The item can be made anywhere in the world, shipped across the globe, handled in the destination country, all with great accuracy and precision.

The product then needs to be sent to your home, and this is where ‘The Last Mile’ problem comes in.

Charlie Munger was a great believer in inversion.

Instead of asking, “How do I succeed?”, he asked, “What would guarantee failure?”

Summer has a funny way of reminding us what's important. The markets don't stop, clients don't stop, regulation certainly doesn't stop, but for many advisers August is one of the few opportunities in the calendar to step off the treadmill. I believe that’s something to embrace rather than feeling guilty.

One of the most underrated skills in financial planning is the ability to disarm people.

Clients rarely attend meetings in a neutral state. They come carrying baggage. Some have been let down by previous advisers, some have been sold products they didn't understand, and others are simply nervous about discussing their finances with someone they have only just met. Their guard is almost always up.

Invisible, and you only notice it when it runs out

Almost every culture has a saying about wealth not lasting. The English talk about clogs to clogs in three generations. The Americans say shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves, the Italians from the stars to the stables, the Chinese rice paddy to rice paddy.

Let’s run a thought experiment.

Fast forward five years. You’re in a client meeting. You open your mouth to discuss pensions, tax wrappers, withdrawal sequencing, CGT harvesting, protection needs, trusts, tax allowances, estate planning or investment asset allocation.

After nearly 20 years of sitting across the table from real clients, there’s a pattern I’ve observed.

While people are working, they’re surprisingly relaxed about their spending. Salaries land monthly, business income flows in, bonuses pop up, and life just… happens. Holidays get booked, cars get upgraded, kitchens get redone. There isn’t a huge amount of scrutiny on their expenses. Not because they’re reckless, but because the money feels abundant and regular.

am currently deep in my ‘surge’ meeting season, properly deep.

Back-to-back meetings, financial plumbing, admin, cashflow forecasts, beneficiary nominations, ISA top-ups, pension consolidations, insurance gaps, estate plans, school fee projections, the full works. The unglamorous bit of the job that no one posts about on LinkedIn. And yet, this is the bit that quietly reminds me what a superb position we sit in as Financial Advisers.

One of the simplest ways I have found to explain our real job as behavioural financial advisers has nothing to do with markets, models, or complex simulations. It has everything to do with potatoes.

Imagine a vegetable patch. On day one, the soil is prepared properly. The seed potatoes are chosen carefully, planted at the right depth, spaced correctly, watered, and protected. This is the planning phase. Asset allocation, diversification, costs, tax wrappers, behaviour. Done well, this is where most of the long-term outcome is decided.

The most dangerous phrase in financial advice today is not reckless or rogue. It is reassuring, familiar, and quietly fatal, All Perfectly Compliant (APC).

For decades, our profession has relied on attitude to risk questionnaires as the foundation of portfolio construction and investing people’s life savings. A client answers a series of questions, a score is generated, a portfolio is selected, and the file is signed off. The process is documented, defensible, and compliant. And yet the real-world outcome for the client can be deeply damaging.

As advisers, we spend our lives helping people make sound financial and life choices, yet we are constantly reminded that many of the most important decisions with money are shaped long before we ever produce a chart or run a cash flow. They are shaped by instinct, emotion, and stories people tell themselves. And very often those stories lead to conclusions that feel logical but are, in reality, completely illogical.

Recently, I completed a project for a client. I had put in real effort, been honest and generous with my time, and charged a fair fee that reflected the wisdom I have accumulated over years of doing this work. When the project finished, the client was happy with the outcome, but unhappy with the bill.

They began to break it down, hour by hour, as if experience could be reduced to a stopwatch, as if my decades of learning, reading, trying, failing, and improving could be itemised on an invoice.

In that moment, I had a choice. I could have gone to war, I could have justified, defended, or explained, but instead, I chose peace.

We all want to become better financial advisers, but too often we’re all looking in the same places. While this will get you a long way, I don’t think it will get you all the way to becoming as good as you can be.

The way to become a better financial adviser is to look beyond the advice industry. Your next big idea won’t be found in the usual places; it will come from outside, from the world around you. That’s why I call this Outside Insights.

One of the great privileges of being a financial adviser is that our profession is built on learning. At its core, our business is about information, understanding, and wisdom. We are constantly exposed to new ideas from finance, economics, psychology, history, marketing, and beyond. And unlike many industries where training ends once you qualify, in ours the journey of learning never stops.

As Nick Murray calls it, this is the noble profession. We deliver peace of mind, purpose, and prosperity. And if we stay in the game, keep serving, and stay focused, the results will speak for themselves.

I’ve just ticked off a bucket-list trip, a whirlwind 24 hours in Naples. Why? Because my all-time favourite TV series, Gomorrah, is set there. I’ve watched it three times (don’t judge me), and I’ll probably watch it three more. Naturally, I thought it would be a good idea to wander the same streets as fictional gangsters. Logical? Maybe not. Worth it? Absolutely.

AI is making waves, and yes, it’s going to change many things. I believe our profession will be one of the least disrupted. Why? Because at its heart, financial advice is about people, and no machine can ever replace the human connection we provide.

Another market decline. Another flurry of client grenades into your business. Another round of hand-holding. Nothing new, right?

Except now, every client has a news terminal in their pocket. The moment the market twitches, their phone lights up: "Stock Market Plummets!", "Crash!", "Is this 2008 all over again?" The drama is relentless, the headlines hysterical — and the noise is deafening.

The world has changed. The speed and intensity of information has changed. But the fundamentals of good behavioural financial advice haven’t. Help your clients to stay calm and stay the course. Only we can help them them to stick to the plan when it matters most.

So, as you power through your meetings, don’t just celebrate the good times. Use them to prepare clients for the future, whatever that may hold. Because after two good years, we know one thing for sure: smooth sailing never lasts forever.