Have you ever found yourself waiting for the “right time” to tackle a difficult task? It may be a complex conversation you need to have with a partner, a looming deadline, or simply opening an envelope from the tax people that you have moved from one side of the desk to the other for a week. We often tell ourselves that we are waiting for motivation. We are waiting to feel ready, energised, or confident before […]
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Diworsification or Diversification?
We often talk about the emotional side of money, but sometimes the barrier to peace of mind is purely logistical. Over a lifetime of working, moving, and saving, it is normal to accumulate a “financial junk drawer”. You might have a pension from a job you left ten years ago, a savings account opened on a whim, an investment app you stopped checking, and perhaps an old policy collecting dust in a filing cabinet. Maybe you’ve […]
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Break the cycle: why it’s time to talk about money
For generations, families have carried financial stress in silence. Conversations about money are so often still avoided, shared in whispers, or shut down entirely. Sometimes out of shame. Sometimes out of tradition. Often out of fear. But what if we could change that? What if you could be the generation that stops the silence and starts the conversation? Because here’s the truth: secrecy breeds anxiety, not security. And when we don’t talk about money, we don’t […]
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Transformation takes more than information
(This is the last blog of three about biases and how they impact our financial planning, all published this month.) If you’ve ever walked away from a brilliant webinar or insightful podcast thinking, “Yes! I’m going to make a change,” and then done… nothing, welcome to the club! Change is hard. Not because we’re lazy, but because our brains are wired for survival, not clarity. In this final blog of our series on cognitive bias, we […]
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Plan responsibly and still live beautifully
There’s a myth that responsible planning means sacrificing joy. This myth often has people believing that if you budget, you’ll feel restricted. If you invest, you’ll have to wait forever. If you plan ahead, you’re not really living in the moment. But what if the opposite is true? What if responsible planning is the very thing that allows us to live beautifully, with intention, freedom, and peace of mind? Responsibility is not a restriction. For some […]
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Being “rational” isn’t always the goal
If financial planning were just about logic, calculators would replace conversations. But as we all know, that’s not how life works. Your relationship with money isn’t built solely on maths; it’s built on meaning. And meaning is shaped by how we see the world, how we were raised, the communities we belong to, and what we believe makes us “good” or “successful” or “safe.” So let’s pack those calculators away for just a second. This second […]
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Guilt trips and fear traps
If you’ve ever said yes when you wanted to say no, put off a financial decision because it felt “too late,” or made a big purchase just to silence a little voice inside your head… you’re not alone. We all have similar stories. Guilt and fear are powerful motivators. But they’re rarely good guides. In financial planning, they often show up disguised as urgency or obligation: “I should have started saving earlier.” “I have to invest […]
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Blind spots we live with
FACT: It’s hard to see what we can’t see… One of the hardest truths to accept — in finance, relationships, and life — is that our thinking isn’t always as clear as we believe it is. We all have blind spots. Not because we’re foolish, but because we’re human. And, we don’t know… what we don’t know. Biases are the invisible forces that shape our decisions and filter our perceptions. They form from lived experience, the […]
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Alignment over excess
When we talk about happiness with our family, friends and colleagues, it’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that more is always better: more money, more options, more security, more stuff. But the truth is far gentler and far more powerful. Happiness doesn’t come from having more. It comes from being aligned. That means alignment between our values and our goals. Between priorities and lifestyle. Between what we’re chasing and what actually matters. Whilst […]
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Short-term wins in long-term planning
When it comes to financial planning, some goals can take decades to come to fruition. Retirement. Paying off a bond. Funding education. Leaving a legacy. Long-term goals matter; they guide our decisions and give us direction. But here’s the catch: they’re also really far away. And without smaller wins along the way, it’s easy to lose motivation, second-guess our plan, or drift into inaction! That’s why short-term wins aren’t just nice to have. In fact… they’re […]
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