyle 33:26 Start-up businesses, VCT, EIS and SEIS 36:39 Career-ending insurance: how it really works 38:52 Rugby, long injuries, and what cover exists 42:02 EFL money: the journeymans real numbers 43:43 If I could retire at 30 I'd drive myself insane 44:56 Living the best life 18 to 30 — then the cliff 49:54 Bitcoin in the changing room 53:03 I want them to explain what I have said to their agent 56:26 The PFA pension: how it works 57:20 £7,000 a year whether you earn £500 or £250,000 a week 58:31 Why the age-35 pot stopped players planning 1:04:18 Equity funds vs default funds — £100,000 of difference 1:08:51 The worst financial advice a young player gets 1:13:56 Cash flow planning: close to a crystal ball as you get 1:16:04 What he'd do differently, knowing what he knows now 1:16:57 I know what to do because I didn't do it 1:17:55 The 50% rule 1:19:32 Just have the conversation

Everyone selling a Financial Planning firm obsesses over the multiple of EBITDA or Recurring income. Almost nobody prepares for the Monday morning after. So I sat down with Vicky Hicks from Melo, who has been on both sides of this. She started in financial planning at 22 after being made redundant from Northern Rock. She worked for a Financial Planning firm in York working her way up to becoming a Director of the firm before selling along with her partners her stake in the business. That sale is what pushed her into M&A. She's done around a hundred transactions since. We got into: ● Why her own sale was selling to get in, rather than to get out and why the reality afterwards didn't match the press release ● The three-year lock-in that meant she couldn't advise, couldn't set up on her own and had to build something else entirely. ● Why roughly 70% of owners end up disappointed post-sale, and how much of it traces back to cultural mismatch rather than the money ● The personal readiness nobody does the work on: who you are when the business isn't yours any more. ● Why EBITDA powers every deal, not the multiple of recurring income everyone quotes. ● Deal structures worth knowing: shared upside, true-ups, full revaluations, and why the headline price is the least interesting number. ● Fish and chip offers - quote the big number at the start that gets chipped away through due diligence, and why it usually isn't the buyers fault. ● How a small firm competes for talent with a consolidator offering a client bank and £80k salary: growth shares, EMI schemes, MBOs and employee ownership trusts. ● The baby boomer wave about to hit the profession, and what it does to supply One line that stuck with me: quote's amazing how quickly the number in the bank account wears off. If you own a planning firm, you're thinking about your exit, or you're trying to build a team that could one day take it over, there's a lot in here you can steal. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Who is Vicky Hicks (and Melo) 01:04 Northern Rock, redundancy, and starting at 22 with no clients 02:37 Becoming MD of a chartered firm, then selling in 2018 04:36 We were selling to get in, not to get out 05:22 What actually happened after the sale: losing autonomy 09:02 The three-year lock-in and the hardest decision 10:27 City & Capital Acquisitions, and the Melo rebrand 14:39 I missed it. I grieved. 18:28 Why so many sales go wrong: the 70% problem 21:11 What culture actually means when you're matching firms 23:25 The personal readiness nobody prepares for 25:42 Exit as a phase, not a transaction 29:11 The fee alignment problem 32:43 Why EBITDA powers the deal, not recurring income multiples 34:40 Deal structures: shared upside, true-ups and revaluations 38:26 Why the headline price lies, and fish and chip offers 42:19 How small firms compete with consolidator salaries 49:55 Growth shares, EMI schemes, MBOs and EOTs explained 59:35 The grieving process, and the baby boomer wave 1:02:55 The one piece of advice she'd give any owner 1:07:43 What Melo's Exit Readiness Assessment covers

Everyone in financial planning is arguing about whether AI is coming for their job. Paraplanners are feeling it first. So I sat down with Gareth Millard, founder of Clear Path Paraplanning, who has spent 28 years in the profession, from churning through quotes at a product provider at 18, to going Chartered, sitting the CFP, and this year finally backing himself to launch his own outsourced paraplanning business. We got into: How he fell into it at 18 as a quotes administrator, and the 28-year road that led to going out on his own The AI tools he actually uses day to day (Copilot for spreadsheets, interrogating meeting-note transcripts), and the exact point where he refuses to let it near the work Why being “just a document producer” is a dangerous place to stand right now, and what replaces it: an end-to-end, second-opinion service on a level with the adviser Chartered vs the CFP, and why he built a financial plan from scratch across 64 spreadsheet tabs just to prove he could The honest reality of going solo after 28 years employed: the freedom, the pricing headache, and finding clients in a crowded market Why he wants a partnership and not a shop window, and why he keeps his content authentically his in a feed full of template AI posts One line that stuck with me: “I don’t think AI takes jobs. It takes tasks.” If you’re a paraplanner, a financial planner, or you’re weighing up going solo, there’s a lot in here you can steal. Chapters: 00:00 Who is Gareth Millard (and Clear Path Paraplanning) 01:05 How Gareth fell into financial planning at 18 02:07 28 years and several firms: the career path 03:40 When lifestyle planning and cashflow modelling clicked 07:15 Why he launched Clear Path this year 08:27 Chartered vs CFP: building a plan from scratch (all 64 tabs) 13:22 The AI tools he actually uses (Copilot and meeting notes) 16:07 AI and authentic marketing: the “template post” problem 18:52 His ideal client: a partnership, not a shop window 20:56 Will paraplanners cease to exist? 25:28 Employment vs self-employment 29:01 The pricing problem nobody warns you about 34:18 The importance of doing hard things 35:37 Where AI has to stop: it takes tasks, not jobs 37:59 His biggest mistake in year one 39:43 Learning to love the business side

Everyone in financial planning obsesses over advice, investments and clients. Almost nobody talks about the engine room: operations.   So I sat down with Chris Hindle, Operations Director and co-founder of Fraser James, who went from "the assistant to the assistant administrator" (his words: the tea boy of the tea boy) to building one of the more interesting remote-first planning firms in the UK.   We got into:   How he broke in with zero experience, self-funding his RO1, "getting inside the tent", and why the long cut ends up being the shortcut What an Operations Director actually does day to day, and why recruitment, reward, recognition and retention aren't an add-on to the job, they ARE the job Going four-day week and fully remote years before COVID, and what really holds culture together when nobody shares an office Building the firm with James McKay, and why "one plus one equals three" when you pick the right business partner Writing job ads to "an audience of one" (they had 1,400 applications for a single admin role) Who they actually serve: the HENRYs (High Earners, Not Rich Yet), and why mindset beats profession every time   One line that stuck with me: "you increase the surface area of luck through your own efforts and preparation."   If you run a planning firm, want to start one, or are trying to get into the profession, there's a lot in here you can steal.   Chapters: 00:00 Who is Chris Hindle (and Fraser James) 00:59 Breaking into financial planning with no experience 03:03 Landing the first job: persistence at Jones Hill 05:54 Standing out: self-funding your RO1 and "getting inside the tent" 09:52 What a Practice Manager actually does 13:44 Pioneering the four-day work week 22:04 Managing a fully remote team: trust over micromanagement 28:11 Ovation, and meeting his future business partner 29:51 How Fraser James was born ("one plus one equals three") 34:00 What an Operations Director really does 35:46 From lifestyle business to hiring the first team 38:04 COVID: going national and winning on digital marketing 42:34 Handling 100+ inquiries a month 45:06 Who Fraser James serves: the HENRY client 49:53 Writing job ads to "an audience of one" 57:42 Right person, right role: values and the GWC framework

Being a Financial Planner is tough, being an International Financial Planner across many jurisdictions is even tougher.   With Dion I discuss on a surface level how he helps his International clients and as ever how he "fell" into the profession after a career that initially started out in Marbs, before he went into the Army.

This episode of "The I just fell into Financial Planning Podcast" is with Alexander Thomas of GP3 Financial Solutions. Alexander started in the profession with the deVere Group in Barcelona, we talk not only about his career in Financial Planning but also about his venture into the Property at a very young age. We have a look at the journey he's been on with Content Creation and how he makes it stick out (I learnt a bit from him on this topic) and what this yields from a lead generation point of view.

I speak with Hannah about her career, starting off working for her fathers firm before setting up Core as an Outsourced Paraplanning Firm. We talk about her journey to starting off in Financial Services Administration to setting up an outsourced Paraplanning firm, how she became Diploma qualified, Artificial Intelligence in Paraplanning and how she became an accredited outsourced Paraplanning firm for Quilter.

Mike LeGassick is a Financial Planner that works for Manning and co based in Cornwall.   Just before Christmas I sat down with Mike and we had a chat about not only the two books he has written "Your money and your life" and "Mind over money" but also around what got him into the profession, the best way to coach clients and how storytelling can really win them over.   Think you'll enjoy this episode, I really loved Mike's passion for the profession and how to get his message out there.

Warning – There is a lot of Football chat in this Podcast (we had to take some out). If you want to skip Rob’s football talk we get into the juicy Financial Planning chat around 26 minutes. Being a big Football fan we really get into the nitty gritty of Rob’s career as a footballer, bar meeting Barry Fuller, Lyle Taylor and a few other Wimbledon players around the old Kingstonian bar I didn’t really know what to expect. I put these players up on a pedastool. When I met Rob though I was instantly at ease, he was someone who I saw a lot of the Wimbledon spirit in, someone who by his own admission wasn’t the most gifted footballer, but someone who was a grafter a bit like Baz I alluded to up above. Rob’s story in Financial Services starts at Natwest before joining RBS making his way up the greasy pole of the corporate ladder before becoming a Director of the Wealth side at IronMarket Wealth. Rob’s journey into Financial Planning though started off with as he put it being sold to by a Financial Adviser (or salesman) as he puts it. There was no real education and since everyone else was putting money into a Pension he thought he would too. We also discuss after football and when times are tough the decisions he had to make, which ended up causing issues later on and is why he has such a passion for Financial Planning Education as he felt let down by those in trusted positions who didn’t educate him on why Financial Planning was so important. We also discuss IronMarket Wealth and the business they have set up headed up by the MD Wes Wilkes (a bit too briefly – we will do another episode) and their Platinum Partnership with Port Vale Football Club, which means they have their branding on the side of the kits. I could tell you how I haven’t forgiven Port Vale for taking Ethan Chislett and Ronan Curtis but that probably isn’t for today. I will be chatting with Rob and Wes in 2025 more in depth about IronMarket Wealth and the Fint app Wes has helped create. Hope you enjoy!

Jake Crossley is as far as I'm concerned one of the success stories in Financial Planning. He joined the profession when he was 17 doing an internship with Poynton Financial Services before going to University for a term in Sheffield. Jake then went back to Poynton in January 2023 as a Paraplanner, learning from his Director there how to conduct meetings and the role as a researcher and report writer. He started his exams in April 2023 and becoming fully qualified Diploma qualified this year, taking just one year to get all of his exams done. I explore with him his early days at Blithe Financial Planning and how he has tackled being one of the youngest Financial Planners in the Profession. I find out from Jake why he joined the Financial Planning profession and decided against "doing the norm" of going to University. Most importantly I get from him his tips for anyone looking to get into the Profession and how to tackle the exams.

This weeks guest is Henry Blunt, Acquisitions Director at Wren Sterling. Henry and I are former colleagues, when we first met Henry was studying Biology at Newcastle uni and naturally this correlated nicely with acting as a broker for Financial Planning businesses. He forged his career at Retiring IFA and contributed to the business starting to deal with more complex succession planning solutions for Financial Planning business. After 8 years brokering deals he joined Wren Sterling as Director of Acquisitions. What Henry has done in his three years there is beyond impressive. The business has accumulated another £3bn in AUM and their profits have grown by over 50%. Join us as Henry gives an account of what you need to do to get your business ready for sale and also tips for smaller businesses on what to do when acquiring as well as the general state of play in the marketplace as a whole.

In this weeks episode we speak with Julian Baker at Livesmart Financial Planning. Julian started his career as a Car Salesman, where he marked himself out by selling extended warranty for longer periods of time. At the very young age of 20 he entered the Profession by joining Brittanic (technically being too young to be there) to be trained up. We talk about his career where he has worked in the Profession as a Mortgage Adviser and Financial Planner with several networks being becoming the MD of Livesmart. We talk in depth about implementing Fee Based Financial Planning, the challenges this has created as well as the positives and what he is doing to get young people into the profession, taking on Harvey a student still doing his A-Levels.

Our very first episode of The I just fell into Financial Planning Podcast is with Andy Lumley-Holmes at Fintuity covering his career that spans very nearly a quarter of a century (something he doesn't like me to remind him of). We cover his time at Edward Jones as a new Adviser door knocking to get clients, to his times as a Financial Planner all over the world living in Hong Kong, Moscow, The US and Cyprus starting off with nothing but a suitcase. We also talk about his current role at Fintuity and what they are doing for Financial Planners to make their lives easier through the use of tech with their clever platform that has had $4m spent on it.